Justin Timberlake may be singing a new song after one of the companies in which he has invested in apparently has been acquired by Apple (News - Alert).

Known as Particle, it is an HTML5 Web and Web app design firm located in San Francisco.


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Financial details on the transaction were not available. It appears to have been acquired last month. Timberlake funded Particle’s Robo.to video service and also provided an investment to the company.

Particle was started in 2008, and since has “done HTML5 work for Google, Motorola (News - Alert), Amazon, Yahoo, Sony, and Apple.” The firm’s founder and chief technology officer was identified as Aubrey Anderson.

In another report about Particle, TechCrunch reported that news about Particle becoming part of Apple is “evident on the LinkedIn (News - Alert) profiles of several Particle staff members. A tweet sent by Particle front end developer Lynn Collette … appears to confirm the news — while her public LinkedIn profile directly lists her as a ‘UI engineer at Apple.’”

In explaining why Apple made the acquisition, Particle focuses on HTML5 on its product pages, iAd advertising, and on iCloud.com. Apple has similar interests.

Apple also recently acquired Chomp (News - Alert), an app search company; AuthenTec, a mobile security company; and Anobit, a flash memory maker. Anobit provides flash storage for enterprise and mobile sectors, according to information posted on the company’s website. Flash makers, consumer electronics vendors and storage system providers are among those who use the Israeli company’s products, TMCnet said.