Alcatel-Lucent announced that it is making its OpenPlug Studio development toolkit available to developers free of charge, while also launching its Certified OpenPlug Solutions Provider Program, which it said is focused on application development and developer training. OpenPlug Studio is a development toolkit which allows developers to create native apps for smartphones, tablets and other web-connected devices from a single code base, using familiar web development technologies such as JavaScript, ActionScript and XML.

Alcatel-Lucent acquired OpenPlug in September 2010, describing the transaction as “one of several aggressive moves it has made to advance Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Enablement vision.”  This combines the service provider’s trusted network capabilities with the “speed and innovation” of the web, to enable a “new generation of richer services for consumers and business users.”

Laura Merling, SVP of Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Enablement Strategy and Platform, said: “One of the things we set out to do when we created the Open API Platform was address the entire API and app ecosystem. Making OpenPlug Studio free puts one of the industry’s most powerful tools into the hands of more developers. And building a formal partner program further supports the need across all industries to provide the education and tools to meet the demands of the connected business.”

OpenPlug Studio, formerly known as OpenPlug ELIPS Studio, is a cross-platform mobile application development kit based on Adobe’s Flex Builder technology. It enables apps to be developed, compiled and packaged for platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Mobile and Symbian OS.