What’s next on Apple’s shopping list? Shazam apparently. According to reports, Apple plans on acquiring Shazam for around US$400 million – that’s about RM1.63 billion.
TechCrunch reports that Apple is close to acquiring Shazam; the report is also confirmed by Financial Times. Both are saying that the deal is being signed this week, and could be announced as soon as next week, but of course, things could always change as neither Apple nor Shazam have commented about the acquisition.
Shazam is an app that is able to identify music, movies, and ads based on a short snippet of audio or video clip. It is one of the most popular apps of all time, with over 1 billion downloads as of September 2016. Apple is already using Shazam in Siri, helping you easily and quickly identify any songs without even having to download the Shazam app to your device.
If this acquisition is indeed true, Apple could provide a deeper integration with its devices and Apple Music. The company could also make use of Shazam’s augmented reality technology that lets you scan real life items such as magazines, books, posters and such, to launch 3D animations, product visualisations and 36-degree videos.
Of course, all these remains as a rumour for now, so take it with a pinch of salt. Apple and Shazam have yet to comment on the matter.
(Source: TechCrunch, FT, The Verge)
