Skip the navigation
News

More vendors abandon LiPS mobile Linux platform for LiMo

By Nancy Gohring
February 11, 2008 12:00 PM ET

IDG News Service - Several more members of the mobile Linux LiPS Forum are switching allegiance to the LiMo Foundation, this time including board and executive committee members, indicating that LiPS is losing steam.

Orange and its parent France Telecom, Access and Open-Plug all plan to announce at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday that they are joining LiMo. More vendors uniting behind LiMo could help to speed up the rate at which the companies can bring Linux-based devices to market.

"We probably will move out of LiPS at some point because it doesn't make sense to keep two different initiatives on the same topic," said Yves Christol, director of device development at Orange. Access and Orange will both join the board of LiMo. LiPS president Haila Wang works for France Telecom, and Access and Open-Plug both have members on the LiPS board and executive committee.

MontaVista Software Inc. and Purple Labs have recently joined LiMo, though they appear to be staying active in LiPS as well. Trolltech ASA recently quit LiPS in favor of LiMo, and more may follow. "We believe some of them [other LiPS members] will share the same vision and will follow us and join LiMo," Christol said.

LiPS appears to be holding out hope that some companies may continue to work with both groups. "To the best of my knowledge, membership in one or any of these [organizations] is not an exclusive commitment," said Bill Weinberg, general manager of the LiPS Forum.

Because the two groups take different approaches, they aren't in competition and are working toward a common goal, Weinberg said. "Both organizations strive to fight fragmentation by improving interoperability of mobile applications and services across handsets and operators," he said.

Timing appears to be driving many of these companies to gravitate toward LiMo. "LiPS is essentially a standards-based organization," said Michel Piquemal, general manager at Access in France and director of strategic planning for the company in Europe. Most standards-setting processes take years to complete.

LiMo, by contrast, has created a software stack made out of components contributed by various members. The first release of LiMo is expected in March. Although LiPS has recently released a specification for some basic phone functions, LiMo plans to announce 18 LiMo phones in Barcelona, including some that are already on the market.

"Our approach is extremely fast and direct," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo. "The mobile industry, particularly in this phase, is dynamic and fast-moving -- and therefore, in order to make an impression, we have to do something that is practical and produces deliverables and is immediately usable by the industry."

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2010 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

App Development White Papers
The Keys to Distributed & Agile Application Development
How leading firms are winning with strategies for efficient application development, without relying on co-location.
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
Streamline Compliance and Increase ROI
Streamline, simplify, and automate compliance related activities; especially those that impact multiple business units. This white paper from NetIQ, outlines solutions that will...
All App Development White Papers
App Development Webcasts
Reduced TCO for Communications Applications with New Oracle SPARC Servers
In this webcast learn how Oracle's new SPARC T4 servers and SPARC Supercluster deliver the security, performance, and scalability required for 4G network...
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn...
All App Development Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs