Online file-storage service Dropbox announced over the weekend its purchase of the new iPhone email application Mailbox.

Mailbox was released only is February 2013 and earned praise among users for its simple design that allows them to move quickly amid cluttered inboxes. It sought to change the way of reviewing, writing and responding to email by functioning as a to-do-list for electronic messages by users swiping across a message to archive or delete, read the whole conversation with just one gesture or send emails on a snooze mode for later reading.

However, to prevent the app from crashing over high demand, Apple put in place a reservation or queue system whey they can download the app, which has been delivering over 60 million emails daily. There are over 300,000 people on the line on the first day alone of Mailbox's debut in the Apple App Store.

With the buyout of Mailbox for an undisclosed amount - although some reports estimated the value of the transaction at $100 million while The Wall Street Journal said Orchestra, the parent company of Mailbox, got $5.3 million in funding in 2011 - Dropbox hinted that future versions of Mailbox could integrate its features on Dropbox.

"To be clear, Mailbox is not going away. The product needs to grow fast, and we believe that joining Dropbox is the best way to make that happen," the Mailbox team said in a post.

Dropbox, in a separate post, said it decided to acquire Mailbox because of its simplicity and it is beautifully engineered. Besides the buy-in of Mailbox, Dropbox has introduced recently new features beyond the traditional file-storage and sharing services it offers such as a new photo album feature and another one that permits users to preview documents stored on Dropbox without the need to download it.

Dropbox was established in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi as a reaction to their frustration over working using several computers. Mr Houston created a service that allows users to bring all their files anywhere sans need to email around attachment.

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