Yahoo Acquires Qwiki iPhone Video App Startup in Effort to Bolster Mobile Services

Yahoo, apparently in the mood for a Qwiki, went and acquired the startup for an undisclosed sum, the company announced today. Currently exclusive to Apple users, the Qwiki app turns pictures and videos from the iPhone's camera roll into brief movies to share. Users can rearrange, add, or remove pictures and videos, and then add transitions, a soundtrack, filters, and captions.

"We’re excited to announce that Yahoo! acquired Qwiki - a company that uses awesome technology to bring together pictures, music and video to capture the art of storytelling," Yahoo said in a statement.



Yahoo said it will continue to support the Qwiki app, though didn't mention if it has plans of porting it over to Android, Windows Phone, or BlackBerry.

Qwiki Screenshots

Mobile has been a major emphasis of company chief Marissa Mayer. She's also shown a willingness to aggressively pursue companies she feels will help reinvigorate the Yahoo brand, having made well over a dozen acquisitions since she was hired a year ago. That includes spending $1.1 billion on Tumblr.

According to AllThingsD, Yahoo paid around $50 million for Qwiki.