Firefox Developer Mozilla Snaps Up Read-it-Later Service Pocket
Mozilla, developer of the Firefox Web browser, recently announced that it has acquired read-it-later service Pocket that is available on iOS devices and a number of other platforms.
Pocket will help advance the company's Context Graph Initiative which is designed to be a recommender system for the Web.
According to Mozilla, Pocket will continue to operate and remain as a wholly-owned subsidiary. More than 10 million monthly active users interact with the service. In its almost 10 year history, more than 3 billion pieces of content have been saved by users.
Mozilla talked more about the acquisition in a blog post:
Mozilla is growing, experimenting more, and doubling down on our mission to keep the internet healthy, as a global public resource that’s open and accessible to all. As our first strategic acquisition, Pocket contributes to our strategy by growing our mobile presence and providing people everywhere with powerful tools to discover and access high quality web content, on their terms, independent of platform or content silo.
Pocket will join Mozilla’s product portfolio as a new product line alongside the Firefox web browsers with a focus on promoting the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content. Pocket’s core team and technology will also accelerate Mozilla’s broader Context Graph initiative.
Pocket is designed for the iPhone/iPod touch and all iPad models. It can be downloaded now on the App Store for free.
There is also a Premium version of the service available for $4.99 per month or $44.99 yearly. Along with a completely ad-free environment, a subscription includes other advanced features like suggested tags, a personal backup of all saved articles and webpages, the ability to search the full text of articles, and more.
Interestingly, one of Pocket’s biggest competitors – Instapaper – was acquired by Pinterest last year.