Deal enhances Windows Live services with innovative search solutions for mobile operators and their customers spanning work and play.
Microsoft Corp., at the 3GSM World Congress 2006, announced the acquisition of MotionBridge, a leading provider of search technology designed specifically for mobile operators and the mobile Internet,
MotionBridge, based in Paris, is a worldwide leader in mobile search technology that is currently available to customers through contacts with major mobile communications companies in Europe and North America, including Sprint, T-Mobile and Orange. The acquisition will be used to extend the search capabilities already offered by the software giant’s MSN online business unit.
The emerging field of mobile search is strategically important and crucial to delivering on our vision for Windows Live of providing a seamless and rich information experience for individuals and businesses across devices, said Christopher Payne, corporate vice president of MSN Search at Microsoft.
MotionBridge Technology, which is sold to carriers, looks to solve the tedious process of finding and retrieving data on a mobile phone by reducing the amount of information users have to input through keypads. The company’s software also delivers content formatted to the specific device, whether it is a phone or handheld computer, such as a personal digital assistant.
With MotionBridge, we are excited to continue to offer mobile operators the tools to maximize the value of their content and data networks, and provide a powerful search engine for mobile users. By combining the mobile search solutions of MotionBridge with Microsoft mobile search instruments such as local and Web search, we will provide mobile operators and consumers with an even richer search experience.
In addition to expanding MSN’s search capabilities, Microsoft said MotionBridge’s products, which include its Classic platform for feature phones and its Wizard search engine for smart phones, will be integrated with Windows Live services.
Windows Live, is a new set of Web-based productivity applications including a revamped version of Microsoft’s Hotmail hosted e-mail service, is expected to be officially launched sometime in 2006. Microsoft introduced beta versions of some of the Windows Live services in late 2005.
Microsoft officials, based in Redmond, Wash., framed the deal as an important step in advancing the company’s products beyond the desktop and onto the growing variety of mobile communications devices.
Among the specific elements highlighted by Microsoft in its plans to integrate MotionBridge’s products were, the technology’s ability to produce longer lists, or "clusters," of mobile search results, as well as its ability to integrate with wireless carriers’ back-end systems in order to support more sophisticated applications.
The MotionBridge technology brings superior simplicity for users, delivering clustered results and deep links to downloadable content from multiple providers with device filtering. Mobile operators are able to achieve precise control through flexible resolution rules, and manage their service with Web-based back-office tools and detailed usage statistics.
They have done a great job optimizing search on a device, Brooke Richardson, group product manager for Microsoft MSN, said.
Besides mobile-focused search, Microsoft and MotionBridge will continue to support MotionBridge’s current operator partners such as Orange, O2 Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Sprint Nextel, based in Reston, Va. as part of the acquisition. Key assets obtained in Microsoft’s acquisition of MotionBridge include its technology and mobile operator relationships. In addition, Microsoft will benefit from the expertise of the MotionBridge team.
The MotionBridge acquisition is one of a handful of major announcements being made by Microsoft at the 3GSM show, as the software market leader aggressively pushes to leverage its dominance on the desktop and in corporate IT infrastructures into a bigger slice of the wireless technology sector.
Most notably, the company unveiled a new wireless e-mail client meant to compete with Research in Motion’s dominant BlackBerry devices. Microsoft’s client–Direct Push; will be offered by carriers that include Cingular Wireless, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.
Under the terms of the deal, MotionBridge will continue to support its existing wireless operator customers.
Introduced as part of the software maker’s emerging Windows Mobile 5.0 platform for wireless devices, the client will be integrated with Microsoft Outlook, which is the most popular desktop e-mail application in the world.
Microsoft’s Mobile and Embedded Devices division, which recently filed its first-ever profitable quarter, also signed a deal with Palm in 2005 to have its software loaded onto the device maker’s newest Treo handhelds, which have already reached the market.
Besides the continued support of existing services and customers, the MotionBridge and Microsoft search teams plan to move forward on mobile search solutions for Windows Live to provide rich and seamless information experiences to individuals and small businesses, enabling mobile users to quickly find relevant search results on the Internet.
Long term, “Windows Live” services have to reach beyond the PC, Richardson said. They have to move across devices. “This acquisition is just kind of kicks things into high gear.”
In the short term, MotionBridge technology would be combined with Microsoft’s current tools for local and Web search on mobile devices, the company said.
Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc., major rivals of Microsoft’s MSN portal, also offer search services via a cellular phone’s Web browser, and despite consumer resistance, local search is still considered one of the most promising mobile services.