Twitter buys Seattle startup, second purchase this month

Apr 23, 2010
This picture taken in 2009 in Paris, shows the front page of Twitter. The leading Internet microblogging site announced Friday that it had bought Cloudhopper, a small SMS technology company, in the second acquisition by the popular micro-blogging service this month.

Twitter announced Friday that it had bought Cloudhopper, a small SMS technology company, in the second acquisition by the popular micro-blogging service this month.

The Seattle-based Cloudhopper is a messaging infrastructure firm that helps Twitter connect directly to mobile carrier networks around the world, Twitter said in a blog post.

Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

While Twitter is most often accessed from Internet-enabled mobile devices or computers, the San Francisco-based company recalled that its origins as a message service of 140 characters or less came from SMS text messaging.

Twitter said it had already been working with Cloudhopper "to become one of the highest volume SMS programs in the world."

"Twitter processes close to a billion SMS per month and that number is growing around the world from Indonesia to Australia, the UK, the US, and beyond," Twitter said.

Cloudhopper, founded in 2008, is a two-person operation.

Earlier this month, Twitter announced the acquisition of Atebits, a company that developed an program for Twitter.

Revealing user numbers for the first time since it launched in March 2006, said last week that it has topped 105 million registered users and is adding 300,000 new accounts a day.

Explore further: News Corp. board approves split, stock buyback

add to favorites email to friend print save as pdf

Related Stories

Twitter partners with Indian firm for SMS tweets

Oct 14, 2009

Twitter announced a deal with India's top mobile company Bharti Airtel on Wednesday that will allow users of the hot micro-blogging service to send "tweets" at standard SMS message rates and receive them for ...

Google CEO joins Twitter

Dec 07, 2009

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, who took some flak earlier this year for calling Twitter a "poor man's email system," has joined the hot micro-blogging service.

Twitter testing tool to organize tweets

Oct 01, 2009

Twitter on Thursday began letting a small number of users test a "Lists" feature for dividing maelstroms of tweets into manageable sub-categories.

Recommended for you

US panel rejects Motorola bid to block Xbox imports

May 24, 2013

The US International Trade Commission sided with Microsoft in a patent dispute with Google-owned Motorola Mobility that could have led to Xbox 360 videogame consoles being banned from import.

Pandora posts in-line 1Q loss, upbeat sales

May 23, 2013

(AP)—Internet radio company Pandora reported higher-than-expected revenue in the latest quarter, with losses in line with analysts' forecasts, as the number of subscribers who pay for ad-free listening rose above 2.5 million.

User comments : 0

More news stories

Drones may violate international law

(Phys.org) —As President Obama gives a speech on national security—including defending U.S. use of drones to combat terrorism—Leila Sadat, JD, international law expert and professor of law at Washington University in ...

Google eyes emerging markets networks

Google has become deeply involved in a series of projects to build and operate wireless networks in emerging markets including sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, a report said Friday.

Facial-recognition technology proves its mettle

(Phys.org) —In a study that evaluated some of the latest in automatic facial recognition technology, researchers at Michigan State University were able to quickly identify one of the Boston Marathon bombing ...

The long road to the 2000-watt society

The vision of a society in which each inhabitant of the earth manages to consume only 2000 watts has already been around for 15 years. During this time, there has been a steady increase in environmental awareness ...

Galaxies fed by funnels of fuel

(Phys.org) —Computer simulations of galaxies growing over billions of years have revealed a likely scenario for how they feed: a cosmic version of swirly straws.