Wind River Systems today said it has purchased Interpeak AB for $20 million
in cash and stock to prop up its mobile operating systems.
Interpeak, a privately held company based in Stockholm, Sweden, makes
networking middleware that helps mobile computing devices, edge routers,
WiMax base stations and virtual private networks safely connect to the Web.
Wind River’s VxWorks and Linux-embedded operating systems help
customers run applications on mobile devices, such as handheld computers and
smartphones, or even power software in automobiles.
The Alameda, Calif., vendor’s operating systems face stiff competition from
embedded systems, such as MontaVista’s Mobilinux, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Palm’s OS.
Wind River plans to use the networking software from Interpeak as a
competitive advantage to help developers add functionality and improve
device and equipment quality in wireless devices, wireless infrastructure
and network infrastructure.
Interpeak’s technology will also help device and equipment manufacturers
bring products to market more quickly.
With the purchase, Wind River said it plans to provide its customers with a
secure networking middleware stack that can run on either Wind River VxWorks
or Linux-based platforms.
Ken Klein, chairman, president and CEO of Wind River,
said Wind River and Interpeak share a common philosophy of improving the
software experience on handheld devices.
“As the explosive growth of connected devices continues, device
manufacturers will require a high-quality, secure networking stack that can
run universally on both our RTOS and Linux-based platforms,” Klein said.
Wind River has been busy of late.
The company, which jumped
on the Linux bandwagon in November 2004, just inked a deal with Boeing,
which vowed to use the company’s software development tools to create
programs for a major U.S. Army project called the Future Combat System.