Yahoo buys news summarisation app from UK teen for £18m

Meanwhile, Apple acquires indoor mapping startup

Yahoo has acquired Summly, a news summarisation app company owned by a 17-year old-student from the UK.

The technology summarises news stories by cutting them down into "snapshots", the idea being that mobile users can more easily "skim" text to find the information they want without reading a full article.

"I am delighted to announce Summly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo," wrote Nick D'Aloisio on the Summly company website.

"Our vision is to simplify how we get information and we are thrilled to continue this mission with Yahoo's global scale and expertise."

D'Aloisio said he believed Yahoo "has an inspirational goal to make people's daily routines entertaining and meaningful", and that mobile will be "a central part" of the struggling web company's vision.

Summly has already completed 90 million summaries of news stories since its launch two years ago, when D'Aloisio was just 15. The Summly app has now disappeared from Apple's App Store, but D'Aloisio describes the absence as a "power nap" before his technology returns to "multiple" Yahoo products.

"Across Yahoo, we're focused on creating beautiful experiences that people are excited to use every day - products that inspire and delight. We can't wait to work with Nick and the Summly team to do just that," said Yahoo in a news release.

The deal is set to close in Q2 2013.

The acquisition of Summly is clearly another play into the mobile space for Yahoo, whose web services portfolio has been somewhat behind the pack when migrating to an increasingly mobile-device led world.

CEO Marissa Mayer, who joined the company from Google in July 2012, has publicly stated the company's efforts should focus on "search, display, mobile and video". Yahoo bought Stamped, a sharing and recommendation app, in October 2012.

Yahoo wasn't the only company snapping up start-ups in recent days, as Apple announced its acquisition of WiFiSLAM, a company specialising in GPS technologies, and particularly in mapping the interiors of buildings.

Apple has so far stayed tight-lipped about its plans for the technology.