AOL acquires to breathe life into mobile strategy
Rally Up purchase, new VP and Android portal mean it will finally put "mobile first"
Published: 1 September, 2010
READ MORE: M&A | AOL | Applications
Of the web majors, AOL has had the smallest impact on the mobile world, and little is heard of the Open Mobile Platform it unveiled in early 2008. However, now it has revamped that around Android, and has acquired mobile apps specialist Rally Up to enhance the strategy further (if belatedly, given the progress of Google).
The terms of the acquisition were not announced though the TechCrunch blog said it was worth about $10m. The company has two mobile apps, Rally Up itself, a location-based rival to Loopt, Brightkite, Foursquare and Gowalla; and FacePlant, which allows users to see which of their friends are available to chat on the iPhone 4 FaceTime video chat service. Rally Up lets consumers share text, photos and messages in a private microblog that leverages location.
In July, AOL launched two Android apps and opened a smartphone portal and mobile web site. It will now create mobile versions of its desktop and web offerings, and even mobile specific products.
Although Rally Up has been focused on the iPhone, and AOL favors Android, the broader goal is to "build mobile-first experiences" said the larger company's statement. The strategy will be run by a new VP of mobile, David Temkin, hired to improve the provider's lamentable record to date on smartphones. His main asset from Rally Up may be the staff rather than the programs. Temkin told eWeek: "Within the last year, the Rally Up team has demonstrated its keen understanding of the way that people want to use their mobile devices to interact, share and better communicate and of the tools necessary to address those needs. We are thrilled to have such a talented group of mobile innovators join AOL, especially given the rapid evolution of this space."
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