Microsoft to acquire mobile app start-up Xamarin
Microsoft is set to bolster its mobile app development business with the purchase of Xamarin, offering the tech giant a new tool to realise its ambition of writing cross platform apps capable of working on iOS, Android and Windows devices.
Xamarin has secured clients ranging from Coca-Cola to JetBlue on the back of software which enables developers to test prototype apps on thousands of cloud-hosted devices.
Scott Guthrie, Microsoft's cloud and enterprise executive vice president said: “We have had a longstanding relationship with Xamarin. With today’s acquisition announcement we will be taking this work much further to make our world class developer tools and services even better with deeper integration and seamless mobile app dev experiences."
Microsoft has recently switched its attention from developing exclusively for Windows Phone toward a more open approach that seeks to entice Apple and Android users toward its suite of Office software.