Qualcomm has acquired iSkoot, a San Francisco-based pioneer of providing services at the intersection of mobile and the internet. iSkoot works with leading device manufacturers and U.S. mobile operators to bring popular social networks and new internet services to mobile handsets in an intelligent manner that reduces data bandwidth usage on the network and saves battery life on phones.

iSkoot is now a subsidiary of QuIC, Qualcomm’s subsidiary focused on enabling and optimizing open source software with Qualcomm technologies, and will focus on three areas: continued support of its current customers; integrating its offerings with Qualcomm’s products; ,and developing open source data management contributions for mobile devices.

iSkoot began in 2005 with the simple premise that internet services would be even better if they worked on the handsets most people use today and over wireless networks most people can access.

iSkoot’s Kalaida Platform is architected to move data-intensive tasks through iSkoot-managed proxy servers. The proxy servers intelligently transcode and aggregate the traffic such that the actual frequency and size (number of megabytes transmitted) of data transmissions is greatly reduced. By this method, Kalaida brings the power of cloud computing to consumer mobile devices and gives operators the ability to deliver compelling interactive experiences with minimal impact on network and handset performance.

Since its inception, iSkoot has mobilized many of the internet’s most popular services, like social networks, consumer email and IM. Leading U.S. operators offer iSkoot services, such as a free mobile app that aggregates access to social networks, customizable news feeds and consumer email services within a single application.