Visto
Encyclopedia
Visto was a private US company located in Redwood Shores, CA. Visto sold Push e-mail
products for mobile phone
s. The company acquired Good Technology in 2009 and renamed itself for the acquired company.
In 1996, the target customer was the mobile professional. When this user base was not expanding as fast as desired, a free Visto Beta service was opened to anyone by summer 1997, with the first "Commercial Release" in April 1998, when functionality and services above the baseline were offered for a fee. Customer growth increased, but never generated profitable revenue stream. Consumer services were terminated circa 2002, when Visto returned focus to OEM and corporate customers.
In 1998, Visto was in talks with Palm Computing, and Wireless Knowledge (a Qualcomm
-Microsoft
joint venture). Visto partnered with Geocities
before Geocities was acquired by Yahoo.
In 2003, Visto bought push email solutions business from Psion, which was created in 2002 as a new division called Psion Software.
On February 23, 2009 Visto announced it is buying Good Technology from Motorola, Visto closed acquisition of Good Technology on March 2, 2009 and changed the Visto name to Good Technology
.
Visto also offered a then-unique push email service allowing corporate email to be accessed outside the company firewall. A Windows service was configured on a machine within the company firewall, which pushed email to the easily-accessed Visto servers.
The complete application suite was synchronize-able between Windows-based machines equipped with the Visto software. Syncing to personal information managers (PIMs)--such as Microsoft Outlook
, Lotus Notes
, Lotus Organizer
, and ACT!
--was achieved by licensing IntelliSync
technology. Synchronization was limited to Windows machines, but the synchronized information was available from any machine running Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator/Communicator. Other browsers were not supported.
Initial code development was in Java
, but performance proved too slow for customer satisfaction and scalability. In late 1997, early 1998, the transition of the complete code base from Java to C++ cost the company six months of product advancement, diminishing market lead and allowing competitors such as Yahoo to catch up with the functionality Visto offered for their own consumer services.
In 2008, Visto provides only corporate email services, billing itself as a "mobile email provider."
for "misuse of proprietary technology". Also in December 2005, Visto signed a licensing agreement with NTP, Inc., further increasing its patent pool
, in exchange for NTP receiving an equity stake in Visto. In February 2006, Visto sued competitor Good Technology
for alleged violations of four patents related to Good's wireless email technology. Again on May 1, 2006, Visto sued competitor, Research In Motion
for alleged patent infringement.
On 3 March 2008, Visto and Microsoft announced they had reached a settlement and licensing agreement involving cash and non-cash consideration. Both companies will dismiss all pending legal claims.
In July 2009, the case was settled, with Research in Motion
paying Visto $267.5 million.
Push e-mail
Push email is used to describe email systems that provide an always-on capability, in which new email is actively transferred as it arrives by the mail delivery agent to the mail user agent , also called the email client...
products for mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s. The company acquired Good Technology in 2009 and renamed itself for the acquired company.
Visto the Company
Visto was founded as "Roampage" in 1996 by ex-Javasoft employees Chris Zuleeg, Prasad Wagle, and Hong Bui. Doug Brackbill was brought on as CEO. David Cowan was one of the initial investors. By late 1997 there were over 40 employees, and the company name was changed to Visto.In 1996, the target customer was the mobile professional. When this user base was not expanding as fast as desired, a free Visto Beta service was opened to anyone by summer 1997, with the first "Commercial Release" in April 1998, when functionality and services above the baseline were offered for a fee. Customer growth increased, but never generated profitable revenue stream. Consumer services were terminated circa 2002, when Visto returned focus to OEM and corporate customers.
In 1998, Visto was in talks with Palm Computing, and Wireless Knowledge (a Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
-Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
joint venture). Visto partnered with Geocities
GeoCities
Yahoo! GeoCities is a web hosting service, currently available only in Japan.GeoCities was originally founded by David Bohnett and John Rezner in late 1994 as Beverly Hills Internet . In its original form, site users selected a "city" in which to place their web pages...
before Geocities was acquired by Yahoo.
