MontaVista aims embedded Linux ecosystem at mobile phones

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Feb. 07, 2005

MontaVista will broaden its focus on the burgeoning mobile phone market, with the announcement Tuesday of a program to rally chipmakers, software providers, and wireless carriers around its embedded Linux operating system as an open, extensible software platform. Dubbed the Mobilinux Open Framework, the initiative aims to produce a plug-and-play software ecosystem consisting of prequalified third-party products, that can grab market share from Symbian and Microsoft.

MontaVista VP of Marketing Peder Ulander says Linux is ready from a technology standpoint to compete with Symbian and Microsoft, but that not enough marketing is done around the open source operating system. "The technology exists -- it's ready to go -- but there's not enough awareness or understanding."

"You can't build an ecosystem without a formal program," Ulander adds.

What the program will do

According to Ulander, the Mobilinux Open Framework will include ports of MontaVista Linux Consumer Edition for "three to four" architectures, corresponding the program's anticipated semiconductor participants, within the next year. "TI is the significant player [in mobile phone chips], but there are four other semi's that see Linux as the opportunity to knock TI down," Ulander says.

On top of these architecture ports, MontaVista will certify software components -- including JVMs (Java virtual machines), browsers, and PIMs stacks -- from ISVs (independent software vendors). These components will then be combined in a mix-and-match way -- "like Legos," Ulander says -- into pre-tested, pre-integrated "blueprints" that will allow Linux to compete better on time-to-market issues with pre-packaged mobile OSes from Symbian and Microsoft, while at the same time helping phone makers better differentiate their products in a market increasingly driven toward commoditization. MontaVista hopes to produce between five and a dozen such blueprints this year, Ulander says.

Linux (left) offers a more flexible framework for phone makers than Windows Mobile (center) and Symbian (right)
(Click for larger image)

Bullish on Linux in mobile phones

MontaVista is bullish on Linux's ability to out-compete the more established vendors -- which primarily include Symbian and Windows Mobile -- thanks in part to its better scalability into mid-tier phones. The company also believes Linux will compete effectively with the home-grown RTOSes traditionally used in lower-end and mid-tier phones, due to the growing complexity of mobile phones.

Mobile phones have essentially become computing clients, according to MontaVista, and phone makers must increasingly support complicated network specifications from carriers such as NTT-DoCoMo, Orange, and Vodaphone. In addition to web browsing, email, SMS, MMS, and other Internet protocols, mobile phones may soon support television and video-on-demand, market researcher ABI confirms.

"We want to be the bridge and community that pulls everyone together," said Ulander, likening MontaVista's role to that of the operating system itself, which he said is "essentially a non-differentiating feature" that merely bridges the hardware and software.

Initial participants

Who's onboard MontaVista's initiative so far? According to MontaVista, founding Framework members include (alphabetically):

Access -- maker of the NetFront browser, which supports the display and resource constraints of mobile devices
Aplix -- longtime Java provider
ARM -- developer of processor cores such as the recent MPCore
Cellon International -- describes itself as a leading independent design center for wireless terminals and module
COSMOBIC Technology -- a joint venture of NEC Corporation, Panasonic Mobile Communication, and Huawei Technologies, formed in 2002 "to provide custom-made solutions to mobile operators and subscribers" in China
Esmertec -- recently announced that its Java J2ME-based software would support MontaVista Linux in the mobile phone market
E28 -- Chinese smartphone vendor founded by Roger Kung, former head of Motorola's Asian operation. E28 has developed its phone software in-house, and has said in the past it would consider licensing its software to others
InnoPath -- maker of DeltaUpgrade software for OTA (over-the-air) software upgrades
Jaluna -- maker of OSWare, a virtual platform technology that targets both mobile phones and telecommunications infrastructure
Openwave -- claims to be the world's largest vendor of software for mobile phones, and a strong believer in Linux's potential. Its Openwave Phone Suite application framework supports MontaVista Linux
Opera -- maker of the Opera browser, used in Motorola's A780
PalmSource -- recently announced plans to convert PalmOS into middleware that runs on Linux, in order to pursue the Linux-based smartphone market
Pollex Mobile Software -- maker of a mobile phone software stack for the Asian market
RealNetworks -- maker of streaming media software
SKY MobileMedia -- recently announced that it would port its Sky-Map phone application stack to Linux
Teleca -- an IT services and R & D company
TI -- leading provider of processors for mobile phones, according to MontaVista
TTPCom -- developer of IP for chips used in mobile phones and PDAs (including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Bluetooth and 802.11 platforms), and related software, which it licenses to chip and device manufacturers.

Background and perspective

The market for "smartphones," defined as phones capable of running a complex OS such as Linux, Windows, or Symbian, today represents two percent of the total market for mobile phones, according to ABI. However, two percent still represents 10 million units, a significant market opportunity. Furthermore, ABI expects smartphones to account for a quarter of mobile phone sales by 2009. In other words, the stage is set for a battle royale among top smartphone OS vendors, including Symbian, Microsoft, and -- most likely -- a number of Linux providers.

MontaVista claims to have an early lead among Linux mobile phone OS providers, with seven design wins so far, including four from Motorola -- which has indicated that more than a quarter of its new phones for 2005 will run Linux -- and NEC and Panasonic, which have collaboratively developed three Linux phones that work with NTT-DoCoMo's 3G network in Japan.

According to Strategy Analytics, as cited by Business Week, Linux will ship in 1.1 million phones this year (compared with 14 million Symbian phones). Others who have successfully shipped Linux phones include E28, Datang (China's government-owned TEM), and Samsung, among others. And while Wind River has not yet tipped its Linux smartphone hand, you have to wonder what the embedded giant has planned, given that it is already shipping a Carrier Grade Linux product for the other end of the virtual wire.

Many believe that Linux's low- to no-cost availability assures it of prevailing in the low-margin, high-volume mobile phone market. MontaVista's Mobilinux Open Framework program will certainly help Linux gain more exposure as a viable phone OS -- exposure sure to draw heated competition, in the best vendor-neutral tradition of open source.

Linux's vendor-neutrality could make some companies wary of aligning with any single Linux vendor too early. However, if MontaVista is able to win buy-in from the largest mobile phone ecosystem players, it will have done much to consolidate its early lead as a provider of Linux for mobile phones.

Additional analysis of Linux in the mobile phone market is available in this LinuxDevices.com rebuttal to a recent eWEEK story naysaying Linux's chances in the phone market.

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