SkySafari Acquired by Simulation Curriculum
Asset purchase includes apps, accessories, key personnel
San Francisco, CA, December 20th, 2013 - Southern Stars Group, LLC is pleased to announce the acquisition of its SkySafari apps for iOS, macOS, and Android; and of its SkyFi, and SkyWire hardware product lines. The acquiring company is Simulation Curriculum Corp. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, publisher of the Starry Night and Layered Earth software. The acquisition also includes Southern Stars developers Tim DeBenedictis and Bill Tschumy, who will join Simulation Curriculum, and continue to support and develop Southern Stars' products under the new company.
By combining resources, Simulation Curriculum and Southern Stars will now be leading the industry into innovative new areas of mobile and desktop astronomy software development.
SkySafari 4
The first new product to be released under the combined company is SkySafari 4, Southern Stars' flagship mobile astronomy app. SkySafari 4 represents a complete overhaul of this award-winning product line for iOS 7, and is available on the iTunes Store now. More information is available on the product pages of SkySafari astronomy software.
Use the links below to download the Basic, Plus, and Pro versions of SkySafari 4 from the App Store directly.
SkySafari 4 will be offered at an introductory 50% discount through January 20th, 2013.
Simulation Curriculum co-founder and CEO Michael Goodman writes, "SkySafari and Starry Night are the two most well-known and highly regarded astronomy software applications on the market today. This combination of the best products and the brightest talent will allow the company to continue to exceed its customers' expectations while creating new products intended for new consumer and education audiences, the latest platforms and the most popular devices."
Southern Stars founder Tim DeBenedictis writes, "SkySafari and Starry Night are the two strongest brands in astronomy software today. Joining our teams together and finding common efficiencies will lead both companies to develop new products that neither could have imagined alone."
About Simulation Curriculum
Simulation Curriculum Corp. develops and markets Astronomy and Earth Science simulation software and curriculum for the education market and Astronomy simulation software for enthusiasts, amateur astronomers and for use in planetarium domes worldwide. Simulation Curriculum's mission is to revolutionize how students, teachers and the intellectually curious experience, interact, learn and engage with science and technology. Our objective is to be regarded as the leading provider of interactive science software and curriculum.
Simulation Curriculum Corp. is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul. Starry Night, is best known product, has been in development since 1995 and is in its 6th generation. In 2008 the company expanded beyond astronomy into earth, meteorology and geography software for the education market.
About Southern Stars
Southern Stars Group, LLC is a world leader in mobile applications for astronomy, and has been developing planetarium software since 1993. In 2009, Southern Stars developed SkyFi, the first wireless iPhone-based solution for telescope control. That product, and the first version of the SkySafari iPhone app, won a MacWorld 2010 Best of Show award. Southern Stars was the also the first company to ship a Made-for-iPad serial cable for iOS devices (SkyWire). To date, Southern Stars' iPhone apps have been downloaded more than 4 million times, and have earned five-star reviews on the app store and by independent reviewers.
In 2012, Southern Stars successfully completed a crowdfunding campaign to develop and launch its own satellite, called SkyCube. Due for launch in January 2014, SkyCube will let smartphone users broadcast messages and take pictures from orbit.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Southern Stars Group, LLC has more than three decades of collective experience in developing astronomical software, telescope control systems, and instrumentation.
Contact Information
Tim DeBenedictis
timd@southernstars.com
+1 (415) 671-6254
Mike Goodman
mgoodman@simulationcurriculum.com
+1 (877) 290-8256