When a technology is in its hype phase, that usually results in a flurry of start-ups and acquisitions, and there are signs that the M&A process is beginning in edge computing. In the past week, Intel has acquired Pivot Technology’s Smart Edge platform, while data center operator EdgeConnex is said to be in acquisition talks with a Swedish would-be buyer. Intel is paying $27m for Smart Edge, which provides a cloud-native platform to support edge deployments, largely deployed within mobile networks. The chip giant is clearly keen on the distribution of the cloud, because it will involve larger numbers of chips than a very consolidated infrastructure model, and may be less susceptible to the pressures of dealing with the webscalers.…