Tech giant Microsoft recently acquired Mobile Data Labs for an undisclosed sum. The latter is the developer of the popular mileage tracking smartphone app MileIQ.
MileIQ is a mileage tracking app available for the iOS and Android platform but not for Windows Phone. The app automatically logs miles driven and lets users label or categorized them individually. The data logged by MileIQ users can be used for tax deductions.
Following the acquisition of Mobile Data Labs, Microsoft corporate vice president Rajesh Jha posted a statement on the company's official blog stating, "I'm pleased to announce that Microsoft has acquired Mobile Data Labs, creator of the popular MileIQ app and an innovator in intelligent productivity solutions for mobile professionals."
"This acquisition is the latest example of Microsoft's ambition to reinvent productivity and business process in a mobile-first, cloud-first world," Jha added.
Microsoft added that the acquisition will help in the development of Office 365 and Office Graph. The Office Graph is a feature that helps in analyzing connections between users that uses Office 365 within the same organization, according to The Register.
Office Graph is primarily used in large corporations. On the other hand, MileIQ's primary user base as small business employees' entrepreneurs and mobile professionals. Many analysts said that the acquisition of MileIQ will also have its tradeoffs as Microsoft will most probably steer the direction of the app toward a bigger enterprise.
The acquisition of Mobile Data Labs is evidence of Microsoft's plan to dominate the mobile market for productivity tools. In December 2014 the company acquired email app Acompli and transformed it into Outlook. In February, the company bought calendar app Sunrise and in June acquired to-do tool Wunderlist.
Microsoft has yet to confirm whether it plans to create a Windows Phone version of MileIQ.