The acquisition adds a Mac OS X-based RSS reader, giving NewsGator a better rounded audience for its feeds.RSS platform company NewsGator Technologies has acquired NetNewsWire, creator of a popular RSS reader for Mac OS X.
NewsGator already owns RSS aggregators on Outlook, Windows and Windows Media Center, as well as a Web service. The addition of NetNewsWire effectively rounds out the company's offerings, significantly extending its synchronization capability.
NetNewsWire was one of the earliest desktop RSS readers, with its first public version released in 2002. Although it is Mac-only, it has gained a wide audience that has put it ahead of competitors, according to NewsGator.
In announcing the buy, NewsGator noted that when combined with its recent acquisition of FeedDemon, the company will now have the highest combined market share of all RSS companies.
Click here to read about NewsGator's acquisition of FeedDemon.
"NetNewsWire really completes this story for us," said Greg Reinacker, NewsGator founder. "We now have the best client on the Mac, which lets us serve this exciting part of the market as well."
Traditionally, NewsGator has been Windows-focused, although the company does support other platforms. For example, its Web edition runs on browsers like Safari, and its e-mail version runs with any client on any platform. Reinacker added that NewsGator's mobile edition is available for any HTML-capable device.
In order to fold NetNewsWire's capability into the company, the reader will integrate with the NewsGator Online synchronization platform, which will allow users to access content across multiple devices.
"Synchronization is set to be the killer feature of the next generation of feed reading software," said John Gruber, author of Mac Weblog Daring Fireball. He added that NetNewsWire already offers synching between multiple copies of the reader, but that it's no longer enough just to track feed subscriptions from one computer, using one application.
"What's needed is a way to track your subscriptions from different applications on multiple platforms, including from the Web itself," said Gruber. "I'm happy to see [NetNewsWire creator] Brent Simmons and NetNewsWire have joined with NewsGator to bring these features to Mac OS X."
As part of the deal, Simmons will be joining NewsGator as a product architect. Current NetNewsWire customers will receive a free 2-year paid subscription to NewsGator Online, as well as access to the company's technical support resources.
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