Amazon to purchase Roomba maker iRobot in US$1.7 billion deal

Source iRobot

Amazon has just signed an agreement with iRobot, the company behind Roomba robot vacuum cleaners, to buy the company for US$1.7 billion (around CA$2.2 billion). It'll be an all-cash transaction for US$61 (approx. CA$79) per share. Colin Angle, iRobot's CEO, will remain in his position.

As CNET noted, Amazon has been a market leader in smart home devices, but a vacuum cleaner hasn't been introduced in its wheelhouse yet. The company didn't detail how it plans to integrate iRobot with the rest of the company.

Spotify buys music trivia game 'Heardle'

Heardle interface now shows the Spotify logo on the top left

Spotify recently acquired Heardle, a themed trivia game that came out in the wake of Wordle's massive popularity and success. Heardle is Spotify's first game acquisition. The streaming service hopes to use Heardle to keep music fans engaged and act as a music discovery tool. It'll remain a standalone website for now. Spotify has started integration in a few countries, including Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. But there are plans to bring it more with other language support soon. It also intends to integrate Heardle "more fully" into the app, but Spotify hasn't mentioned how or when that will happen. Spotify hasn't revealed how much it paid for the game, which it says has millions of players now.

Heardle works similarly to Wordle. You have to guess a song being played within six tries. It'll play you a few seconds of the opening notes, with the length increasing after asking for a hint. When the answer gets revealed or guessed at the end, it will now link to the song on Spotify (it used to link to SoundCloud).

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LG enters EV charging business with AppleMango acquisition

Source: LG

LG is entering the electric vehicle charging business with its newest acquisition. The company bought South Korean EV battery charger developer AppleMango. This acquisition will allow LG to create "fully-featured" charging stations with a user-friendly interface and real-time control and management. The company said it could leverage its "sturdy, dust- and water-proof" outdoor digital display tech.

This acquisition expands on LG's existing business around electric cars. It can marry the new charger capabilities with its existing in-house EV charging management systems. LG has plans to install an EV charger production line at the LG Digital Park in South Korea before the end of the year. It wants to supply different customers with custom EV charging solutions.

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Square Enix sells off 3 major Western studios to Embracer

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Square Enix plans to sell three of its major Western game studios and associated video game properties to the Embracer Group. The sale is estimated to be around US$300 million. Following regulatory approvals, it's expected to be finalized between July and September this year.

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