Microsoft Buys iView Multimedia Photo Organizer
iView Multimedia, a British photo organization software company, announced today that they have been acquired by Microsoft. iView’s technology manages digital photos and enjoys a following among photographers and graphic artists which also includes Mac users. Will iView power the Microsoft answer to Yahoo’s Flickr & Yahoo Photos or Google Picasa? Probably.
Here’s an open letter from Yan Calotychos, founder of iView Multimedia.
Tuesday June 27, 2006
Today marks an exciting new chapter for iView and its relationship with our customers. We’re announcing that iView has been acquired and is now part of the Microsoft Corporation. With Microsoft’s purchase of iView, we are in a position to enhance our industry-leading product, whilst strengthening our customer service and support.
As digital asset management has become an essential requirement for all creative professionals, many of you have told us that iView MediaPro is a critical component of your business. We take that responsibility very seriously.
In my view, this Microsoft acquisition affords us an unprecedented opportunity to be even more responsive to a thriving market and ensure that iView MediaPro continues to perform to its full potential. Our engineering and marketing team here at iView are energized and excited to be joining the Microsoft team, and I personally will continue to be involved in the evolution of the product for years to come.
What this acquisition will mean for you, our customers, is that together we face a bigger and brighter future in managing your creative workflow. The product that was born on the Mac will remain on the Mac as well as on the Windows operating system. All iView products will continue to be sold on the iView website and through our partners and channel. Bottom line: You all can continue to use and buy iView products knowing that they will be fully supported as Microsoft evolves the products in the future on both the Windows and Mac platforms.
Your feedback and suggestions have been integral to the development and tuning of our software, and as always we welcome your comments and questions. We have provided an FAQ regarding this announcement and we will keep you informed through regular newsletters and blog postings as appropriate.
Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to sharing with you the evolution of iView MediaPro — the industry’s true standard for digital asset management.
Sincerely,
Yan and the iView Team
