Yahoo acquired 28 companies last year, with most of them having a focus on mobile technologies. They seem to be continuing the focus on expanding their mobile presence through buying out companies in 2014. They recently announced an acquisition of Aviate, a mobile technology startup that offers an ‘intelligent home screen’ for mobile phones. The home screen will learn the user’s habits, and display information that the user needs, based on their current activities.
It is a service available only for Android devices at this time. Adam Cahan, SVP of mobile and emerging products at Yahoo, wrote “By using signal to understand your context – WiFi, GPS, Accelerometer, Time, ect – Aviate automatically surfaces information at the moment it’s useful. So whether you’re just waking up, driving, at work, or maybe out for the night, Aviate learns your habits and helps anticipate the information and apps you need – making your phone smarter.”
Some people are describing this as an advanced version of the “Google Now” service, or Yahoo’s entrance into the digital personal assistant field. Whatever Yahoo’s intent, this purchase does bring them some innovative technology. The question is whether or not it is a technology mobile user’s want.
Aviate was launched in October, and it remains in beta. Yahoo hopes to make it “a central part of our Android-based experience in 2014.”
The terms of this deal were not announced, other than that Yahoo acquired the entire company, and presumably the employees will be joining the Yahoo team as well.
What do you think about Yahoo’s massive acquisition spree? Will Yahoo be releasing some innovative products on their own in 2014, or just relying on their deep pockets to keep buying the latest technology advancements? Leave your comments below.
