iSkoot acquires social networking client Social.IM

Venture Beat — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:59:39 -0700

iSkoot, a provider of carrier-friendly Internet voice calling services, has acquired Social.IM for an undisclosed price.

The move takes the mobile company, which we profiled earlier this year, in a new direction. San Francisco-based iSkoot provides voice-over-Internet-protocol, or VoIP, phone service on mobile phones. It offers services such as Skype on phones with a wireless carrier’s blessings because it uses the carrier’s network to complete a web call.

Social.IM, meanwhile, has a social networking instant messenger client. The deal thus positions iSkoot to move beyond the mobile VoIP market so that it can package a variety of mobile communications services that can be integrated with mobile phones. Mark Jacobstein, chief executive of iSkoot, said that Social.IM’s platform will work well with iSkoot’s own upcoming mobile web push services.

Social.IM’s IM client is customizable for desktops and gives users real-time updates, such as notifications from friend activity on social networks. iSkoot said its mobile VoIP services have millions of customers around the world. The 3 Skypephone uses the iSkoot Skype service in eight countries.

VentureBeat writer Eric Eldon wrote about Social.IM in January. He noted how it turns your Facebook friends into contacts. Investors in Social.IM include Hank Barry, Peter Thiel, and early Googlers Aydin Senkut and Georges Harik.

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iSkoot acquires social networking client Social.IM