World’s first global mobile Linux initiative begins
membership process, encourages creation of an ecosystem spanning application
and middleware developer communities
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill, TOKYO, YOKOHAMA, Japan, SEOUL, South Korea and NEWBURY,
England – 25 January 2007 – To support their goal of creating the world’s first
globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices,
Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung
Electronics, and Vodafone announced today the official launch of the LiMo
Foundation.
A not-for-profit organization, the LiMo Foundation is aimed at blending the
community-based development benefits of transparency, innovation and
scalability with the best development practices from the mobile community to
create an innovative new business model. Overseen by a Board of Directors
comprising representatives from the founding member companies including
Foundation Chairman, Greg Besio of Motorola and Vice Chair, Kiyohito Nagata of
NTT DoCoMo, the LiMo Foundation will be seeking new members interested in
participating in the development of a set of APIs, architecture, and
contributing source code for the common components of the Linux based mobile
platform. Foundation members will be available to discuss membership
opportunities at the upcoming 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February
12-15, 2007.
LiMo Foundation details – along with guiding principles and bylaws – can be
found at http://www.limofoundation.org.
Foundation members will be involved in building an active ecosystem and will
have the opportunity to influence the evolution of the platform, leaving them
free to provide compelling and differentiated services to customers.
The LiMo Foundation, through a fair and balanced contribution and participation
process, will focus primarily on the joint development of a competitive
Linux-based mobile platform, built around a common source code tree that can
adapt to ever evolving market requirements around the world. In addition,
members will also work on the following:
- Establishment of safeguards to minimize fragmentation;
- Collaboration on a mobile Linux developer ecosystem;
- Co-operation with existing industry organizations
- Securing new members from across the industry: device manufacturers, operators, chip set manufacturers, independent software vendors, integrators and third party developers
About the LiMo Foundation
The LiMo Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit entity that strives to
increase the adoption of Linux within the mobile industry. The LiMo Foundation
aims to leverage the mobile Linux platform to create an open, transparent,
scalable ecosystem spanning application and middleware developer communities
and to encourage the creation of compelling, differentiated and enhanced
consumer experiences. A full description of the foundation, including the
vision, goals, charter and membership information can be found at www.limofoundation.org.
Source: Motorola press release
