Startup Serves Linux a la Mobile

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Platform today, which it says is a viable mobile operating system alternative to proprietary offerings, in the mode of what giants Motorola, Samsung, NEC and Panasonic and operators Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo announced last week and PalmSource's introduced with its Access Linux Platform (ALP) for smartphones back in February.
What a ala Mobile would like to do is create a platform that many device makers can use; the same as the group from Friday's announcement and PalmSource. You see, Linux on a handset today is very much a proprietary affair, leading to fragmentation. While the components are open source, the end product - the platform itself - is only used on a particular mobile phone vendor's handsets. Take Motorola, for example, with its 5 million Linux-based phones, or NEC, which says it has released 8 million in Japan alone.
"The desire for a trusted alternative to proprietary mobile operating systems is perhaps the handset industry's worst-kept secret. Our Convergent Linux Platform is the first solution to actualize this desire, ending the proprietary chokehold on handset innovation," a la Mobile President & CEO Pauline Lo Alker said to PDAStreet. "Our goal is to help accelerate Linux-based phones' time-to-market while contributing to the overall cause of the broader Linux and open-source community."
The company is a member of the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum and it subscribes to the standards of the Mobile Linux Initiative (MLI) and CELF (Consumer Electronics Linux Forum); all of which are focused on creating standards and specifications rather than a full-on OS.
Open Source Development Labs (the organization behind the MLI) Senior Technology Analyst Bill Weinberg sees "the emergence of rich Linux handset platforms like the a la Mobile offering as key to consolidating these gains. We welcome a la Mobile to OSDL/MLI and as a unifying force in this dynamic marketplace."
Should a la Mobile score manufacturer customers, the device makers will be able to take Convergent Linux the way it is or customize it. Vendor’s have already expressed interest, according to Alker. And she expects a smartphone based their platform to hit the streets sometime next year.
Between now and then a la Mobile will install their stack on sample smartphone. The company will show it off at Linux World in San Francisco this August.
At the center of a la Mobile's Convergent Linux Platform is its Hardware Mobility Engine and Network Mobility Engine. The company says the Hardware Mobility Engine enables a tested software suite in binary form (operating system and applications) to move across different hardware platforms without porting or diminishing performance.
With it, handset manufacturers can quickly develop a family of handsets by utilizing the same underlying binary software stack for all models. This is supposed to drastically accelerate time-to-market; ensuring software compatibility and interoperability across a product line.
The company says the Network Mobility Engine provides a policy-based framework for the seamless handover of IP-based services (voice, data and video) between network transports without requiring any modification in the network infrastructure or the IP applications. Based on a la Mobile's Multi-Mode IPT technology, it gives a network operator the flexibility to deliver IP services based on a pre-defined set of policies, such as available network service, best costs, or application bandwidth requirements, a la Mobile says. It also allows for automatic selection of appropriate network transport when service is acquired or lost.
Version 1.0 of Convergent Linux will include configurable components like applications (PIM, browser etc.), frameworks (interface, multimedia), User Interface (Icons, Decoration, Branding), Low Level System (Device Management, Synchronization, DRM).
Specific software integrated from third-party and open-source partners include Linux Kernel 2.6, GSM/GPRS solution from HelloSoft, firmware over the air (FOTA) solution from Red Bend, Qtopia application framework and UI from Trolltech, Browser, Messenger and multimedia framework from Obigo AB, Flash, and incorporated with Java ME.
"a la Mobile's Convergent Linux Platform announcement further strengthens Linux as a displacing force in mobile phones. With Qtopia as the application framework and user interface, handset manufacturers can now create the next generation of mobile phones that are customized and can get them to market quickly and more cost-effectively," according to Benoit Schillings, Trolltech CTO.
a la Mobile's Alker told PDAStreet, version 1.0 of her company's mobile platform will ship in September, ahead of both PalmSource's and the group-of-six's OSs. In other words, she claims her company will be the first to put it all together. As with both of the other players, handsets built on it aren't expected until sometime next year, however. Related Links:
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PalmSource Makes LinuxWorld Appearance
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