MWC: Linux platforms battle for attention

Both are open source, both promise phones by the end of the year

BARCELONA--Android prototypes dominated the Linux hype at the Mobile World Congress, but Google’s pet operating system wasn’t the only Linux platform to debut at annual GSM event. While Texas Instruments, Marvell, Qualcomm and ARM demonstrated the first proof-of-concept Android devices, the LiMo Foundation delivered the real thing: 15 Linux-powered devices from Motorola, NEC, Panasonic and Samsung that will begin shipping commercially by the end of the year.

The LiMo Foundation (which standards for Linux Mobile) was created last year to develop an open software platform that could be shared across the industry—a mission almost identical to the stated goals of Google’s Android project. While the LiMo members appear to be further along in their development work, that appearance could be deceiving.

The Android phones may be just prototypes, but Google released the Android software developer’s kit last year, giving developers a head start on building applications. Google and the Open Handset Alliance, however, haven’t released the operating systems itself, leaving potential handset markers in the dark and developers with nothing but an emulator to test their products. The foundation appears to have gone the opposite route. It’s finalized the OS platform, allowing handset makers to begin making devices, but it won’t release its SDK until March, meaning applications will be further off.

Regardless of which group will be first to market, a competition looks to be brewing over what Linux platform will dominate the market—ironic considering the goal of both organizations is to unify the market rather than fragment it further. The issue becomes even more complicated as several members belong to both organizations. The LiMo group was founded in 2007 by handset makers Motorola, NEC, Panasonic and Samsung along with two heavyweight operators: Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo. The Open Handset Alliance came into being last November with its own operator heavies, Sprint, China Mobile, Telefonica and T-Mobile international, but NTT DoCoMo wound up on both the OHA and LiMo’s rosters, as did vendors Motorola, Samsung and LG Electronics.

The end result is that vendors like Samsung and Moto are now supporting two Linux OSs as well as the Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms. The mobile OS market is becoming a very confusing space. And whether both or a single platform emerges, they will have to deal with Nokia, the dominant maker of the world’s smartphones, the segment targeted by both Linux platforms.

Ultimately the vendors may have to play both sides in the Linux wars as carriers start lining up behind one standard or the other. This week at the Congress, LiMo brought in another major carrier Orange as well as Linux platform maker Access. The operators, however, may opt to play peacemaker before the competition gets really heated. Guido Arnone, director of terminals technology for Vodafone, said that the remarkable interest in open Linux platforms is encouraging, but he doesn’t like the prospect of an even further fragmented market. The reason Vodafone helped spearhead LiMo in the first place was to cut down on the number of platforms the carrier supported worldwide. He suggested that the two alliances merge. ¨We’d like to see the two platforms integrated,” he said.