Essential acquires CloudMagic, creator of Newton Mail

In a surprise move, Essential has acquired CloudMagic, the email startup that created Newton Mail. If you’re unfamiliar, Newton was a subscription-based premium email app that earned rave reviews from bloggers and email power users. But though the service attracted over 40,000 subscribers, CloudMagic shut down Newton in September of this year due to lack of profitability.

With Essential acquiring CloudMagic, it’s likely that Newton will be integrated into the next Essential Phone, or perhaps Essential’s mysterious home hub. Newton brings features including read receipts, Recap for reminding you of unresolved emails, automatic newsletter filtering, scheduled emails, and more.

Essential hasn’t had an easy time. The company has had decent sales, but not spectacular, and has been the center of multiple rumors that it’s looking to sell. Added on top of that are allegations of sexual misconduct by Essential founder, Andy Rubin, during his time at Google. To top it all off, Essential laid off a third of its staff in October. But nevertheless, the company continues to state that it’s working on future products.

And Essential’s comment on its plans for CloudMagic? “We are always on the lookout for companies with great technology and talent to help accelerate our product roadmap.”

Take that as you will. What do you think Essential has planned for CloudMagic?

source: androidandme