Back in 2013, a company called Prss created and launched a web app that basically allowed users to create and public their own digital magazines, which in addition would also be compatible with Apple’s Newsstand feature. Prss’ co-founder Michel Elings was quoted as saying that Prss was “the software Apple forgot to make,” but it looks like Apple has since remedied that.
According to a report from iCulture, Apple has acquire Prss sometime during the summer. This has since been confirmed by Apple who released a boilerplate statement saying, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
However unlike their acquisition with Beats, it seems that their acquisition of Prss is an acqui-hire. The service was shutdown back in July and according to the LinkedIn profiles of some of Prss’ employees, it seems that they are now working for the Cupertino company. Unfortunately the exact nature of their new jobs remains unclear, although it has been suggested that it will most likely be related to Newsstand.
Given that iBooks Author is meant to aid the creation of ebooks and textbooks, the acquisition of Prss could see a similar tool, except that it would be aimed at the creation of digital magazines instead. In any case we’ll keep our eyes peeled for additional developments, so do check back with us at a later date for the details.
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