Yahoo buys Konfabulator

Om Malik, Sunday, July 24, 2005 at 8:54 PM PT Comments (15)

Yahoo has bought, Pixoria, the company behind Konfabulator, the widget application. Widgets are small web-apps that run on your desktop and retrieve information from the Internet. These tiny apps basically use all the web technologies. Pixoria used to make widgets for the Mac, but had to switch gears and go PC after Apple introduced Dashboard in its latest version of Tiger OS. Pixoria has over 1000 third party widgets plus a great platform for people to build Yahoo-enabled mini apps using our APIs) and they are a great new desktop distribution channel for Yahoo. Yahoo will keep the app as a free product, and apparently Yahoo will refunding people who purchased it in the last couple of months). Pixoria was just 3 guys - Arlo Rose, Perry Clarke and Ed Voas. This will clearly be a way for Yahoo to spread its API (OpenYahoo) into various desktop applications. Apparently the deal closed last Tuesday.. I had heard some rumblings.

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15 comments so far

July 24th, 2005
10:23 PM PT

[...] gs [2005/07/22] Yahoo buys Pixoria - Makers of Konfabulator From Om Malik, Yahoo has continued their recent buying spree with the addition of Pixoria. Yah [...]

July 25th, 2005
4:02 AM PT
paradox1x said:

Yahoo! buys Konfabulator

Smart. Very smart. Good move Yahoo!: Yahoo Buys Maker of ‘Widget’ Applications - Yahoo! News: Hoping to pave a new…

July 25th, 2005
5:35 AM PT
Nick Hawkins said:

Beware of running this if you’re on Novell Netware lest you want to experience BSODs.

July 25th, 2005
9:51 AM PT
Trotz.com said:

Konfabulator Kraziness

Yahoo has added another one of my favorite sites to their service - first Flickr, now they have announced the acquisition of Konfabulator. And best of all - it’s now FREE! Konfabulator is a Windows/Mac tool to allow users…

July 25th, 2005
2:20 PM PT

[...] « Printer Spying?

Tuesday July 26, 2005

Yahoo! buys Konfabulator! I never would have seen this coming. Interesting acquisition that [...]

July 25th, 2005
4:20 PM PT
Get Real said:

Yahoo scoops up Konfabulator

Yahoo makes yet another acquisition, this time buying up Pixoria, the company responsible for the widget app Konfabulator. The first move - Konfabular (Yahoo! Widgets) is now free. Pixoria widgets were previously Mac based, but they now serve both…

July 25th, 2005
10:35 PM PT

Konfabulator-hoo! and the rise of Blogma

One of the first things I read this morning was this great news, or so I first thought—Globetechnology- Yahoo buys Konfabulator.  Konfabulator, now …

July 25th, 2005
10:36 PM PT
Qumana Blog said:

Konfabulator-hoo! and the rise of Blogma

One of the first things I read this morning was this great news, or so I first thought—Globetechnology- Yahoo …

July 26th, 2005
10:04 PM PT

[...] lo Rose Perry Clarke Ed Voas Link Links: Dan Farber, sinceretheory, BenBarren, Ajaxian, Om Malik, John Battelle, Abstract Dynamics, James Kendrick, Michael Parekh (long and excel [...]

July 30th, 2005
8:31 AM PT

[...] valsYahoo will be REALLY opening up more APIs. Zawodny failed or kept very quiet about the Konfabulator take overYahoo are counting RSS/Atom as a type of API not just as a syndicatio [...]

January 12th, 2006
11:33 PM PT

[...] He helped with the Pixoria (Konfabulator) acquisition for yahoo, and has been a key component of The Flickrization of Yahoo! His thoughtful and measured demeanor made a lasting impression, and we tried to stayed in touch since. I asked him about his plans, but Toni being Toni, politely said “no comment.” The link on True VP kinda gives it away! Regardless, Matt should be pretty stoked. It is the perfect present for Matt 2.2 (Happy Birthday Dude!) Toni knows how to build a business with handful of people. [...]

January 13th, 2006
9:11 AM PT

[...] He is headed to San Francisco-based Automattic, (a company started by Matt Mullenweg of WordPress,) where he will become the chief executive of the company. He will also become a venture partner at True Venture Partners, a new early stage venture fund based in San Francisco. Toni will be joining Phil Black, John Burke, and Jon Callaghan, the general partners of the fund…He helped with the Pixoria (Konfabulator) acquisition for yahoo, and has been a key component of The Flickrization of Yahoo! His thoughtful and measured demeanor made a lasting impression, and we tried to stayed in touch since. I asked him about his plans, but Toni being Toni, politely said “no comment.” The link on True VP kinda gives it away! Regardless, Matt should be pretty stoked. It is the perfect present for Matt 2.2 (Happy Birthday Dude!) Toni knows how to build a business with handful of people. [...]

January 17th, 2006
10:34 AM PT
January 21st, 2006
8:49 PM PT

[...] Dan Farber, sinceretheory, BenBarren, Ajaxian, Om Malik, John Battelle, Abstract Dynamics, James Kendrick, Michael Parekh (long and excellent overview and discussion), blogblogblog, Charlene Li, Paul Kedrosky, Sincere Theory, Jake Jarvis [...]

February 5th, 2006
7:10 PM PT

[...] Om Malik alluded to Yahoo’s increasing thirst for acquisitions earlier this weekend (e.g Dialpad) However, their purchase of Konfabulator definitely turns things up a notch for Yahoo. Konfabulator is a JavaScript runtime engine for Windows and Mac OS X that lets you run little files called Widgets that can do pretty much whatever you want them to. Widgets can be alarm clocks, calculators, can tell you your WiFi signal strength, will fetch the latest stock quotes for your preferred symbols, and even give your current local weather. (Source: Konfabulator). I remember trying out Konfabulator on my G3 earlier last year and raving about a large number of widgets. The only reason I uninstalled the application was because of the $19.95 registration cost. I hope Yahoo takes a leaf from Google’s style of acquisitions and starts to offer a free Konfabulator version. This should apply enough pressure on Microsoft to ensure that the enhanced dashboard planned for Microsoft Vista is as slick as or better than Konfabulator. [...]

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