NetNewsWire debuted almost a decade ago, with the first public version appearing as a Mac OS X-only affair back in 2002, followed by . Since then, it's gone through a Madonna-like number of identity changes, even spinning off one of its original features--a built-in blog post editor--into a full-fledged app of its own, MarsEdit. (Simmons, no stranger to the wheeling and dealing of acquisitions and sales, ).

In 2005, Simmons that saw both him and NetNewsWire brought onboard as the Mac arm of the shop. At the time, Simmons said the agreement would give him more time to work on developing the app itself, and allow NewsGator to worry about the business concerns. And indeed, not only did he continue cranking on the Mac version of the app, but he also launched both and versions that appeared on day one of their respective app store launches.

So why sell now? Only a couple of months ago, Simmons , NetNewsWire Lite, in the Mac App Store. It completely retooled the underlying code of the app, in preparation for revisions to the Mac, iPhone, and iPad versions of the app; however, in doing so it also eschewed many of the features from previous versions, upsetting some users.

"I've been working on NetNewsWire for nine years," Simmons told via e-mail. "I'm stepping away now only because one person can't do all three versions (iPhone, iPad, and Mac) and make all three great. If I know I can't make all of them great, then I should find a team that . And so I did."

Black Pixel might seem like a strange choice; after all, to date, the company has mainly operated as an outside design and development house for other companies looking to build iOS apps, in addition to producing a few iOS apps. This will be the company's first app for Mac OS X, but don't mistake that for a lack of interest in the platform.