Google has acquired Finnish mobile social networking startup Jaiku.
Jaiku's service, similar to Twitter and Pownce, lets users send text messages to the company's Website about where they are and what they are doing. This info is then posted online and/or sent to other users' mobile devices. The service also sends these "updates" to other Websites, blogs or social networking sites; it also can send messages to instant message services such as AIM, Yahoo! or Google Talk.
Jaiku was founded in February; its handful of employees will join Google. Current Jaiku users can continue to use the service.
Tony Hsieh, a Google product manager confirmed the acquisition in a post on the company's official blog, "heartily" welcoming Jaiku to the Google family. He also said, "We plan to use the ideas and technology behind Jaiku to make compelling and useful products. Although we don't have definite plans to announce at this time, we're excited about helping drive the next round of developments in Web and mobile technology."
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.