The Daily Crunch 12/1/16

It's December! In-store background music is either incredibly grating or very welcome depending on your personal preferences. And there's news, which you can find in The Daily Crunch for December 1, 2016. Happy AngelHunting! Or ProductListing. Or something.

1. Pebble looking at a disappointing Fitbit exit

Smartwatch pioneer Pebble is in advanced talks to be acquired by Fitbit, which seems more like it's a pairing of two wearable companies with uncertain futures than anything else.The asking price is reportedly somewhere around $40 million (another source suggests $53 million) but that's a far cry from prices offered previously by companies including watchmaker Citizen.

Make no mistake, if this turns out to be true it's essentially a bailout. And part of the deal will include shuttering the Pebble brand, according to the report. Wearables as a category has seen a lot of trouble after early hype, and Pebble's end could be the biggest sign yet the wrist-based variety at least is a non-starter.

2. AngelList buys Product Hunt

Product Hunt is a community for people who like to catch new tech products early, and AngelList is essentially the same for investors looking to get in on the ground floor with new startup ventures. So a union between the two makes sense. AngelList bought Hoover's PH today, with a reported price tag of around $20 million, which isn't a crazy amount but is in line with its last reported valuation and good considering its niche.

3. Nokia's return to smartphones coming in 2017

After exiting the smartphone game when it sold its handset business to Microsoft, Nokia has been talking a lot about returning to the category eventually. Now Nokia's saying it'll be back in biz with Android handsets starting in the first half of 2017. It'll be working with HMD Global, a new Finnish company that will be using the Nokia brand for its devices. This is a very different market than the one Nokia left, however.

4. Apple tapping drones for Maps?

Apple is reportedly planning to use drones to make its Maps better, with more continuous updates over time. That could be great for keeping up with Google's fleet of mapping vehicles and other advantages.

5. Spotify's new Singles build on its own-content push

I saw a whole bunch of "Single"-labeled cover art in my Spotify new releases earlier this week and I had no idea what it meant. Turns out it's a new original content push by Spotify, where they record at least a couple of tracks from artists, including one of their own pieces and then a cover tune. This should be updated weekly, and recordings take place at Spotify's New York studio. That's one way to try to build an edge in the streaming game.

6. Apple knows about that iCal spam

Apple is aware of that iCal spam you're receiving and is working on a fix. I got a lot of it and did this temp fix but a real one would be preferable.