Google acquires Widgets powerhouse Labpixies

in News by Gal Mor — April 27, 2010 at 10:01 am | 4 comments

Google announced the acquisition of Labpixies, a developer of personalized web gadgets – these widgets appear on iGoogle, Android and the iPhone. The companies did not disclose the size of the deal, but sources estimate it at $25 million.

Labpixies’ team will be based in Google’s Tel Aviv office and will anchor iGoogle efforts across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Google R&D center in Israel announced future plans to develop great web apps and leverage Labpixies’ knowledge and expertise to help developers and improve the ecosystem overall.

The acquisition is a strategic move for Google in Israel. It reflects Google’s interest in search alternatives. According to Google’s blog post, “Not everyone likes to start their day with just a search box and logo (no matter how cool it is!). Many users want email, videos, news, weather, games, and other information to be at their fingertips each time they open up a browser window”.

Google launched iGoogle in 2005 to address this need by providing a personalized homepage with access to any RSS feed and well over a hundred thousand gadgets. One of the first developers to create gadgets for iGoogle was Labpixies. Over the years, Google and Labpixies worked closely together on a variety of projects, including the launch of a number of global OpenSocial based gadgets. Recently, Google decided it could do more if they were part of the same team, and as such,  announced the acquisition of Labpixies

Labpixies started to help users express themselves in a fun and creative way by personalizing their online experience. The company explained the aquisition: We both felt the time was right to come together. We started LabPixies to create a truly personalized online experience and develop fun widgets that people find useful every day. Working at Google will help us scale to more users as well as giving our team greater opportunities. The acquisition is an opportunity to learn from each other, bring more apps to users, help developers and improve the overall developer ecosystem”.

There are no planned changes in Labpixies or planned details about future integration of Labpixies on other Google products. However, the company said it will continue to evaluate this over time.

Website: http://www.labpixies.com/
Abstract: LabPixies is a leading provider of personalized web gadgets. Its goal is to provide the ultimate personalized online experience, bringing together the most advanced web technologies and services in a...  
Read more about Labpixies in The Wadi Index.

Tags: android featured google iGoogle iphone Labpixies Widgets

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Author: GalMor

Gal Mor and the Israeli internet industry go hand in hand from the very beginning. Gal was chief editor at ynet.co.il Computers Channel for five years and content manager on site. Gal is a now a strategic consultant for new media content and owner of the influencive blog: holesinthenet.co.il