5 things to know today
1. The connected car is much more than a consumer market for Verizon. Today the company announced a major investment in a maker of vehicle fleet management software.
Just one week after announcing a $4.8 billion deal to buy Yahoo’s internet business, Verizon Communications has agreed to pay $2.4 billion for Fleetmatics, an Irish company that develops mobile workforce management software. The company’s software provides fleet operators with visibility into vehicle location, fuel usage, speed and mileage.
More than 730,000 vehicles are subscribed to the Fleetmatics network, and the company has more than 37,000 global customers. Fleetmatics went public in 2012, and was trading at about $43 a share before Verizon said it would buy the company for $60 a share. Fleetmatics will become part of Verizon Telematics.
Earlier this summer, Verizon Telematics announced the acquisition of Telogis, a California developer of cloud-based mobile enterprise management software. That transaction closed last Friday.
2. T-Mobile US is set to continue its summer promotion program, this week offering to send its customers to see “Suicide Squad.” The movie opens Friday and T-Mobile is promising customers a free opening day Fandango ticket, along with a free Lyft ride to get to the movie. T-Mobile’s giveaway campaigns are part of an aggressive marketing campaign that has helped the operator add more customers than any other carrier this year.
3. BlackBerry is launching a new smartphone. Less than a month after discontinuing its iconic keyboard smartphones, BlackBerry looks to also be moving away from its proprietary operating system. Last week the Canadian smartphone maker announced its second Android smartphone. The DTEK50 is a touchscreen phone that will retail for $299.
4. Touchscreens are also coming to motorcycles. The maker of Victory and Indian motorcycles plans to introduce a 7-inch touchscreen device for motorcycles that can read display directions by connecting to a smartphone. According to Bloomberg, BMW and Harley-Davidson both have onboard navigation devices for motorcycles as well.
5. Mobile advertising fueled Alphabet’s strong sales, with the company’s primary business Google reporting a 21% increase in revenue for the most recent quarter. Google, which accounts for 99% of Alphabet’s sales, said it has started enabling local ads on its maps and allowing mobile advertisers to include more text in their ads.
