Facebook Acquires ProtoGeo, Maker Of Activity Tracking App Moves

Social networking giant Facebook has acquired Finland-based fitness app maker Protogeo for an undisclosed sum, according to a blog post from ProtoGeo.

The company’s high-profile app, called Moves, passively tracks a user’s daily activity using the phone’s built-in accelerometer in order to provide all-day tracking without killing the phone’s battery. To keep track of where the user goes, Moves also activates the GPS intermittently in the background. ProtoGeo’s blog post specifies that ”the Moves experience will continue to operate as a standalone app, and there are no plans to change that or commingle data with Facebook”.

The deal marks the latest activity tracker acquisition in the last few years. Almost exactly a year ago, San Francisco-based activity tracker maker Jawbone acquired Pittsburgh-based BodyMedia, another company that developed activity trackers, but BodyMedia’s are dedicated devices. In March 2014, Intel confirmed its previously rumored acquisition of Basis Science, the activity tracker company that makes the high-end Basis B1 Band device. Then, just this week, Nike reportedly laid off a majority of its FuelBand engineering team. According to the rumors, Nike let go of 55 employees, over half of its then 70-person team. That move might have been influenced in part by Nike’s relationship with Apple and the growing buzz around the possibly soon-to-launch Apple iWatch.