AvantGo was a

technology company A technology company (or tech company) is an electronics-based technological company, including, for example, business relating to digital electronics, software, and internet-related services, such as e-commerce services. Details According to '' ...

focused on bringing a full W3C-compliant browser experience to intermittently-connected

mobile devices A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

such as the

personal digital assistant A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in part ...

s (PDAs) and extremely early

smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

of that time period. Their browser could work with a live

internet connection Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...

, but their core

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

was the ability to sync web pages (including forms and

Javascript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, of ...

) to the device, allow the user to interact with them even while off-line, and then forward any results (primarily

HTTP POST In computing, POST is a request method supported by HTTP used by the World Wide Web. By design, the POST request method requests that a web server accept the data enclosed in the body of the request message, most likely for storing it. It is oft ...

messages) the next time the device synced. Despite this, the company is primarily remembered for their proof-of-technology demo service, which allowed users to set up a free account and subscribe to web pages and "content channels", which they could then view offline. While the free service was quite popular, it was not successful in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

the technology to the intended customers. Eventually AvantGo was acquired by

Sybase Sybase, Inc. was an enterprise software and services company. The company produced software to manage and analyze information in relational databases, with facilities located in California and Massachusetts. Sybase was acquired by SAP in 2010; ...

, Inc. in a white-knight transaction; the free public service was never monetized profitably and was eventually shut down.

History

AvantGo was founded in 1997 and was based in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster ...

. It quickly grew to nearly 400 employees and went public on September 28, 2000. Its IPO price was $12/ share and it closed the day up $8 at $20/share with a market cap of nearly $1 billion. On Dec 12, 2002, the company was sold to Sybase for $38 million, only a bit more than the cash it had on hand. Starting in June 2008, AvantGo displayed on their main page and on the device web browser that all synchronization and channel services would be shut down on June 30, 2009. In 2009, the AvantGo service was owned and operated by Sybase 365, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...

of Sybase, Inc. It became a managed ad insertion platform focused on SMS ad campaigns. Sybase was acquired by SAP in 2010; SAP no longer uses the AvantGo or Sybase brand names .SAP finally drops the Sybase name
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References

External links

AvantGo
Personal digital assistant software {{telecom-company-stub