Suite of products for both mobile and desktop environments.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Over the past year or so, Microsoft has made several drastic changes in an effort to reposition itself within the tech industry. Among them, the company switched CEOs, revamped its Windows operating system, started reaching out to a younger generation of engineers, and even revealed innovative technology based on augmented reality.
In the latest move designed to move it forward into the new day, Microsoft has acquired the calendar app Sunrise, which the company doled out at least $100 million for, reported TechCrunch.
Sunrise is a suite of calendar products for both mobile and desktop environments that consolidates calendars from numerous other providers, such as Google, iCloud, and Microsoft Exchange, across Android, iOS, and the web. On top of all that, the service can also connect to a variety of third party apps.
The buy-out reinforces Microsoft’s latest strategy of supporting the platforms of rival technology firms. Just last week, news leaked that the Redmond-based company would be investing $70 million in Cyanogen, which is building its own version of Android that exists outside of Google’s purview. Microsoft also made waves when it announced it was considering allowing Android apps on Windows Phones, as well as when it released a touch-friendly version of Office for iOS before its own Windows 10 ecosystem.
Microsoft will allow Sunrise apps to continue as stand-alone products, but will also incorporate some of the startup’s technology into its own endeavors.
The arrangement is similar to the one reached with Acompli, which Microsoft purchased for $200 million in December. Acompli ended up being integrated into the most recent Outlook release for Android and iOS, which was just made available for public consumption last week.