Telefonica is delving deeper into multimedia applications through an alliance with Microsoft that brings access to an additional six million developers.
The telco has produced a software development kit linking its BlueVia developer platform with Microsoft’s .NET framework, as it bids to tap a growing market for PC, TV and mobile applications.
Telefonica’s development kit offers access to Microsoft’s Silverlight and Visual Studio 2010 tools, but one of the key gains is Windows Azure – the software giant’s cloud platform that allows development of Web applications with no infrastructure outlay.
Vivek Dev, director of new global services at the telco, said applications developed under the partnership will be available to Telefonica’s 280 million global subscribers, and allow the firm to expand beyond its current mobile offering.
However, the deal leaves questions regarding Telefonica’s continued participation in the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC). While WAC is attempting to create open standards for apps development, Telefonica appears to be going it alone with BlueVia and Microsoft.