Verizon, Mozilla join mobile Linux group

by Nancy Gohring

May 14, 2008 —

Verizon
Wireless is throwing its support behind mobile Linux, becoming the first
U.S. operator to join the LiMo
Foundation, a group developing mobile Linux technology.

The LiMo Foundation, started by companies including Motorola,
NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic,
NEC and Samsung,
is one of several initiatives working to unify mobile Linux development so that
applications can run across phones with different Linux implementations. The
LiMo Foundation has built a standard middleware layer that can run on different
mobile Linux operating systems.

In addition to Verizon, the LiMo Foundation plans to announce on Wednesday
that Mozilla, SK
Telecom, Infineon
Technologies, Red Bend
Software, Sagem
Mobiles, SFR and Kvaleberg
AS are also joining the group. Verizon will hold a board seat.

Late last year, Mozilla said it was planning to get serious about developing
a mobile browser. Joining LiMo could be “their ticket to get visibility,”
said Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner.

LiMo has largely eclipsed the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum, an organization
that is setting mobile Linux standards. LiMo is not creating official standards,
but offering its members technology that was developed and contributed by members.

But LiMo still must contend with Android,
Google’s mobile Linux operating system in development.

Verizon could also throw its support behind Android. In a Business Week story
late last year, Verizon Wireless’ president said the operator would use
Android, but the company later backpedalled and said it didn’t have any
solid plans to do so. AT&T,
T-Mobile and Sprint
have all said they plan to support Android phones.

“They’ll take whatever sells,” said Dulaney of Verizon’s
likelihood of supporting Android.

Google could, theoretically,
join LiMo, said Andrew Shikiar, director of global marketing for the LiMo Foundation.
“LiMo is a very open organization… anyone can join,” he said.
In the meantime, Google is developing the same type of technology that LiMo
has released. “I think there’s some frustration with Google in the
development community with what they see as a redundant effort at Google,”
said Shikiar.

Google, however, doesn't appear interested in joining the group. "We welcome all innovation that drives improvements and are happy to see other leaders in the industry move towards a more open model. We do not have any current plans to join the LiMo Foundation," Google said in an e-mail statement.

Despite growing interest in the idea of using Linux on mobile phones, growth
in the actual market isn't happening. Worldwide shipments of Linux phones in
2007 were essentially the same as the previous year, according to research from
Canalys. Analysts there blame fragmentation for the slow growth. But operators
and manufacturers are interested in Linux because it can allow them to get phones
on the market quickly and price them cheaply, Dulaney said. Linux phones will
be mainly directed at consumers, where differentiation is important, he said.

IDG News Service