Aiming to Ride the Power of Apple’s Passbook Feature, Urban Airship Acquires Tello

Mobile notification provider Urban Airship said Tuesday that it is acquiring Palo Alto-based Tello, a small start-up that focuses on building apps that support the iPhone’s Passbook feature.

“We love what Tello has created and see tremendous potential for combining our solutions to create the perfect pass solution,” Urban Airship CEO Scott Kveton said in a statement. The move follows the company’s late 2011 acquisition of SimpleGeo.

Urban Airship said it will keep Tello’s Silicon Valley digs; Tello CEO Joe Beninato will serve as general manager of digital wallet for Urban Airship.

Apple introduced Passbook with the latest version of iOS as a means for managing a variety of credentials, from event tickets to loyalty cards and boarding passes.