Samsung buys mSpot to beef up cloud media
Samsung has agreed to acquire U.S. mobile company, mSpot, as part of efforts to boost its cloud-based entertainment services including music, video and radio offered on its devices.
Palo Alto, California-based mSpot said in a press statement Wednesday the acquisition would also extend its cloud and streaming offerings to a broader base of global entertainment fans. "The combination will extend mSpot's top class cloud and streaming services, while further enhancing Samsung's mobile and tablet device entertainment offerings. mSpot's entertainment services will be a key integrated offering on newly announced Samsung mobile devices," it said.
T.J. Kang, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics' Media Solution Center, said in the statement: "mSpot shares our vision to bring a best-in-class cloud and streaming entertainment experience to consumers, and they've backed it up with innovative technical solutions from a great engineering team."
mSpot CEO Daren Tsui added: "Samsung is unparalleled in terms of global reach and cutting edge devices; with our combined resources, we are looking forward to redefining media consumption across the mobile universe with cloud services."
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the statement said the acquisition would include the full scope of technology, assets and human resources under mSpot. Founded in 2004, the company allows users to store and stream entertainment content such as movies and music from the Internet to their mobile devices.
According to a separate Yonhap report Wednesday, the deal was speculated to be around 10 billion won (US$8.7 million).