Next-gen Linux-based Software For Mobile Phones Launched

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Next-gen Linux-based software for mobile phones launched

11 Jul, 2008, 2219 hrs IST, ET

PUNE: While iPhones are still making headlines, the mobile industry has already started talking about introducing the next-generation mobile consumer experience: the Linux mobile operating system!

Azingo Inc, a California headquartered IT company, on Friday announced the launch of an open and globally consistent software platform based on mobile Linux system for use by the whole industry.

While Azingo has decided on the commercial release of its Linux based mobile telephony software in Europe next year, if all goes well the gizmo will hit the Indian markets by 2010.

Mahesh Veerina, chief executive officer of Azingo, told reporters here that the industry was shifting from proprietary systems to an open, neutral platform and that the platform would be Linux.

The technology has been entirely developed in India with Pune and Hyderabad being the two research-and-development centres. "Service operators worldwide are rapidly moving towards web-driven, on-demand applications rather than pre-packaged and standard packages," Veerina said.

Industry experts opine chipset advances will soon outpace the ability of any single proprietary system. Thus Azingo has positioned itself with open Linux-based mobile phone software that inherently supports each of these industry-shifting dynamics.

Nokia leads in the mobile phone operating systems market with 40 percent market share. The industry projects 7 billion mobile users in the next five years and opportunity for mobile Linux is estimated at 2 billion. With 2.5 billion mobile users in Indian and China alone, Azingo is very upbeat about its product.

"Azingo has established relationships with six of the top base-band providers and four top global mobile operators. Azingo offers a complete Linux platform and engineering services aimed at providing a one-stop solution for designing and commercializing new mobile phone products," said Veerina.

Azingo is a core member of the LiMo Foundation. The foundation's mission is to catalyze next-generation mobile consumer experiences by delivering an open and globally consistent software platform based upon mobile Linux.

The LiMo Foundation is open to all vendors and service providers in the mobile communications marketplace including device manufacturers, operators, chipset manufacturers, independent software vendors, integrators and third party developers, Veerina said.