Industry backs Mobile Linux handsets

A mobile Linux group formed by six of the world’s top mobile phone makers has received wider industry support.

Announced last year, the non-profit LiMo Foundation was formed by hardware-makers Motorola, NEC, Panasonic Mobile and Samsung Electronics, together with carriers NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone.

New core members of the group are: Aplix, Celunite, LG Electronics, McAfee and Wind River Systems. New associate members are ARM, Broadcom, Ericsson, Innopath Software, KTF, MontaVista Software and NXP.

Together the group will work to create a Linux platform for mobile devices. A standard platform not just promises to reduce development time for new mobile phones but could also provide a common platform on which to build applications so expenses can be lowered.

The first handsets based on the LiMo platform are due on sale in the first half of next year, the foundation said in a statement.