Apple continues to quietly acquire other companies, as the company has reportedly bought the popular online media discovery and recommendation service Matcha.tv. Matcha’s iOS app disappeared from the App Store in late May with no explanation.
According to Venture Beat, Apple has acquired Matcha.tv for an estimated $1 million to $1.5 million. Although, the final total could be higher once the deal is completed. Unsurprisingly, Matcha.tv CEO Guy Piekarz declined to comment on the potential acquisition and Apple served Venture Beat their typical canned response that “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
Matcha.tv debuted in January of 2012, and quickly established itself as an easy way to browse streaming content across all the major online sources, such as Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, Amazon, and more. The Matcha app became quickly popular on the App Store, gaining favorable reviews from most of its users.
The acquisition of Matcha is sure to lead to more speculation about Apple’s much rumored television service, and can probably be expected to be mentioned in any upcoming “Apple TV” rumors. The technology that powers Matcha would be a powerful addition to any such product.
