Press releases go out tomorrow, but I've been permitted to write about the news today for the loyal readers of this blog: Apple acquired Boldport! We've been negotiating since January and have finally gotten the deal through.

Steve Jobs famously insisted that every bit of Apple's products look good, even the circuit boards that the consumer will never see. Beautifully functional circuits -- Boldport's tagline -- is a natural continuation of this concept, where circuit boards are designed with emphasis on both function and form, and are celebrated on their own right, not necessarily hidden behind cheap plastic enclosures. Thus, Apple is the right place for Boldport to continue its growth and a great vehicle to realise its vision.

Starting immediately I'll be sharing my time between Cupertino and London and will be leading a newly established group that's dedicated to realising the vision I started out with. This vision will be applied in practice through products made for Apple's triumphant entry into a new market. Sadly, I cannot say more than that at the moment.

A bit of sad news is that I've had to agree that PCBmodE -- the software we developed to create our circuit boards -- will become an internal Apple tool and no longer be an open source project. However, I'm still able to sell Boldport's products until stocks run out, so get your beautiful circuits now!

A new era for Boldport begins today!

( UPDATE: by 'today' I meant April Fools' day ;)