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AOL buys mobile software company

America Online Inc. has acquired Kirkland mobile software company Wildseed and set up a wireless division in Seattle as part of a larger effort to enhance the way people access music, games, calendars and other content on their cell phones.

"Wireless is a big bet for us," said Eisler, who joined AOL last summer and was recently appointed general manager of the new division.

The purchase price of Wildseed -- a 5-year-old privately held company backed by Ignition Partners and Azure Capital -- was not disclosed. This was literally a business deal that when both companies sat down and looked at what was evolving between them, it made a lot of sense to put the two organizations together.

Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft all have placed large bets on the mobile marketplace in recent months. Google started a local search feature for mobile phones in April. Yahoo! last month introduced a service that lets mobile phone users get information such as restaurant listings on their handsets using text messages. In May, Microsoft unveiled a new version of its Windows Mobile software that allows users to download music, video and pictures.

"There are about 195 million cell phones in the U.S. today and that is going to be one of the ways that people log on and get content," she said. "We are not there yet.... The question is going to be, when there is money to be made several years from now, who has jumped in and learned and positioned themselves best to capitalize when it does happen."

Resource: SeattlePI

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