Google acquires iOS and Mac email app maker Sparrow

20 Jul 2012

Google has acquired third party email app for Mac and iOS devices Sparrow for an undisclosed sum. The company’s staff will be integrated into Google’s Gmail division.

The development heralds an interesting new future for Gmail in terms of the kind of apps that could emerge to support the service.

One of the particular highlights of the acquisition is how Sparrow’s technology integrates easily with social media.

“We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience,” the company’s CEO Dom Leca said while announcing the deal.

“Now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.

“We’d like to extend a special thanks to all of our users who have supported us, advised us, given us priceless feedback and allowed us to build a better mail application. While we’ll be working on new things at Google, we will continue to make Sparrow available and provide support for our users,” Leca said.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com