Summer 2006

Could Linux be an attractive operating system for mobile phones and data? That certainly seems to be the message behind the launch of a new grouping of manufacturers and network operators who aim to support the Linux platform.

The phone manufacturers are Motorola, NEC, Panasonic Mobile Communications and Samsung Electronics, while the operators are NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone. They say they want to facilitate the development and marketing of an API specification, architecture and supporting resources such as source code-based reference standards.

The idea of using Linux on mobile phones is not new; Linux-based handsets have been around for several years, and the platform has a strong following in both Japan and China. It is in a small minority in most of the world, but suppliers clearly don't want to be left in the cold if take-up picks up.

The new grouping is not in fact the first, even though it aspires to create "the world's first global, open Linux-based software platform". There are already other such groupings, including the Linux Phone Standards Forum (supported by France Telecom among others) and the Mobile Linux Initiative, in which NTT DoCoMo and Motorola are also involved.

Why the excitement? One answer is mobile Linux gives suppliers a further alternative to Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile for future smartphones. Some analysts believe it is less capable in terms of providing advanced features, but the upside is that it could be cheaper than these, and hence reduce the cost of handsets.