Mozilla acquires Pocket, an offline news reading application

Mozilla has acquired Pocket. Pocket is a app that lets you save web content, including news articles, videos and social media shares on your phone, to browse through later at the convenience of the user. Pocket has been around for nine years now, and initially started as an add-on for the Mozilla Firefox browser. This is the first strategic acquisition by Mozilla. The acquisition is part of efforts by Mozilla to enable users to discover and access high quality content.

We've got some big, exciting news! Pocket is joining forces with @Mozilla. Read all about it here: https://t.co/R4jwQ7cNg6 pic.twitter.com/hWtlhmxquA

— Pocket (@Pocket) February 27, 2017

Chris Beard, Mozilla CEO, said, “We believe that the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content is key to keeping the internet healthy by fighting against the rising tide of centralisation and walled gardens. Pocket provides people with the tools they need to engage with and share content on their own terms, independent of hardware platform or content silo, for a safer, more empowered and independent online experience.”

“What matters most to us is our ability to make a real impact in the lives of our users and the world at large. That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’ve found a powerful new ally in helping us achieve our mission, while building a better, healthier, and more interesting Internet in the process,” Pocket founder Nate Weiner wrote in a blog post.

Pocket will be a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Mozilla Corporation. There are no changes in the team, and Pocket will continue along the lines of its existing roadmap.

Pocket will also be a part of the Mozilla Open Source Project. Over the course of the last year, Pocket had been working with Mozilla on deeper integration into Firefox. Over the course of the work, the two companies developed a shared vision and identified an opportunity to do more work together, which has lead to the acquisition. 

Pocket has over 10 million monthly active users across platforms including Android, iOS and the Web.

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from http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/mozilla-acquires-pocket-an-offline-news-reading-application-364536.html