AT&T Purchases Plusmo

AT&T announced recently the purchase of privately held Plusmo, Inc., the provider of cross-platform mobile application solutions, in a move aimed at enabling the wireless carrier to simplify mobile application development. According to the mobile phone operator, the purchase brings it an open standards technology that will offer it the possibility to deliver an enhanced application experience for its subscribers.

At the same time, AT&T also announced that Plusmo would be part of AT&T Interactive, while the Plusmo mobile application development platform would become available for a wide range of AT&T subsidiaries, including AT&T Mobility. For the time being, however, the two companies haven't disclosed any details on the terms of the deal.

The Plusmo platform is meant to reduce both costs and time when it comes to development of applications, and offers the possibility for widgets and applications to be built based on common web development standards, while also enabling the deployment of these solutions over a variety of mobile operating systems and handsets. Plusmo has already partnered with a series of carriers and handset vendors around the world, and has delivered numerous sports widgets that top over 100 million mobile page views each month.

“Plusmo’s technology will help us build upon the success and momentum we’re experiencing in mobile local search, which continues to see strong growth,” said David Krantz, president and CEO, AT&T Interactive. “The addition of Plusmo adds a new dimension to our technology prowess through its multi-platform approach. It highlights our commitment to invest in mobile application innovation and search leadership.”

AT&T Interactive will have the possibility to accelerate the development of mobile applications, including that of Ypmobile, the “mobile derivative of its YELLOWPAGES.COM web property.” Over-the-air updates will also become available, as well as the option to try the technology in order to build new applications and widgets aimed at the three most used platforms: mobile, the computer and TV, AT&T added.