Four large mobile phone vendors, together with two major wireless operators, will create an open Linux implementation for mobile phones.
Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone say their Linux implementation will provide a global standard, and prevent the “fragmentation” of mobile phone Linux.
Most of the companies involved already have considerable experience implementing Linux for mobile phones.
NEC and Panasonic have long collaborated on a Linux implementation for 3G Linux phones sold by NTT DoCoMo. DoCoMo, Japans largest mobile phone company, adopted Linux for 3G phones in late 2003.
Motorola, meanwhile, was among the first phone vendors to add Linux to its strategic roadmap, and it has since shipped about a dozen Linux-based phone models.
The companies plan to create an “independent foundation,” as yet unnamed.
The foundation will develop and market an open Linux implementation, including an API specification, architecture, and source code-based reference implementations of components and tools.
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