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First release of open source handset platform…
The LiMo Foundation, a consortium of mobile companies established to deliver an open handset platform, has indicated the on-schedule availability in March 2008 of the first release of the LiMo Platform – claimed to be the first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile handsets. The LiMo-heads have also announced the immediate public availability of the platform’s application programming interface (API) specifications.
“The LiMo Platform is being readied by mobile leaders working in unison to deliver an open handset platform for use by the whole industry,” says Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation. “The first release of the LiMo Platform combines technologies already extensively market-proven within an array of leading handsets. This will enable initial LiMo handsets to register in the marketplace far more rapidly than handsets based on unproven technology. In addition, we are now making the platform APIs freely available to the public in order to begin the widespread engagement of developer talent and innovation that will shape the new mobile consumer experiences of tomorrow.”
The LiMo Foundation's initial founder members - Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone – collaborated on Release 1 (R1), and nearly all of the enabling technology within R1 has been commercially deployed and proven within handsets used by consumers today.
“We are very proud of the transparent, balanced and harmonious contribution process that led to the on-schedule rollout of R1 of the LiMo platform and our API specifications. This unique process - with its shared leadership and decision-making - has delivered the benefits of both community-based and proprietary development,” claims Kiyohito Nagata of NTT DoCoMo, chairperson of the LiMo Foundation. “The evolution of the platform is an ongoing process. We are delighted with the wide range companies contributing to that process as we now work on Release 2.”
The LiMo news follows December’s announcement by the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum of the completion of its own LiPS Release 1.0 specifications. These are designed to enable mobile industry players to achieve basic interoperability for applications and services deployed on Linux-based phones. The LiPS specifications include the LiPS reference model, telephony, messaging, calendaring and scheduling, presence, user interface services, address book and voice call enablers APIs.
On that occasion the LiPS folks remarked that, in contrast to recent announcements from other bodies promoting Linux-based mobile software, LiPS output targets interoperability through real open standards and specifications, not de facto acceptance of single platform implementation. Who did they mean?
John Williamson
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