Microsoft just announced a whole suite of new MSN apps, like the Health & Fitness and Food & Drink apps. They are also focused on back-end tools for Android apps. Microsoft announced today that they have acquired a company called HockeyApp based out of Stuttgart, Germany. HockeyApp isn’t an NHL sports app, but rather a company that provides crash reports and analytics for Android developers. The company also provides ways to distribute apps, specifically beta versions of apps that are in development. HockeyApp currently works with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone developers. It’s a foot in the door for Microsoft in dealing with the back-end of app development on multiple platforms.
“In the coming months, we will introduce new iOS and Android SDKs for Application Insights based on the features of HockeyApp. Application Insights offers a 360-degree view of application usage, availability, and performance across both client and server/cloud application components. Integrating HockeyApp crash reports with Application Insights usage analytics will extend device support for Application Insights across all major mobile platforms and make application analytics an ambient part of the application development cycle with support for all tiers of a modern “mobile first, cloud first” solution,” Microsoft said on their Developer Tools Blog today.
So Microsoft is not only making new apps for Android, they are also working new Android and iOS SDKs to offer developers new insights into their apps. Microsoft knows that their Windows Platform can’t compete with Android or iOS anytime soon. They are pushing new apps out for Android and making moves to acquire companies like HockeyApp in a continued focus on apps. They understand, much like Yahoo, that they can gain users by building out there app portfolio. What’s cool is that Microsoft isn’t killing HockeyApp, but instead keeping the service live and available as it is. You can check out HockeyApp here. It will be interesting to see what else Microsoft has in store in the application department for the next 12 months or so.