Microsoft Buys Danger

Microsoft has acquired Danger, Inc., maker of the T-mobile “Sidekick” device and the Danger operating system and platform. Danger has been hailed as highly innovative and its platform and OS pre-dates the iPhone (the company was founded in 2000). There’s a bit of an irony here in that Danger was co-founded by Andy Rubin, who is the chief architect behind Google’s Android, which is competing with Windows Mobile as a platform.

Although innovative, Danger is a money losing enterprise at this point. But Microsoft believes that Danger and its OS can offer an improved mobile development platform and consumer experiences in the increasingly competitive mobile market. And Microsoft has the assets and relationships to bring Danger’s core capabilities to a broader audience.