Acquisition of iView Multimedia will strengthen assault on Adobe
British company iView Media Software has sold its "digital asset management" to software giant Microsoft, the founder of the British photo cataloging Software Company said on its Web site. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
With Microsoft’s purchase of iView, we are in a position to enhance our industry-leading product, whilst strengthening our customer service and support, iView Multimedia founder Yan Calotychos said in an open letter to customers.
iView designs and sells the iView, iView Media Pro, and iView Catalog Reader software, which is designed to organize, annotate, view, play back, convert, and otherwise manage different types of multimedia files. The company designed its products for the Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Mac OS X platforms.
The application targets creative professionals, while taking the technology to a new level, an iView representative said via an email.
As the software is available for both Mac and Windows systems, Yan Calotychos, iView’s chief executive, stressed out that the company will continue to develop and offer support for each version.
The product that was born on the Mac will remain on the Mac as well as on the Windows operating system, Calotychos said. All iView products will continue to be sold on the iView Web site and through our partners and channel. User’s 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.
According to Calotychos, the deal will prove to be a good one for both parties:
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 teams 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.
Microsoft is already working on a new suite of graphics tools under the Expression brand. The company unveiled 3 tools last September: one for graphic, one for user interface and the last one for web design.
The applications aim to erode the borders between graphic designers and software developers.
NPD analyst Chris Swenson said the deal should help Microsoft broaden its new Expression line of graphics and Web design tools by giving it a tool that is popular among photographers and other graphic artists.
Because digital photography and digital asset management is such a key aspect of Web design, I think it was a necessary strategic move that Microsoft had to make, given their investment in the Expression line, Swenson said in an e-mail interview.
The Expression applications are based on an identically named suite of products from Creature House that Microsoft acquired in 2003.
Swenson said it should also help Microsoft compete better against Adobe Systems in the market for digital workflow software. Adobe is testing a product called Lightroom that can be used for managing photo jobs.
Together with the solutions in the current Expression product line: Expression Web Designer, Expression Interactive Designer, and Expression Graphic Designer, I think Microsoft will have a very competitive suite of products to offer Web designers and other creative professionals going forward, Swenson said.
The iView development team — including company founder and chief executive Yan Calotychos, are headed to Redmond to join forces with Microsoft, while marketing will continue to operate out of London.
The information on iView’s site did not include any terms of the deal. Microsoft said in a statement that it bought iView "because of its great product offerings that deliver unparalleled digital asset management and cataloging solutions for customers."
It is too early to comment on how and when iView’s products will be incorporated into our product line, Microsoft said.
According to iView’s Web site, Calotychos started the company in 1999 with his wife, Victoria.
Now, with both iView and Expression applications on its hands, Microsoft aims to compete with Adobe’s graphics products, such as Dreamweaver or Photoshop.