Mobile Communications - Matsushita, NEC, DoCoMo Unveil Linux for 3G Phones
November 19, 2004
Matsushita, NEC, and NTT DoCoMo announced this week that they have completed a project to develop a Linux operating system for 3G mobile phones. NTT DoCoMo has plans to roll out three models of mobile phones in the next few months that adopt the Linux platform, and it expects the platform to become a 3G standard in Japan.
The Linux platform for mobile phones is the product of three years of research conducted by the three Japanese companies. The primary advantage that the new platform is believed to offer is greater flexibility and smoother integration of the advanced multimedia applications that are the hallmark of 3G mobile phones. The open source nature of Linux will also allow third-party software developers to modify and improve upon 3G mobile phone functions.
This marks the first time that a large Japanese operator has developed a common platform using Linux. Japanese mobile phone makers have previously relied on either a version of TRON, a Japanese operating system, or Symbian.