Apple Acquires Creative Web Application Consulting Firm Particle

Apple has acquired the relatively new creative consulting company Particle, which is based in San Francisco. Particle, founded in 2008, specializes in marketing and Web applications that are HTML5-centric. Actor/singer Justin Timberlake is an investor who helped fund the company's Robo.to social video network.

This move gained Apple a small roster of new HTML5-savvy workers, although some of Particle's workers elected to leave. The ones who remained to board Apple's ship will likely be used to expand Apple's Web applications for the likes of iCloud.com, various company product pages, and iAd advertising. Based on info found on various public profiles and the company's About page, Particle's employees have impressive past work experience, with several who were part of Yahoo's user experience design group.

Here's a clip from Particle's "About" page:

HTML5 and the WebKit rendering engine already drive the web experience on devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Android, but are increasingly becoming the lowest common denomination on the desktop web in next generation browsers like Google's Chrome, and Apple's Safari. Particle has chosen to focus on this technology so intensely because we believe it will soon be the rendering engine that powers a new universe of light weight and embedded applications from set top boxes to game consoles to Chrome OS and Android devices to portable telephony and media devices of all kinds.

It's the last sentence that is most interesting, perhaps indicating one of the reasons Apple acquired the small company. Clients listed on company's website include Google, Motorola, and Sony, for which Particle has helped develop, define, and execute HTML5 entry and strategy, among other things. The deal between the Apple and Particle was reached in September for an unknown sum.

[via Apple Insider]