Simplify Media, a Mac favorite, bought by Google

We were wondering what happened to Simplify Media, the well-regarded software that offers your Mac ubiquitous access to your DRM-free music and photos via iTunes, an iPhone or iPod touch.

In March, we reported that the company was "heading in a different direction," which turned out to be a sale to Google. The Simplify Media app was removed from the app store, and the ability to share your iTunes library with others was removed. The sale was just announced this morning at the Google I/O conference.

Google intends to use the product on Android Phones, and it will be a component part of an iTunes-type of service that's in development.

If anyone had any doubts about Google offering competition for Apple, this should remove it. Competition is good, and this will be most interesting to watch. The nasty part is that Simplify Media for the Mac ecosystem is likely gone for good.