Mobile application development tools vendor Appcelerator has acquired Singly, a provider of API (application programming interface) management software, the two companies announced.
The Singly technology will allow Appcelerator to "open APIs to partners that want to connect to our platform, and enterprises that want to create APIs for themselves," said Jeff Haynie, CEO of Appcelerator.
Singly's signature product, DataFabric, provides an API gateway for about 40 different social networking services, including LinkedIn, Yammer, PayPal, DropBox, Google Calendar, Facebook and Twitter.
Using DataFabric shields the developer apps from any changes that the social networking services would make to their own APIs that could cause breakages to the data feeds back to the developers' own apps. DataFabric "makes it much easier for the end-developer to consume these APIs," Haynie said.
Singly also provides a software development kit (SDK) for developers to prepare their own APIs for external or internal use. This could be useful for delivering services using older enterprise applications that may deliver services in bulky XML formats, rather than the more efficient JSON (JavaScript Simple Object Notation).
Appcelerator oversees Titanium, an open source cross-platform JavaScript framework for developing apps that can run on Apple iOS, Android and Blackberry devices. Titanium has been used by over 500,000 developers, according to the company.
Appcelerator also offers the Appcelerator Platform, a commercial product that combines Titanium with cloud services, testing, monitoring and performance management tools. Companies such as eBay, Merck, Mitsubishi Electric, ZipCar, and PayPal have used the platform.
Appcelerator already has some APIs on its platform, for common tasks such as storage, push notification, and friending other users. The company also offers a number of API connectors for enterprise software from SAP, Oracle, Salesforce.com, and others.
Appcelerator will retire the Singly nameplate and incorporate Singly's technologies into its own product lines by early 2014. Singly employees will join Appcelerator's San Francisco office (Appcelerator is based in Mountain View, California).
The deal closed last week, Haynie said. Terms were not disclosed.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com