Apple said to be buying Google-backed Swell for $30M
Apple is reported to be buying Google-backed podcast app Swell. The iPhone and iPad manufacturer is said to be spending $30 million (around £17.6 million or AU$32 million) to buy the app, shutting it down in the process.More Apple newsApple reportedly readying record production for iPhone 6Inside Scoop: Mixed results for Apple's Q3Three things we learned from Apple's Q3 earnings callApple responds to complaint over diagnostic 'back doors' in iOSApple inching closer to a mobile-payment serviceSamsung meets with Under Armour as Apple cozies closer to NikeAmazon shares take a beatingYouTube music chief leaving for undisclosed startupSwell is an iOS app that plays you a continuous stream of podcasts, saving you the hassle of finding and downloading podcasts yourself. If you don't like what it plays, you swipe to a new one. The app then learns what you like and don't like based on what you listen to and what you reject. Swell is available in all countries, but primarily offers content from the US and Canada.The company previously raised $7.2 million in funding from investors including DFJ, InterWest Partners and Google Ventures. Google Ventures is the Big G's investment arm, which dishes out capital to companies both to see a return on that investment and to help develop technology that could potentially be absorbed into Google later.According to Recode, the Swell app will be shut down. That suggests the technology will be absorbed into Apple's much-maligned Podcast app, or used to bolster the iTunes Radio streaming service, perhaps adding more talk radio options. Swell employees are said to be joining Apple as part of the deal.This year Apple notably has spent $3 billion to acquire headphone maker and music service Beats, and somewhere between $10 million and $15 million to reportedly pick up book recommendation service BookLamp. Discussing its financial performance earlier this year, Apple revealed it has acquired 29 companies over the past year or so.
