Yahoo acquires Qwiki to compete with Twitter’s Vine
Qwiki's Video sharing apps acquisition will make Yahoo a top contender in mini-video sharing. The Qwiki app allows you to edit videos, add soundtracks, and convert simple images into beautiful videos.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has continued with her buying spree of internet startups to buy Qwiki video sharing app at a cool $50 million. Qwiki is a cool video sharing app that changes pictures and videos from the users camera roll into small movies that the user can share. Qwiki provides direct competition to Twitter’s Vine application that allows you to create and share 6 second videos with your friends.
Yahoo asked in a recent blog post announcing the acquisition, “Have you ever listened to an old song and all of a sudden a favorite vacation, concert, or summer memory pops into your mind? The Qwiki app automatically turns pictures and videos that you already have on your iPhone into quick, beautiful movies to share, including transitions and a soundtrack.”
Similar to the 1.1 billion dollar Tumblr acquisition last month Qwiki will also remain an independent app according to a statement by Qwiki CEO Doug Imbruce.
“The Qwiki app will live on as a standalone entity inside Yahoo!, where we will grow our thriving community and where our team will continue to work to help you share life’s best experiences,” Qwiki CEO Doug Imbruce said on Qwiki’s blog this afternoon.
Qwiki had initially launched an iPad application which created video summaries and was named by Apple as the best Search and Reference application of 2011. The app was downloaded more than 3 million times. Later Qwiki was launched for Apple iPhone and received Apple’s Editor’s Choice award and more recently named “10 NYC Startups to Watch” for 2013 by Time Inc.