Twitter makes TweetDeck deal official

Multiple sources Monday night confirmed that Twitter has bought TweetDeck. The deal is worth $40 million in a combination of cash and shares. Twitter had yet to confirm the move but is expected to do so within the next day.

UberMedia, the owner of rival Twitter clients UberSocial, Echofon, and others, had tried to buy TweetDeck before but was outbid at the last minute.

The acquisition follows the buyout of Atebits a year ago and reflects a mounting attempt from Twitter to control the interface experience of its official clients. Along with creating a much more consistent look in its apps across Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and now the web, Twitter has been trying to rein in the development of third party clients. The San Francisco firm has been recommending that app developers avoid writing their own clients unless they can clearly differentiate their work from the official software.

It's unknown what will happen to TweetDeck, though the most probable result is a merging of some TweetDeck features into Twitter's work.

Outside of apps, TweetDeck will help quickly accelerate Twitter's plans for a British office and give it a headcount of a few dozen as soon as the deal clears. [via The Next Web]

By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, industry, Google, Android, BlackBerry, iPhone apps, RIM, mobile phones, Twitter, Apple, Tweetie, atebits, TweetDeck