Synchronica

Last updated
Synchronica plc
Type Public limited company
AIM: SYNC
TSX-V: SYN
Industry Computer software
Founded1995, Bodiam, England (DAT Group),
2004, Berlin, Germany (Synchronica)
Defunct2012 (2012)
Headquarters Royal Tunbridge Wells, England
Website www.synchronica.com

Synchronica plc was a public listed software vendor which developed and marketed mobile messaging solutions for mobile network operators and mobile phone manufacturers. Its flagship product provided push email, instant messaging and social networking to a wide range of mobile phones, and was branded as Unity.

Contents

Synchronica was one of the industry's principal users of open industry standards, and their products supported the relevant standards developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). In 2004, Synchronica became the first company to deploy a live installation of a SyncML device management (now OMA DM) server in a carrier-grade environment, with Siemens Mobile AG. [1]

On 16 April 2012, Synchronica was acquired by Switzerland's Myriad Group, in an all-share deal which valued the company at £23.9 million (around US$38 million). [2] Myriad delisted Synchronica from the London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange during Mid-May 2012. [3] [4]

History

Synchronica Software GmbH was founded in 2004, specializing in open industry standards-based synchronization and device management solutions for the mobile industry.[ citation needed ]

In March 2005, Synchronica was acquired by AIM listed infrastructure consultancy DAT Group, headquartered in the village of Bodiam in East Sussex. Later that year, the newly created group company underwent a management restructuring and rebranding to Synchronica plc. [5]

In April 2006, Synchronica moved headquarters from Bodiam to the historic town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

In September 2011, the founder and CEO of the company, Carsten Brinkschulte, resigned from his position citing disagreements with the other board members regarding future strategy. [6]

At the time of the acquisition of Synchronica by Myriad, it emerged that the CFO, Angus Dent had acquired 800,000 shares in the company after the initial approach by Myriad - generating a profit of £48,000 following the sale. This transaction was investigated by the FSA under the insider trading regulations. [7]

Acquisitions

Synchronica engaged in several strategic acquisitions in an effort to bolster its competitive position in the fiercely contested mobile messaging market.[ citation needed ]

In November 2007, Synchronica acquired the assets and intellectual property of the US-based mobile email specialist GoodServer whose email enablement and integration technology was already a key part of Synchronica's Mobile Gateway product. [8]

Another key deal, which was completed in September 2008, was the acquisition of AxisMobile Limited. AxisMobile Limited was the operating subsidiary of Synchronica's competitor, AxisMobile plc. AxisMobile developed a number of email technologies suitable for the consumer mass-market, and this intellectual property is now fully owned by Synchronica, who have integrated it into their Mobile Gateway product. [9]

In March 2010, Synchronica acquired the OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service business, reseller agreements, and existing worldwide mobile operator customer base, of the Instant Messaging developer Colibria AS. Synchronica integrated Colibria's IM technology into Mobile Gateway. [10] In September of the same year, Synchronica acquired its Canadian mobile email rival, iseemedia Inc. As part of the deal, Synchronica acquired iseemedia's patent-pending document streaming technology, as well as contracts with three large mobile operators in India and South-East Asia. [11]

In February 2011, Synchronica acquired the assets of instant messaging vendor Neustar NGM including product, intellectual property and eleven customer contracts with international mobile operators and two tier-1 device manufacturers. [12] In August 2011, Synchronica completed its final acquisition by taking the operator-branded messaging (OBM) assets from the Nokia Corporation which provided email and instant messaging (IM) services to tier one mobile operators in North America. [13]

Related Research Articles

Nokia Finnish technology and telecommunications company

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics company, founded in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area, but the company's actual roots are in the Tampere region of Pirkanmaa. In 2020, Nokia employed approximately 92,000 people across over 100 countries, did business in more than 130 countries, and reported annual revenues of around €23 billion. Nokia is a public limited company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. It is the world's 415th-largest company measured by 2016 revenues according to the Fortune Global 500, having peaked at 85th place in 2009. It is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

Instant messaging Form of communication over the Internet

Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission over the Internet. A LAN messenger operates in a similar way over a local area network. Short messages are typically transmitted between two parties, when each user chooses to complete a thought and select "send". Some IM applications can use push technology to provide real-time text, which transmits messages character by character, as they are composed. More advanced instant messaging can add file transfer, clickable hyperlinks, Voice over IP, or video chat.

XMPP Communications protocol for message-oriented middleware

Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML, it enables the near-real-time exchange of structured data between any two or more network entities. Designed to be extensible, the protocol offers a multitude of applications beyond traditional IM in the broader realm of message-oriented middleware, including signalling for VoIP, video, file transfer, gaming and other uses.

Neustar, Inc. is an American technology company that provides real-time information and analytics for the Internet, risk, digital performance, and defense, telecommunications, entertainment, and marketing industries, and also provides clearinghouse and directory services to the global communications and Internet industries. Neustar is the domain name registry for a number of top-level domains, including .biz, .us, .co, .nyc, and .in.

The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is a standards body which develops open standards for the mobile phone industry. It is not a formal government-sponsored standards organization like the ITU, but a forum for industry stakeholders to agree on common specifications for products and services.

Wireless Village is a set of specifications for mobile instant messaging and presence services. It is intended to be a standard for cellphones and mobile devices to use these services across platforms.

The OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS) is an Open Mobile Alliance enabler for Instant Messaging and Presence. The Wireless Village consortium developed the first cut of the specifications. After Wireless Village was merged with OMA, its specs became OMA IMPS 1.0 specifications. IMPS is widely deployed but not necessarily marketed. Interworking between several operators IMPS platforms is being performed under a GSMA initiative that encourages interworking and deployment of Instant Messaging.

Intellisync Corporation was a provider of data synchronization software for mobile devices, such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The company was acquired in 2006 by Nokia.

Openwave American mobile data software company

Openwave is a division of Enea. It provides video traffic management and 5G mobile products.

Chikka, short for Chikka Text Messenger, is an Internet-based instant messaging application that supports free SMS or text messaging between online users and offline mobile subscribers. Chikka was released by Chikka Philippines, Inc. in the early 2000 and eventually established its connection with the country's network operators Smart Communications (2001), Globe Telecom (2002) and Sun Cellular (2004). With up to billions of messages being exchanged between online and mobile communities worldwide through Chikka, it is probably the world's first commercially successful integration of web and mobile utilities.

Mobile device management (MDM) is the administration of mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers and laptops. MDM is usually implemented with the use of a third-party product that has management features for particular vendors of mobile devices. Though closely related to Enterprise Mobility Management and Unified Endpoint Management, MDM differs slightly from both: unlike MDM, EMM includes mobile information management, BYOD, mobile application management and mobile content management, whereas UEM provides device management for endpoints like desktops, printers, IoT devices, and wearables as well.

TeleMessage is an Israeli software company based in Petach Tikva, Israel. The company was founded in 1999 by Guy Levit and Gil Shapira. It provides secure enterprise messaging, mobile communications archiving and high-volume text messaging services.

Ovi (Nokia) Former Internet services by Nokia

Ovi by Nokia was the brand for Nokia's Internet services. The Ovi services could be used from a mobile device, computer or via the web. Nokia focused on five key service areas: Games, Maps, Media, Messaging and Music. Nokia's aim with Ovi was to include third party developers, such as operators and third-party services like Yahoo's Flickr photo site. With the announcement of Ovi Maps Player API, Nokia started to evolve their services into a platform, enabling third parties to make use of Nokia's Ovi services.

Myriad Group AG is a Swiss software company in the mobile communications sector. Myriad delivers consumer applications, social media and messaging solutions, and embedded software to OEM's, mobile operators and pay TV providers. Myriad operates through three product divisions - Versy, Myriad Connect and Device Solutions.

Followap was the leading provider and pioneer of mobile Messenger - Instant Messaging and Presence solutions to the mobile industry. It was founded in 1999 and managed by Dan Volach and Ben Volach when mobile Internet was just born. By the time it was acquired, it had over 20 mobile operators many of them tier-ones, serving a combined user base of over 200 million subscribers. The company's headquarters were in London, UK.

Movial is a privately held software engineering company focused on Internet enabled devices in consumer electronics and telecommunications industries. The company’s software solutions enable rich Internet browsing and IP communications across multiple devices including PCs, smart phones, netbooks, smartbooks, laptops, touch screen devices, cars and set-top-boxes. The company’s service offering includes device concept and user interface design, third-party application, service and platform integration, consulting, training, product maintenance and support. Device manufacturers and operators leverage Movial’s creative and custom systems integration services, including its Android, MeeGo and Qt (framework)services, to help them increase ROI, and to streamline and speed product development utilizing open Linux platforms and ready-to-use applications.

SEVEN Networks, Inc. is a privately funded American corporation founded in 2000. It had about 265 employees in 2010. As of 2017, the company has research and development centers in Texas and Finland.

Harman Connected Services, often abbreviated to HCS, an American subsidiary of Samsung Electronics through Harman International Industries. The Connected Services Division supplies software services to the mobile communications industry. HCS is a technologies company leader in Cloud, Mobile, Analytics Capabilities, Design, and Software Services. Harman has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

GroupWise

GroupWise is a messaging and collaboration platform from Micro Focus that supports email, calendaring, personal information management, instant messaging, and document management. The GroupWise platform consists of desktop client software, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and the server software, which is supported on Windows Server and Linux.

GENBAND US LLC was a privately held company that makes IP-based real time communications software products for fixed wireline, mobile, and cable service providers as well as large enterprises. The company was formed in 1999 as General Bandwidth, and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas. In the following 15 years it acquired several other companies doing related work.

References

  1. Synchronica Wins Siemens Deal - the World's First SyncML Firmware Update
  2. Myriad buys Synchronica
  3. Synchronica plc plans to delist from AIM
  4. Synchronica plc delisted from TSX Venture Exchange
  5. DAT Group Appoints Chief Executive Officer, Restructures Management
  6. "Sychronica shares fall as chief resigns".
  7. "FSA to look into mobile chief's share dealings".
  8. Synchronica makes sneaky acquisition
  9. Synchronica in AxisMobile deal
  10. Synchronica Completes Acquisition of Colibria's IMPS Instant Messaging Business
  11. Acquisition of iseemedia Inc.
  12. Neustar exits mobile IM business with sale to Synchronica
  13. Synchronica to enter US via Nokia deal