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Social Gifting Startup Wrapp Raises $15 Million

Mike Isaac in Social on June 13 at 4:30 am PT

Wrapp, the mobile app that allows users to send and receive digital gift cards via their smartphones, announced on Thursday it had raised $15 million in its Series B venture round. Participation in the round included existing contributors Greylock Partners, Atomico and Creandum, as well as new investors American Express, Qualcomm Ventures and SEB Private Equity. Wrapp CEO Hjalmar Winbladh told AllThingsD that the company plans to use the new funds to continue expansion, including staffing up its San Francisco office.

News Byte

WhatsApp Hits Record High in Daily Message Volume

Mike Isaac in Mobile on June 12 at 10:17 pm PT

WhatsApp, the massively popular mobile messaging service, announced a new record on Wednesday for daily inbound and outbound messages sent in a single day. The company processed 27 billion messages in a 24-hour period, up from 20 billion processed in a day just two months before.

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OtterBox Chomps Up Rival Mobile Casemakers LifeProof

Mike Isaac in Mobile on May 23 at 12:01 am PT

OtterBox, one of biggest names in protective products and cases for mobile devices, announced on Wednesday that it acquired LifeProof, a rival growing company with a “comprehensive product offering” and “impressive intellectual property,” OtterBox said in a release. LifeProof’s 250 employees will remain in San Diego, where the company is currently headquartered. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

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Google+ Brings Story Suggestions to Mobile Web Publishers

Mike Isaac in Social on May 13 at 6:30 am PT

Google announced Monday that publishers hooked into Google+ can use the social network to offer customized story recommendations via the mobile Web. The new product suggests stories to readers based on what’s relevant on a publisher’s site, or if a user is signed in to their Google account, a story on the site that’s currently popular on Google+. The idea, Google said, is to surface the most relevant content for users, while recirculating more traffic for publishers.

News Byte

Yahoo Snaps Up Mobile Gaming Company Loki Studios

Mike Isaac in Mobile on May 10 at 3:40 pm PT

Yahoo has acquired mobile gaming startup Loki Studios, the company announced on Friday. The staff will join Yahoo’s mobile team to work on unspecified projects — though Loki’s specialty seemed to be in location-based mobile products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.