Vodafone gets green light to buy Cable & Wireless, goes on a high-fiber diet

Vodafone gets green light to buy Cable & Wireless, will use national fibreoptic network to ease network congestion

Vodafone has succeeded in its attempt to buy Cable & Wireless in a bid to become the UK's second largest telecoms company. The £1.04 billion ($1.6 billion) purchase had been at risk thanks to a C&W shareholder rebellion, but will will now go ahead barring regulatory approval. Big Red will take control of undersea cables that connect global telephone lines, a booming business division and a national fiber-optic network, which it'll use to boost its mobile data service -- sad news for anyone hoping the company would offer triple-play services on all that shiny fiber.

Vodafone gets green light to buy Cable & Wireless, goes on a high-fiber diet originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceReuters  | Email this | Comments

Motorola Solutions buys Psion for $200 million

Psion Netbook Pro

Psion has mostly slipped out of the public eye, but that's about to change -- Motorola Solutions just bought the company for $200 million in cash to bolster its work with industrial companies. The deal will mostly focus on improving Motorola Solutions' toughened-up handhelds and in-car terminals. Not always exciting out of devices like the ET1, but it ends Psion's 32-year history as an independent company and a legacy that includes some of the very first PDAs, like the Psion Organizer. We won't miss the fight over the "netbook" name, mind you. Regardless of how you feel, you'll have until fall to wax nostalgic, as that's when the two sides expect the deal to close and the Psion name gets subsumed into that of another mobile pioneer.

Continue reading Motorola Solutions buys Psion for $200 million

Motorola Solutions buys Psion for $200 million originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

HTC decides to buy S3 after all, keeps it on ice for future patent wars

HTC hearts S3 Graphics

HTC was exhibiting more than a bit of buyer's remorse after its acquisition of S3 Graphics went off the rails: it had used the $300 million deal to scoop up a company with a victory over Apple in a patent dispute at the ITC, only to see that decision reversed and its dreams crumble. S3 will be glad to know that HTC wants the shotgun wedding to last. The One X creator's general counsel, Grace Lei, is now promising that the buyout will wrap up at some point in the near future after "cautious assessment" of its worth. The union won't help HTC fend off escalating Apple assaults, but the 270 patents may make other companies think twice before starting a feud -- oh, and give HTC some graphics technology to improve its products.

HTC decides to buy S3 after all, keeps it on ice for future patent wars originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web  |  sourceFocus Taiwan  | Email this | Comments

Samsung buys Nanoradio, hints at very low-power WiFi in your next Galaxy

ImageSamsung hasn't had a lot of need for hardware acquisitions as of late, so it's a bit of a surprise that the company has snapped up chipset manufacturer Nanoradio. Neither side has outlined the terms of the deal or the exact plans. Nanoradio is best-known for "ultra low power" WiFi in phones and other mobile devices, however, so we'd venture that Samsung is looking to improve the performance of its own wireless-laden smartphones and tablets. Don't be surprised, then, if your next Galaxy S or Galaxy Tab is a little gentler on the battery while you're on the local coffee house hotspot.

Samsung buys Nanoradio, hints at very low-power WiFi in your next Galaxy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Scoop  |  sourceNanoradio (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Deutsche Telekom chief says T-Mobile USA merger still an option, sweeps full sale off the table

Image

T-Mobile's USA proposed union with AT&T might have gone down in flames, but that isn't precluding the boss of parent company Deutsche Telekom, René Obermann, from exploring tie-ups in the future. He's now telling investors that the company won't "exclude any option" for its US carrier, up to and including mergers with others. Before you worry that your One S might lose its luster through an outside takeover, though, the CEO has said it's "unlikely" that DT will sell T-Mobile outright. There aren't any coded messages about possible merger targets, either, even if rumors of a MetroPCS deal have percolated elsewhere. Most of the present focus is simply on reworking and trimming the company to get it running at full efficiency in the face of some very stiff competition; Carly can keep wearing that T-Mobile magenta for awhile yet.

Deutsche Telekom chief says T-Mobile USA merger still an option, sweeps full sale off the table originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Bloomberg  |   | Email this | Comments

China clears Google acquisition of Motorola, eliminates last barrier to Googorola bliss (update)

Google-Motorola

The final significant roadblock to Google's buyout of Motorola has been cleared, as Chinese regulators have just given their rubber stamp. Their approval follows a few months after the simultaneous American and European clearances, and virtually all that's left now is to formally close the deal and start integrating the two mobile giants. It might still come too late for the combined entity to present a united front at Google I/O, but at least they won't have any awkward glances at each other across the room. We're just trying to decide on whether or not Googorola is the best pet name for the loving, $12.5 billion-dollar Android union.

Update: Google has since told the AP that the deal will likely wrap up early next week, so Motorola should be part of the family well in advance of Google I/O. Also, Google has to keep Android freely usable by anyone for at least five years, although no one was expecting that to change anytime soon.

China clears Google acquisition of Motorola, eliminates last barrier to Googorola bliss (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 May 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWSJ  | Email this | Comments

Vodafone looking to buy Cable & Wireless, just can’t resist that fibre-optic infrastructure

Image

UK mobile giant Vodafone is planning to buy up commercial network provider Cable & Wireless for just over £1 billion ($1.7 billion). If successful, it'll gain a national fibre-optic broadband network (separate to BT and Virgin Media's), a large portfolio of business customers and a backbone venture that connects 150 countries with undersea cables. The latter will probably be sold off so that Vodafone can concentrate on winning more enterprise customers from its rivals while also easing the burden on its own network. It's also worth pointing out that C&W previously offered retail broadband and cable services, but any notion of Vodafone using this acquisition to offer the same would be pure guesswork.

Vodafone looking to buy Cable & Wireless, just can't resist that fibre-optic infrastructure originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TechCrunch  |  sourceVodafone (PDF)  | Email this | Comments