Alcatel-Lucent has acquired OpenPlug, a mobile software and applications development tools vendor, with the idea to “deepen its role in the applications space.” Using OpenPlug’s tools, developers can write an application once, which will then be translated to run on any of the five major mobile operating systems, including iOS, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Linux (I guess Maemo/MeeGo). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
I haven’t used OpenPlug myself, so I’m not sure how it exactly works. I know Rhomobile has a similar offering, again allowing developers to create a single app that can be easily ported to run on multiple smartphone platforms.
The OpenPlug toolset will be incorporated into Alcatel-Lucent’s Developer Platform and Open API Service, thus broadening the functionality available to service providers, enterprises and developers.
And for the record, this is the second acquisition Alcatel-Lucent has made over the past three months to expand and enhance the application ecosystem. In June, the Franco-American company acquired ProgrammableWeb, the technology industry’s go-to source of API-related content.