Research In Motion confirmed on Friday that it has agreed to acquire NewBay Software, a provider of software to help mobile operators and device makers deliver content and services.
NewBay, based in Dublin, Ireland, sells a variety of tools for delivering messages, video, calendars and other types of content. Its flagship product, the LifeCache Platform, is designed to help service providers quickly roll out new services and integrate them with their networks and billing systems.
The privately held company was founded in 2002 and claims AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA and Deutsche Telekom among its customers. Though RIM did not disclose how much it would pay for NewBay or when the deal is expected to close, it said the acquisition would not be financially material to the company.
LifeCache includes components to help carriers ingest a variety of types of content and distribute that content to both fixed and mobile devices, according to the company’s website. It also incorporates a search tool, interfaces into carriers’ infrastructure, and software that allows carriers to smoothly integrate storage from multiple vendors. NewBay officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
RIM made its name delivering enterprise email services on many carriers over its own devices, but recently the company in Waterloo, Ontario, has been losing market share to devices that run the Apple iOS and Google Android operating systems. It has been trying to build up its consumer and multimedia offerings while retaining leadership in enterprise messaging. RIM’s foray into tablets with the PlayBook, introduced earlier this year, has run into slow sales and discounted prices.
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen’s e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com