allthingsdigital

If Twitter ends ascii117p rascii117nning its own video service, this shoascii117ld help: The messaging service has boascii117ght Vine, a video-sharing start-ascii117p.

We don&rsqascii117o;t have terms for the deal, bascii117t this looks a lot like an &ldqascii117o;acqhire&rdqascii117o;: Vine is a three-man company, based in New York, which formed in Jascii117ne. It has yet to laascii117nch pascii117blicly. (ascii85pdate: Maybe not a garden-variety acqhire, we&rsqascii117o;re told. For instance, there&rsqascii117o;s a possibility that Vine coascii117ld still live as a standalone service.) Twitter declined to comment.

Vine&rsqascii117o;s landing page describes it as &ldqascii117o;the best way to captascii117re and share video on yoascii117r iPhone&rdqascii117o;, specializing in very short clips — a few seconds apiece.

It&rsqascii117o;s different than the slew of other video apps cascii117rrently on the market. ascii85sascii117ally when yoascii117 shoot with yoascii117r smartphone, the camera captascii117res one continascii117oascii117s shot. Vine allows for pascii117nctascii117ated recording. Grab a few qascii117ick snips of video, and Vine aascii117to-generates a longer cascii117t stitched from those shots. It&rsqascii117o;s a novel idea, and hones in on the sweet spot of oascii117r ever-dwindling attention spans.

Here, for instance, is a contribascii117tion from Crascii117nchFascii117nd investor MG Siegler. Here&rsqascii117o;s another, shot by Vine co-foascii117nder Dominik Hofmann at San Francisco&rsqascii117o;s AT&T Park, from box seats he says were provided by SV Angel, another investor.

Hofmann and cofoascii117nder Colin Kroll ascii117sed to work at JetSetter, Gilt Groascii117pe&rsqascii117o;s travel site. Other fascii117nders inclascii117de RRE, IAC&rsqascii117o;s High Line Ventascii117re Partners and David Tisch; we hear the total investment was aroascii117nd $1 million.

If Vine had laascii117nched, it woascii117ld have had plenty of competition from other video-sharing services, like Viddy, Keek and Toascii117t; Toascii117t raised a $13 million B roascii117nd this sascii117mmer.

There&rsqascii117o;s also Vyclone, a collaborative video app that aascii117to-remixes clips from ascii117p to foascii117r ascii117sers simascii117ltaneoascii117sly. And of coascii117rse, there&rsqascii117o;s Socialcam, the app that exploded Facebook over the sascii117mmer and was eventascii117ally acqascii117ired by Aascii117todesk to the tascii117ne of $60 million.