AT&T and IBM Expand Their Partnership

IBM and AT&T have expanded their relationship to provide software developers with a set of new tools to create and deploy next-generation mobile apps that provide customers with access to secure apps, including advanced speech recognition and mobile payment capabilities.

AT&T has been furthering its network capabilities and increasing access to research from AT&T Labs across a range of mobile development platforms, including IBM Worklight, part of the IBM MobileFirst Application and Data Platform. IBM Worklight is an open, comprehensive and advanced mobile app platform for mobile devices.

The AT&T API Platform, featuring IBM Worklight Adapters, will enable the more than 31,000 members of the AT&T Developer Program to quickly create and securely deploy enterprise apps that improve subscriber engagement and customer loyalty. With these adapters that support AT&T's ecosystem of APIs including those for speech, SMS, device capabilities, notary management and payment, developers can quickly and securely create rich, business-ready apps across a variety of platforms including iOS, Android and Windows.

"AT&T is committed to the success of our rapidly growing developer community. By expanding our platform's reach and making our API toolkit available on an expanding number of platforms, including IBM Worklight, our developers have the information, tools and resources to continue to build great things and contribute to the mobile ecosystem in meaningful new ways," said Carlton Hill, vice president, developer services, AT&T.

Some of the features enabled by the AT&T Worklight adapters include the following:

• Efficient Family Communication: Use voicemail-to-text features to transcribe family voicemail, and then post the voice notes to a central area for all family members to see.
• Customizable Mobile Payments: Organizations gain the flexibility to control the look and feel of how they present purchase options and deliver digital goods to the customer.
• Empowered Mobile Workforce: Teams in the field can use SMS to communicate with customers, submit orders, and check delivery status.

"As the business opportunities associated with mobile technologies move beyond the device to the enterprise, we must continue to invest in tools and resources that enable developers to create apps that meet changing demands," said Phil Buckellew, vice president of mobile strategy at IBM, in a statement. "Our partners at AT&T share this commitment to building out the mobile development ecosystem and driving more value from mobile technologies. With access to some of the most powerful development tools in the industry, developers will now be better able to help organizations accelerate and monetize their mobile strategies."