By Dan O'Shea
Google may have had one big buyout bid rejected last week, but the one that was quietly accepted may have major implications for the Internet giant's Google TV platform
While Groupon’s rejection of Google’s multi-billion acquisition offer dominated the headlines, Google announced late Friday that it agreed to acquire software firm Widevine, which focuses on multi-screen conditional access, digital rights management and content monetization. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The acquisition almost certainly will help Google’s fledgling, still wobbly Google TV effort, as Widevine’s technology is already being used in many cases to support multi-screen TV Everywhere efforts. In terms of business relationships, Widevine might provide Google with a stronger argument for business with service provider customers of Widevine’s, such as AT&T, SureWest Communications, Dish Network and others. Widevine also has been a DRM partner to Microsoft, and online video streamers such as Netflix.
Google said in a blog post that it intends to preserve all of Widevine’s existing customer relationships, though it did not get into details of how Widevine’s solutions might be combined specifically with Google TV.
The deal also comes as content protections specialists seem to be getting snapped up to become part of broader set-top box plays (Google TV, of course, is a software platform intended for set-tops, TVs and other devices).
The acquisition almost certainly will help Google’s fledgling, still wobbly Google TV effort, as Widevine’s technology is already being used in many cases to support multi-screen TV Everywhere efforts. In terms of business relationships, Widevine might provide Google with a stronger argument for business with service provider customers of Widevine’s, such as AT&T, SureWest Communications, Dish Network and others. Widevine also has been a DRM partner to Microsoft, and online video streamers such as Netflix.
Google said in a blog post that it intends to preserve all of Widevine’s existing customer relationships, though it did not get into details of how Widevine’s solutions might be combined specifically with Google TV.
The deal also comes as content protections specialists seem to be getting snapped up to become part of broader set-top box plays (Google TV, of course, is a software platform intended for set-tops, TVs and other devices).
No comments:
Post a Comment