Voxx International will create an “acquiring entity” to buy a majority stake in EyeLock, an iris authentication technology supplier, Voxx said in a Wednesday announcement. EyeLock has developed “a portfolio of biometric solutions based on iris authentication with more than 70 patents and patents pending,” Voxx said. Its technology “provides an unprecedented level of convenience and security with biometric accuracy, making it the most proven way to authenticate one's identity aside from DNA,” it said. EyeLock’s “advances” in iris authentication have made it possible to use “this highly secure technology” across “a broad array” of consumer and business-to-business IoT applications, “without compromising accuracy or ease-of-use,” Voxx said. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Qualcomm Global Trading, a Qualcomm subsidiary, completed its acquisition of semiconductor and software provider CSR, the company said in a news release Thursday. The $2.4 billion acquisition will complement Qualcomm's current offerings by adding products and customers in the Internet of Everything and automotive sectors, it said.

SoftBank made an additional investment in Sprint, buying nearly 23 million more shares for $86.9 million, giving SoftBank 79.99 percent ownership of the U.S. carrier, SoftBank said in a Thursday announcement. Last week, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said that at one point he had grown disillusioned with the U.S. market and considered selling the Japan’s company’s stake in Sprint, but had had a change of heart (see 1508040054). “It has not been a fun few months for Sprint,” said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche in a note to investors. “Regardless of the fact if Masa wanted to sell or didn't is irrelevant at this point, in our view. Between his stock purchase yesterday (8/12), comments on the last earnings call and offering a clear incentive to his CEO to drive this stock price higher -- he (and SB) are now fully engaged it seems. It still has much wood to chop admittedly, but we believe it is taking the steps to make this turn.”

Audi, BMW and Daimler agreed to acquire Nokia's mapping and location services business "Here," the automakers said in a joint announcement. Financial terms weren't disclosed, but the deal is expected to close in Q1 2016, they said. Here is the mapping system used on Nokia and Windows smartphones. Its big plus is the ability to pre-load maps before traveling and using them at the destination without the need for a wireless connection. The companies noted that mapping services will be key in the move toward self-driving vehicles.

The European Commission approved Nokia's pending acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, a Nokia news release said Friday. The transaction has been cleared by antitrust review boards in several countries, including Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Russia, and the antitrust review period in the U.S. has expired, it said. Nokia said it expects to close the deal in the first half of 2016.

Technicolor’s agreement to buy Cisco’s connected devices business for $450 million cash and $150 million in newly issued Technicolor’s shares includes a “strategic partnership” deal under which the two companies will “develop and deliver” next-generation video and broadband technologies, with an emphasis on IoT “solutions and services,” Technicolor said in a Thursday statement. “By combining their strengths and leading video expertise, from content creation to in-home delivery, the two companies will accelerate innovation and forge a leading entity that network service providers can rely on for their next generation connected home experiences.” Technicolor and Cisco agreed to cross-license patents owned by both companies, it said. Technicolor said its acquisition of Cisco's connected device business is expected to close in late 2015 or early 2016.

Netflix backs Charter Communications' buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, the online video distributor said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday at the FCC in docket 15-149. Charter's settlement-free interconnection policy and plans to extend that two BHN and TWC "is a welcome and significant departure from the efforts of some ISPs to collect access tolls on the Internet," the online video distributor said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 15-149. As long as free peering is a condition of the BHN and TWC acquisitions, Netflix said, it would support it. Charter has had a settlement-less interconnection policy for years, and plans to keep one at least through 2018, the cable company said in a separate filing Wednesday. Charter submitted its recently updated interconnection policy, which indicates that applicants providing content to Charter customers can tie into its IP network, and those interconnections will be done "at no charge to either party for traffic exchange," Charter said.

Pandora completed an acquisition of analytics provider Next Big Sound to "augment" its Artist Marketing Platform, it said in a news release Wednesday. The deal, terms of which weren't disclosed, was announced in May (see 1505190034).

Underwriters Labs acquired the National Analysis Center (NAC), a Florida firm known for its interoperability and usability testing of mobile phones, automotive infotainment products and mobile accessories, UL said in a Thursday announcement. Terms of the deal, which closed Wednesday, weren't disclosed, though UL said NAC’s 36 employees will join UL and remain with the company. The acquisition “significantly broadens UL's range of interoperability services in high-growth sectors that are impacted by the compatibility and usability of each device, such as automotive infotainment, wireless products and wearable smart devices,” UL said. As major consumer trends such as IoT, wearables and the connected car “drive adoption of new consumer devices, the market for interoperability testing will continue to grow," UL said.

Cisco plans to buy OpenDNS, a San Francisco-based Internet security company, for $635 million in cash, assumed equity and retention-based incentives, to "add broad visibility and threat intelligence," Cisco said in a news release Tuesday. The purchase was spurred by Cisco's desire to "reduce the time to detect and respond to threats, and mitigate risk of a security breach" by combining its security capabilities with OpenDNS' "broad visibility, unique predictive threat intelligence and cloud platform," Cisco said. The buyer said it expects to complete the deal in Q1.