Microsoft to acquire mobile services company MobiComp

In yet another sign of how the mobile phone market is becoming increasingly important, Microsoft today announced that it plans to acquire mobile data company MobiComp. The Portugal-based company is known for a variety of applications, including mobile back-up, news reading, and a social networking tool that enables users to submit content from mobile phones to sites like Facebook.

MobiComp presently maintains deals with 11 mobile operators worldwide, including a substantial arrangement it secured with Portugal’s leading mobile services provider TMN. The acquisition will reportedly help bolster a number of services on the Windows Mobile smartphone platform as well as the Windows Live Web services division. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.