computer science

Synchronica

Synchronica is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Synchronica rather than just read about it. In short: Synchronica plc was a public listed software vendor which developed and marketed mobile messaging solutions for mobile network operators and mobile phone manufacturers. Its flagship product provided push email, instant messaging and social networking to a wide range of mobile phones, and was branded as Unity.

Key takeaways

Synchronica belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Synchronica to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Synchronica from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Synchronica plc was a public listed software vendor which developed and marketed mobile messaging solutions for mobile network operators and mobile phone manufacturers. Its flagship product provided push email, instant messaging and social networking to a wide range of mobile phones, and was branded as Unity. Synchronica was one of the industry's principal users of open industry standards, and their products supported the relevant standards developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). In 2004, Synchronica became the first company to deploy a live installation of a SyncML device management (now OMA DM) server in a carrier-grade environment, with Siemens Mobile AG. On 16 April 2012, Synchronica was acquired by Switzerland's Myriad Group, in an all-share deal which valued the company at £23.9 million (around US$38 million). Myriad delisted Synchronica from the London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange during Mid-May 2012.

History Synchronica Software GmbH was founded in 2004, specializing in open industry standards-based synchronization and device management solutions for the mobile industry. In March 2005, Synchronica was acquired by AIM listed infrastructure consultancy DAT Group, headquartered in the village of Bodiam in East Sussex. Later that year, the newly created group company underwent a management restructuring and rebranding to Synchronica plc. In April 2006, Synchronica moved headquarters from Bodiam to the historic town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. In September 2011, the founder and CEO of the company, Carsten Brinkschulte, resigned from his position citing disagreements with the other board members regarding future strategy. At the time of the acquisition of Synchronica by Myriad, it emerged that the CFO, Angus Dent had acquired 800,000 shares in the company after the initial approach by Myriad - generating a profit of £48,000 following the sale. This transaction was investigated by the FSA under the insider trading regulations.

Acquisitions Synchronica engaged in several strategic acquisitions in an effort to bolster its competitive position in the fiercely contested mobile messaging market. In November 2007, Synchronica acquired the assets and intellectual property of the US-based mobile email specialist GoodServer whose email enablement and integration technology was already a key part of Synchronica's Mobile Gateway product. Another key deal, which was completed in September 2008, was the acquisition of AxisMobile Limited. AxisMobile Limited was the operating subsidiary of Synchronica's competitor, AxisMobile plc. AxisMobile developed a number of email technologies suitable for the consumer mass-market, and this intellectual property is now fully owned by Synchronica, who have integrated it into their Mobile Gateway product. In March 2010, Synchronica acquired the OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service business, reseller agreements, and existing worldwide mobile operator customer base, of the Instant Messaging developer Colibria AS. Synchronica integrated Colibria's IM technology into Mobile Gateway. In September of the same year, Synchronica acquired its Canadian mobile email rival, iseemedia Inc. As part of the deal, Synchronica acquired iseemedia's patent-pending document streaming technology, as well as contracts with three large mobile operators in India and South-East Asia. In February 2011, Synchronica acquired the assets of instant messaging vendor Neustar NGM including product, intellectual property and eleven customer contracts with international mobile operators and two tier-1 device manufacturers. In August 2011, Synchronica completed its final acquisition by taking the operator-branded messaging (OBM) assets from the Nokia Corporation which provided email and instant messaging (IM) services to tier one mobile operators in North America.

References

External links http://www.synchronica.com/ http://www.devicemanagementforum.org/ http://www.openmobilealliance.org/

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Synchronica

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Synchronica claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Synchronica before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Synchronica ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Synchronica

In research: Synchronica appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Synchronica in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Synchronica is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Software companies established in 1995, Software companies of the United Kingdom, Wireless, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Synchronica outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Synchronica in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Synchronica means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Synchronica out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Synchronica in simple terms?

Why does Synchronica matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Synchronica?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Synchronica.