Business

Facebook just acquired Acrylic Software, a Vancouver, CA-based startup that developed two paid desktop and mobile apps: Pulp, a personalized newspaper app for Mac ($9.99) and iPad, and Wallet, an app that lets you “sync, store and secure your digital life” for Mac and iOS. Both of these apps got a good amount of press when they launched, but for the most part, the company has flown under the radar. Acrylic Software’s founder Dustin MacDonald says that Facebook did not acquire the company’s apps though and that Wallet and Pulp “will continue to remain available for download and purchase in their current form.” The team will move to San Francisco. This announcement comes just a week after Facebook also acquired read-it-later service Spool. It’s not clear what exactly the Acrylic team will focus on at Facebook, but chances are the team will work on mobile-related products – an area Facebook could indeed use some help. With Wallet, Acrylic has a background in encryption and mobile securi...

Rip Empson is a writer and rabble-rouser at TechCrunch. He covers startups, music, social, mobile, health, and education. You can reach him at rip[at]techcrunch[dot]com ? Learn More As smartphone adoption increases and mobile technology becomes more powerful, it’s changing the way in which people interact with health information. The popularity of health and medical apps has begun to explode, and the amount of health data along with it, much of it thanks to those increasingly wearable and user-friendly gizmos that use smart sensors to capture and transmit all shades of biometric data. Smartphones now tap into these health devices, turning our phones into heart monitors and cancer screeners, all with the goal of helping us live longer, healthier lives. You may not be familiar with them by name, but Azumio is one of a number of young startups tapping into this hot trend, leveraging smart mobile technology to get us making better and more informed health decisions. Thanks to the popular...