In 2003, Visto bought push email solutions business from Psion, which was created in 2002 as a new division called Psion Software.
On February 23, 2009 Visto announced it is buying Good Technology from Motorola, Visto closed acquisition of Good Technology on March 2, 2009 and changed the Visto name to Good Technology
Good Technology
Good Technology is a company providing Push e-mail and mobile device management and security products for mobile phones.-History:The company started out building an MP3 attachment to the Handspring Visor under the brand of SpringThings. It later offered its own device to provide wireless email...
.
Visto the Product/Service
In 1996, Visto offered what was likely the first complete browser-based application suite: including email, to-do list, calendar, address book, remote file storage (ftp by any other name), browser bookmarks (both IE and Netscape). Visto pioneered the sharing of calendars between customers, allowing one to send invites and coordinate events with other Visto users.Visto also offered a then-unique push email service allowing corporate email to be accessed outside the company firewall. A Windows service was configured on a machine within the company firewall, which pushed email to the easily-accessed Visto servers.
The complete application suite was synchronize-able between Windows-based machines equipped with the Visto software. Syncing to personal information managers (PIMs)--such as Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
, Lotus Notes
Lotus Notes
Lotus Notes is the client of a collaborative platform originally created by Lotus Development Corp. in 1989. In 1995 Lotus was acquired by IBM and became known as the Lotus Development division of IBM and is now part of the IBM Software Group...
, Lotus Organizer
Lotus Organizer
Lotus Organizer is a personal information manager. It was initially developed by Threadz, a small British software house, reaching version 3.0. Organizer was subsequently acquired by Lotus Development Corporation, for whom the package was a Windows-based replacement for Lotus Agenda...
, and ACT!
ACT!
Sage ACT! is a customer relationship management software application which is used to keep track of client and prospect details in a single database that can be shared by multiple users...
--was achieved by licensing IntelliSync
Intellisync
The Intellisync Corporation is a provider of Data and PIM Synchronization software for mobile devices, such as Cell Phones and PDAs. The company is currently a part of Nokia, after it was acquired in 2006.-History:...
technology. Synchronization was limited to Windows machines, but the synchronized information was available from any machine running Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator/Communicator. Other browsers were not supported.
Initial code development was in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, but performance proved too slow for customer satisfaction and scalability. In late 1997, early 1998, the transition of the complete code base from Java to C++ cost the company six months of product advancement, diminishing market lead and allowing competitors such as Yahoo to catch up with the functionality Visto offered for their own consumer services.
In 2008, Visto provides only corporate email services, billing itself as a "mobile email provider."
Patent litigation
In December 2005 Visto filed a lawsuit against MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
for "misuse of proprietary technology". Also in December 2005, Visto signed a licensing agreement with NTP, Inc., further increasing its patent pool
Patent pool
In patent law, a patent pool is a consortium of at least two companies agreeing to cross-license patents relating to a particular technology. The creation of a patent pool can save patentees and licensees time and money, and, in case of blocking patents, it may also be the only reasonable method...
, in exchange for NTP receiving an equity stake in Visto. In February 2006, Visto sued competitor Good Technology
Good Technology
Good Technology is a company providing Push e-mail and mobile device management and security products for mobile phones.-History:The company started out building an MP3 attachment to the Handspring Visor under the brand of SpringThings. It later offered its own device to provide wireless email...
for alleged violations of four patents related to Good's wireless email technology. Again on May 1, 2006, Visto sued competitor, Research In Motion
Research In Motion
Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
for alleged patent infringement.
On 3 March 2008, Visto and Microsoft announced they had reached a settlement and licensing agreement involving cash and non-cash consideration. Both companies will dismiss all pending legal claims.
In July 2009, the case was settled, with Research in Motion
Research In Motion
Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
paying Visto $267.5 million.