Contact Information: Media Contact: Kim Terca for Funambol Page One PR +1-415-875-7492
Funambol Acquires Zapatec to Usher in New Generation of Rich Mobile Browser Native Apps That 'Sync & Push' Billions of Devices
Funambol Open Source Mobile Sync & Push Plus Zapatec AJAX Web 2.0 Framework Uniquely Provide All Required Ingredients for Open Mobile Native Apps to Address Device Fragmentation
| Source: Funambol
REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - November 4, 2009) - Funambol, the leading provider of open
source mobile cloud sync and push email for billions of phones, today
announced it has acquired Zapatec, Inc., a leader of AJAX web 2.0
frameworks. The acquisition enables Funambol to uniquely address the
industry pervasive device fragmentation challenge that plagues developers
and requires building native apps for too many platforms. The combination
of Funambol's open source mobile sync and push server, with Zapatec's AJAX
web 2.0 technology, will foster a new generation of open, rich mobile
browser native apps for billions of smart- and feature phones. This
provides the best of both worlds -- rich mobile web native apps that 'sync
and push' and that work on all devices.
"Future mobile apps will resemble PC AJAX apps, they will be web-based yet
will sync data with mobile devices and have push notifications," said
Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol CEO. "We are very pleased to acquire Zapatec,
the leading provider of AJAX web 2.0 frameworks. Together, our technology
allows us to create the next generation of open, rich mobile browser native
apps that sync and push billions of devices."
There are four billion mobile phones today, growing to five billion over
the next few years. These phones represent a major device fragmentation
problem for the industry, as they are splintered across numerous platforms
and manufacturers, including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile,
Symbian, BREW, Java ME, mobile Linux and several proprietary offerings.
Further, entire new classes of wireless devices are emerging, such as
e-book readers, wireless digital cameras and printers, netbooks and
appliances, with their own operating environments. This makes it extremely
challenging for developers to build rich mobile apps that work across a
wide range of devices.
Many industry experts believe that the next generation of mobile apps will
be web-based, similar to AJAX web 2.0 apps for PC browsers that provide
desktop-like capabilities and ease-of-use. Funambol recognizes that just
providing rich mobile browser apps will be insufficient. Apps must also
sync data and content locally with mobile devices and have push
capabilities similar to push email. They must also be integrated into the
core apps on devices such as their address book, calendar and messaging
clients.
The integration of Funambol and Zapatec technology provides all of the
required resources to build the next generation of open, rich mobile
browser native apps. It combines Funambol's open source mobile data sync
and push server platform, with Zapatec's AJAX web 2.0 framework. This will
enable Funambol, its customers and open source community to create a new
generation of open, rich mobile native apps that 'sync & push' billions of
devices to address the device fragmentation problem. As part of the
acquisition, Dror Matalon, Zapatec CEO, is joining Funambol's leadership
team as Vice President, Emerging Technology.
"Open source is on fire in mobile, and Funambol is at the forefront," said
Dror Matalon. "Together, our technology can make it easy for people to
build rich mobile native apps that support all major platforms."
About Funambol
Funambol is the leading provider of mobile open source cloud sync and push
email for billions of phones. Funambol open source software has been
downloaded over three million times by 50,000 developers in 200 countries.
The commercial version of Funambol has been deployed by the largest device
manufacturers, mobile operators, portals, service providers and ISVs in the
world, including AOL, 1&1, EarthLink and CA, Inc. Funambol is headquartered
in Redwood City, California with an R&D center in Italy. For more
information, please visit http://www.funambol.com. You can follow Funambol
on Twitter at http://twitter.com/funambol.