|
Microsoft acquired Multimap on Wednesday, a leading provider of location-based services in Europe. The privately-owned British company is one of the United Kingdom's top 100 technology firms, and was an early pioneer in online mapping for the island country. According to the Times of London, the deal is worth $50 million dollars, half of which will go to Multimap's founder Sean Phelan. (Source: timesonline.co.uk) The website is the second most popular online destination in its class in the UK, trailing Google Maps and leading Microsoft's Live Search Maps (which came in fifth).
This is the second major business deal for Microsoft following its highly publicized acquisition of a stake in Facebook. The Redmond-based company hopes to increase its revenue base as it battles other web portals like Google and Yahoo for advertising vehicles. Multimap will also enhance MSN's current menu of online services adding to the Virtual Earth and Live Search offerings. Sharon Baylay, general manager of the Online Services Group at Microsoft said, "This acquisition will play a significant role in the future growth of our search business and presents a huge opportunity to expand our platform business beyond the U.K. and globally." Like most large technology companies, Microsoft has a habit of buying up firms that will increase the services it can provide users. Multimap, with its location based searches delivered to almost every imaginable device, seems to fit into this category. "Microsoft has had a platform that has been much more designed for a PC," said Thilo Koslowski, an analyst at Gartner, told the International Herald Tribune. "If you have a Web presence and combine that with a mobile capability, that's a very good strategy." Mapping for mobile devices has been a popular market lately. Google recently introduced its 'My Location' feature to 'Google Maps for Mobile' allowing consumers without GPS-enabled (Global Positioning System) phones to easily find directions and services close by. Tom Tom is attempting to acquire TeleAtlas (a navigation services provider), and the GPS manufacturer recently reached an agreement to use Google Maps's business locator service on its devices. In addition, the cellular phone maker Nokia announced late Wednesday its acquisition of Navteq, yet another digital map company, had been overwhelmingly approved by shareholders, clearing the way for the Finnish-based company to complete its $8.1 billion dollar purchase. (Sources: iht.com)
-- Related newsletter articles:
2007/12/07 What Crap Did We Search for This Year? (search)
2007/11/27 Taking on the Big Boys in Software (microsoft)
2007/11/16 Microsoft's Live Celebrated, Sued (microsoft)
2007/12/13 Microsoft Testing XP on $100 Laptops (microsoft)
2007/11/14 Microsoft Goes for the Green (microsoft)
2007/12/04 Thousands of Infected Links Weeded Out (google)
2007/12/03 Quicken Founder Takes Fight with Microsoft Online (business)
2007/11/07 Gphone: Google Opts for Software Over Hardware (google)
2007/11/15 The Conclusion to Microsoft's ActiveX Dispute (microsoft)
2007/11/15 Speculation Mounts on Windows 7 Feature List (microsoft)
2007/11/09 Microsoft's Intentions for Facebook Revealed (microsoft)
2007/12/06 Microsoft & Mozilla Row Over Browser Security (microsoft)
2007/11/13 HP KO'd in Digital Camera Business (business)
2007/12/02 Google Maps Link Up with Cell Phones (google)
2007/12/04 Google Spends Green to Go Green (google)
-- Recent articles (from all channels): 2008/05/12 Today in History: for Monday, May 12, 2008
2008/05/12 [ShellX 20080512]: 'Remote Manager', and 'Cyber Bandwidth ...
2008/05/12 Video Gaming Trade Group Struggling
2008/05/12 T-Mobile Finally Joins 3G Phone Race
2008/05/12 Apple Slammed by Environment Watchdog
2008/05/09 [ShellX 20080509]: 'Advanced Run', and 'Diver Windows Manager'
2008/05/09 Texas Refuses Facebook Friend Request
2008/05/09 Photo-Enforcement Technology Replaces Officers On Patrol
2008/05/09 Cuban Government Says 'Ok Computer'
2008/05/09 Excel Can E-Mail Your Weekly Reports For You!
2008/05/08 [ShellX 20080508]: 'Shell Enhancer', and 'Lansweeper'
2008/05/08 Xobni: MS Outlook Social Networking Technology for your Inbox
2008/05/08 Music Companies Jump on GTA IV Bandwagon
2008/05/08 Fascinating: Memristor to replace Binary
2008/05/08 Adobe Hopes To Make Flash Master Of The (Mobile) Universe
2008/05/08 Spiffy Envelopes and Labels in MS Word
2008/05/07 [ShellX 20080507]: 'Winbin2iso', and 'Loop Typer'
2008/05/07 Yahoo Adds Security Warnings To Search Results
2008/05/07 Apple to Lose Money on iTunes Movie Releases
2008/05/07 Amazon.com takes New York Tax to Court
2008/05/07 Need Glasses for the Slide Sorter View in MS PowerPoint?
2008/05/07 After Winning The DVD Format War, Blu-Ray Sales Tank
2008/05/06 [ShellX 20080506]: 'Visual Basic 6.0 Portable', and 'Double-...
2008/05/06 Yahoo Outsources to Jajah
2008/05/06 New HP Circuit Could Change Technology Forever
2008/05/06 Movie Downloads To Match DVD Release Dates
2008/05/06 Microsoft Ends Yahoo Bid
2008/05/05 [ShellX 20080505]: 'Ie7 Pro', and 'Desktop Ok'
2008/05/05 The WB Network Hops Online
2008/05/05 Microsoft Slashes Price of Xbox 360 Overseas
2008/05/05 Google CEO Wants YouTube to Take More of Your Money
|
