Global internet corporation, Yahoo Inc. has acquired Rockmelt, a social Web browser. Rockmelt has been struggling for quite some time now and this move will reveal technology and engineering talent that could boost its mobile and social networking efforts.
Yahoo did not reveal the terms and conditions accompanied by the contract, but there has been speculations that the price was between USD 50 million and USD80 million.
The corporation will shut down the existing Rockmelt product within 30 days and assimilate the technology into Yahoo’s media platform to “deliver content in new ways,” said a yahoo spokeswoman.
In line with the acquisition, Yahoo will also acquire thirty tow Rockmelt employees as part of the deal. this also includes the CEO Eric Visharia who will become the vice president of products for Yahoo’s media properties and RockMelt CTO Tim Howes, who will become vice president of engineering for Yahoo’s mobile products, according to the source.
Launched in 2010, Rockmelt’s Web browser integrated social networking features directly within the browser, allowing users to send Facebook messages and browse Twitter postings. It however never grew enough of a following to challenge the larger Web browsers such as Google Inc’s Chrome and Microsoft Corp’s Internet Explorer.
For a year now, Rockmelt shifted its determinations to focus strictly on the mobile version of its product.
