LiMo Says Vodafone's Android Support Shouldn't Fragment the Mobile Linux Space (
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When the Open Handset Alliance said it gained 14 new members Dec. 9, some
industry watchers cocked an eyebrow at the participation of Vodafone.
Google created OHA (Open
Handset Alliance) in November 2007 to encourage the proliferation of
smartphones based on the Google's open-source Android mobile operating system
as alternatives to the Apple iPhone and Microsoft Windows Mobile and Research
In Motion handsets.
Vodafone is a founding member of the LiMo
Foundation, which is also working hard to get its own open-source mobile
operating system onto smartphones.
OHA has 47 members and only one official phone, but Sprint,
Motorola and others are working hard to expand the Android selection for 2009. LiMo has 48 members and its Linux OS appears on 24 handsets to date,
with more coming in early 2009.
In accordance with open-source etiquette, neither the Android nor the LiMo camp
can cop to the simmering competition, even as mobile and wireless industry
pundits see a race to fill the market with Linux-based alternatives to the
proprietary incumbents.
Ovum's Adam Leach suggested in a research note Dec. 10 that Vodafone's membership
with OHA casts some doubts over Vodafone's future involvement with LiMo, where
Vodafone originally vowed to pursue its own open-source mobile phone strategy.
Leach suggested that one of the reasons Vodafone got in bed with OHA was
because Android has an SDK (software development kit) with an Android Market
Web site to sell applications, as well as the T-Mobile G1 smartphone, which is
expected to sell 1 million units through 2008. LiMo, Leach noted, has yet to
produce an SDK and thus lacks a "convincing developer story."
Despite this hole, is Vodafone still backing LiMo? Absolutely, a Vodafone
spokesperson told eWEEK, noting that joining the OHA means Vodafone will be
able to work with the Android platform alongside other operating platforms such
as LiMo, Symbian, Microsoft and RIM, improving customer choice.
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