Xmarks
Saved by
Password-Syncing Service LastPass
Xmarks has been acquired by LastPass.
The cross-browser password management service will be the new purveyor of the much-loved, but financially strapped, cross-browser bookmarking service.
Back in September, we were gutted by the news that Xmarks would be shutting down.
That announcement led to a groundswell of support from Xmarks users and also opened up the door to various acquisition options.
Last month, the company announced that it was in the final stages of selling itself, assuring users that the service would remain alive and on-track. Today, Xmarks announced its new owner, LastPass.
Xmarks and LastPass actually have a lot of similarities; both use the cloud to make secure data accessible from various browsers and platforms. The pairing of the two companies makes an awful lot of sense.
Like Xmarks, LastPass started life as a free service. Unlike Xmarks, LastPass took the initiative to migrate to a paid option early in its lifetime. While the bulk of LastPass remains free, added features like USB-drive support, mobile apps and priority support are available for $12 per year.
LastPass CEO Joe Siegrist told Kara Swisher at AllThingsD that “we really want to figure something out that could keep [Xmarks] going.”
The first plan of attack is to introduce a premium version of Xmarks, styled after the premium LastPass offering. Xmarks users will get access to iPhone and Android apps, three months of backups that monitor and track every change in your bookmarks, priority support and the ability to sync open browser tabs across computers and mobile devices.
Users can even get a combo pack and subscribe to both LastPass and Xmarks for $20 per year.
We think this is the perfect partnership for Xmarks. LastPass has shown that it’s a company that has both a strong and secure data infrastructure and a viable business model. It helps that the two services are so complementary. Both excel at being cross-browser and cross-platform.
What do you think of the latest chapter in the Xmarks saga? Let us know.