Samsung Electronics Co Ltd will purchase SmartThings, a startup backed by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin that helps connect household devices, one of its largest U.S.-startup acquisitions to date. The South Korean electronics maker joins fellow technology heavyweights Apple Inc and Google Inc in exploring ways to integrate connected household gadgets such as thermostats and lights with mobile apps, a trend commonly known as "Internet of Things."Samsung did not disclose financials. But the TechCrunch blog reported in July that Samsung was in discussions to pay more than $200 million for the two-year-old startup of 55 employees, which has raised $15.5 million in venture capital from Greylock and Russian investor Yuri Milner, among others.SmartThings, which lets people use a mobile app to control connected devices, says it has some 5,000 developers building devices that connect to its open platform. It will continue to operate independently but move its base from Washington, D.C. to Palo Alto, California.Some tech and telecommunications executives view the market for "smart," or connected, home devices as poised to explode.
Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Shares of AAPL traded higher by 0.27% or $0.26/share to $97.50. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $63.89 and as high as $99.44. On average, 54394200 shares of AAPL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 28115566.
Google Inc. (Google), is a global technology company. Shares of GOOG fell by 0.02% or $-0.13/share to $574.65. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $502.80 and as high as $604.83. On average, 1632280 shares of GOOG exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 982926.
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