Author Archives: Scalper1

GoPro Bucks Up Editing Software With App Purchases

Action camera maker GoPro ( GPRO ) today moved to fill a deficiency in its software skills by agreeing to buy two leading mobile-video editing apps, Replay and Splice. With the acquisitions, GoPro hopes to accelerate its ability to deliver convenient and powerful mobile video-editing tools to GoPro customers and smartphone users. Both apps are now available for Apple iOS, with Android releases planned for later this year, GoPro said in a press release . Replay, developed by Paris-based Stupeflix, allows users to quickly select video clips and photos and automatically combines them into a single video — complete with transition effects, graphics and synchronized music. Splice, developed by Vemory in Austin, Texas, is a mobile editor that allows users to manually create customized edits with advanced features normally found on desktop-editing software, but with the speed and efficiency of a mobile-app interface. Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz said the acquisition announcements were welcome news. “Finally,” Uerkwitz said in a research report Tuesday. ““We’ve long argued that one of the primary obstacles for GoPro to become more mainstream has been its poor software interface. It simply takes too much time to upload, edit, and share a video using a GoPro device. And quite frankly, users’ attention spans are such that we believe most consumers would rather do everything from a smartphone.” The acquisitions of Replay and Splice should “go a long way in correcting the bottlenecks consumers currently encounter using a GoPro device,” he said. Uerkwitz rates GoPro stock as perform, saying he’s on the sidelines until GoPro catches up with software improvements, 360-degree video and drones. GoPro stock was up more than 1% in afternoon trading on the stock market today , near 12, but it’s been hammered by falling revenue and disappointing holiday sales, as analysts fear its action-camera market is saturated until new-generation products spark upgrades. GoPro stock has plunged 70% in the past 12 months. RELATED: Action Camera Maker GoPro Mauled By Bears After Q4 Earnings

Apple, Samsung Spurring Mobile Payment Adoption

The number of consumers using mobile phones to make payments on the go is expected to reach 148 million worldwide this year, up 64% from 90 million in 2015, U.K.-based research firm Juniper Research said Tuesday. Apple ( AAPL ) and Samsung will account for nearly 70% of new customers for contactless payments this year, Juniper said. Apple Pay and Samsung Pay have been heavily promoted by their respective companies. When Apple Pay arrived in China in mid-February, nearly 40 million payment cards were registered to the service in the first 24 hours. In the U.S., nearly 1 in 5 point-of-sale terminals now supports contactless payments, creating the infrastructure for broader adoption, Juniper said. Contactless-payment systems use near-field communications technology. With NFC, a user simply holds their smartphone near the payment terminal to complete the secure wireless transaction. Apple Pay and Samsung Pay compete with other service providers, including Alphabet ‘s ( GOOGL ) Android Pay and PayPal ( PYPL ).