It was announced today that AT&T has acquired Plusmo, a mobile application development platform and solutions company, that AT&T hopes can bolster its mobile apps business and simplify the process along the way.
Plusmo stands out from the rest in that it enables developers to create widgets and applications using common web development standards that allow for easy deployment across multiple mobile operating systems and devices.
It was a perfect fit for AT&T given the fact that Plusmo had already established successful relationships with leading carriers, handset manufacturers and big-name publishers. Beyond that, Plusmo has created several popular sports-based widgets that collectively average more than 100 million monthly mobile page views. It other words, they know what they’re doing.
AT&T has been getting serious in terms of mobile apps, likely because they represent a valuable revenue stream potential. YPmobile, for example, which is the popular mobile derivative of its YELLOWPAGES.COM web property has seen huge success since its inception. The addition of Plusmo will streamline the development process and add the ability to add over-the-air updates whenever new features are available.
Plusmo will be added to AT&T Interactive and then used in other AT&T subsidiaries in addition to its mobility business. Future plans also include using the newly acquired platform to create other applications and widgets that work on the three platforms that consumers use the most- mobile, the computer and TV. Since AT&T is in all three markets, it’s an obviously smart move.
With all the bad press and angry consumers centered around AT&T’s network woes, it’s surprising that AT&T is still focused on adding mobile apps, widgets and other mobile technologies that will only further bandwidth strains. If you ask me, I would be focused on rolling out 4G technology, or at least expanding its 3G footprint to accommodate. Whatever the case may be Plusmo represents the future of mobile app development and integration, and hopefully AT&T puts it to good use.
