Weekend Wrap-Up: Microsoft Buys Acompli; Firefox Coming to iOS
Happy Sunday, folks! Thanks for stopping by for the Weekend Wrap-Up, where we fill you in on big news stories from the past week. Companies making headlines in the past seven days include Microsoft, Acompli, Mozilla, Google, Intel, and Amazon. Let’s find out why.
Microsoft Buys Acompli
Microsoft may have some popular email software of its own, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t willing to look outside its walls for improvements. That was made evident this past week, as the company decided to plunk down $200 million to acquire Acompli, a mobile email app for iOS and Android that works with many different services, including Microsoft’s Exchange and Office 365 products. Will support for other mail services drop now that Microsoft owns the company? That’s something we’re not sure of yet, but we’ll let you know when we have more info.
Firefox is Coming to iOS
Better late than never, right? Firefox, once a proud name in the Web browsing world, will finally show up as a mobile Web browser app in the iOS App Store. But it’s going to be an uphill battle for Mozilla, the company that once did serious damage to Internet Explorer with Firefox for the desktop. For starts, Google Chrome has some serious marketshare on iOS. And you can’t forget Apple’s Safari, which comes preinstalled on every device. The time for Firefox’s mobile app to gain mindshare may have come and gone, but there’s no downside to some increased competition in the space.
Google and Intel Will Reportedly Partner on Next Glass Release
Google’s Glass experiment has taken a turn in recent months, going from extremely high profile to a bit more behind the scenes. You don’t see Google founder Sergey Brin wearing his glass around anymore; in fact, you don’t see a lot of Glass fans wearing the device these days. But that doesn’t mean the idea is going away. Google and Intel reportedly made a deal this past week for Intel processors to power the next generation of Google Glass products. The company has a wealth of information on how the original model was perceived — perhaps the second try will be more welcomed by the public.
Amazon Won’t Let the Fire Phone Die
If you asked me to pick the most disappointing product of 2014, my pick would probably be the Amazon Fire Phone. For all the hype surrounding the device — and for all the time Amazon had to study the competition before bringing out a phone — the device was surprisingly lackluster. And its sales were fitting of that description. That isn’t scaring Amazon away, however; chief executive Jeff Bezos said this past week that the company will continue to pursue the smartphone category. Bezos pointed to past company failures and stated that Amazon will continue to experiment in different areas in order to keep the company going.