Facebook Inc. has hired the team behind the mobile-caching startup Spool. Facebook then promptly shut down the service’s operations.
Spool offered free mobile apps for Google Inc. Android- and Apple Inc. iOS-powered devices that enabled consumers to save online content, such as articles or videos, which could then be viewed when the device was connected to the Internet.
“We started Spool to make content easy to consume on a mobile device,” says a post on Spool’s blog. “To accomplish this, we built some very sophisticated technology and developed a deep expertise in mobile software development. We firmly believe that solving these problems will be increasingly important as the world accesses the Internet primarily through mobile devices.”
Facebook made the deal to add mobile know-how, says a spokeswoman for the social network. “The Spool team has deep expertise in mobile software development and a passion for making content easy to consume," she says.
The acquisition and hire is the latest in a string of similar moves Facebook has made that focus on mobile. 488 million users interacted with Facebook on a mobile device in the first quarter, according the social network’s first quarter earnings report.
Improving its mobile experience and monetizing that traffic is something that the social network has long acknowledged is a priority. That explains why the social network has spent much of this year focused on mobile-focused acquisitions. Facebook has recently acquired companies including mobile gifting app Karma, Tagtile, a mobile loyalty company that serves very small businesses, and, most notably, photo-sharing mobile app Instagram.
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