Motorola Invests in Virtualization

Motorola is investing in VirtualLogix, which develops virtualization software allowing for cell phones to run multiple operating systems.

With the undisclosed investment April 21, Motorola joins Atlas Venture, Cisco Systems, DFJ Esprit, Index Ventures, Intel Capital and Texas Instruments as investors in VirtualLogix.

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Earlier this month, VirtualLogix announced virtualization support for Windows’ mobile operating system. The company already supports real-time operating systems or Linux by applying real-time virtualization technology on platforms using multi-core processors.

“As the mobile eco-system grows increasingly complex, demand for simplified product designs that allow dynamic mobile experiences to run across multiple platforms will intensify,” Reese Schroeder, managing director of Motorola Ventures, said in a statement.

Schroeder added that virtualization offers solutions for the complexity.

“Our investment in VirtualLogix will help accelerate the delivery of their technology to next-generation communications devices and infrastructure equipment,” he said.

Windows interfaces usually require separate hardware to handle mission-critical portions of the equipment. VirtualLogix claims its real-time virtualization software simplifies the design by allowing all software to share a common hardware platform.

“As virtualization moves out from the data center and into everyday front-end connected devices, our connected world will require the delivery of efficient, secure and customizable user experiences,” Peter Richards, CEO of VirtualLogix, said in a statement.

Richards said technologies such as VOIP (voice over IP), IPTV (IP television) and enterprise communication applications are not currently benefiting from virtualization because of high throughput requirements. In addition, developers face challenges to practically using embedded multi-core processor systems.