Software AG has acquired Metismo, the U.K. creator of a mobile development platform that allows applications to be deployed natively on multiple smartphone operating systems, it said on Tuesday at its ProcessWorld event in Berlin.
The German company didn't provide any financial details on the transaction.
Metismo's Bedrock platform allows developers to write applications using Java. The company's CrossCompiler then converts the source code into native applications than can run directly on Apple's iPhone and iPad, and smartphones based on Android, BlackBerryOS, Windows Phone and webOS.
The growing popularity of mobile Internet access and smartphones is rapidly transforming enterprise computing, and is something companies have to react to, according to Wolfram Jost, CTO at Software AG.
Metismo's technology helps solve the complex issue of cross-platform mobile access to the enterprise, according to Software AG.
Using Bedrock, companies can focus on application development instead of "spending time and money on handset idiosyncrasies", Metismo said.
Metismo is far from the only company offering cross-platform development tools for smartphones. It competes with the likes of RhoMobile and Appcelerator.
Mobile apps often access or manipulate data stored in the cloud. Last week Software AG bought a software developer at the other end of that connection, Terracotta, which will allow it to develop more advanced cloud services and increase the performance of its business software management tools using Terracotta's in-memory technology.