Philips Software has ported its multimedia libraries for mobile phones to Trolltech's development platform and application stack for Linux devices. LifeVibes Multimedia for Qtopia aims to bring lightweight video-processing capabilities to camera-phone level hardware. Philips Software is an autonomous business group within consumer electronics (CE) giant Royal Philips Electronics.

When Trolltech launched the Phone Edition of its Qtopia app stack, it said the software would bring smartphone functionality to lower-end, feature-phone class devices. Feature phones are basic mobile phones that integrate a single feature, such as a camera or music player, while smartphones are more sophisticated mobile computing devices that let users install their own software, and more.

LiveVibes Multimedia software comprises compact libraries said to provide efficient multimedia processing for 2.5G and 3G phones. 2.5G functionality includes local and streaming playback of multimedia clips, and recording of multimedia clips from an integrated camera and microphone. 3G functionality adds video telephony.

LiveVibe Multimedia includes:

• Video telephony (3G only)
• Video encoder
• Video player
• Music player
• Ringtone player

Philips says LiveVibe offers a very high level of performance, both in terms of MIPS and code size. The company says one customer implemented a device supporting 3GPP-compliant video-MMS services for capture and playback using an ARM7 TDMI processor clocked at 52MHz.

Trolltech CEO Haavard Nord said, “Our collaboration with Philips gives Linux phone manufacturers a solution that will enable them to deliver outstanding functionality [on] relatively limited hardware. Customers can maximize the efficiencies and performance by running on TI's OMAP processor."

Philips and Trolltech will demonstrate their integrated technology solution on TI's OMAP processor — which Trolltech ported Qtopia to in September — at TI's booth at the 3G World Congress in Hong Kong, November 16-18. The demonstration will probably involve an OMAP-based 3G Linux phone reference design (pictured at right) announced by China's government-owned phone equipment maker Datang last week.

 
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