Startup a la Mobile reports that its Linux-based mobile phone stack has attracted its first licensee. Gupp Technologies, a Malaysian startup backed by global electronics vendor 3P Electronics, will use the Convergent Linux Platform in a dual-mode VoWiFi (voice-over-WiFi) and GSM smartphone expected next year, according to a la Mobile.

Gupp will preview its Linux-powered VoWiFi/GSM phone at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this January in Las Vegas, and plans to distribute it through European and U.S. channels later in the year, according to a la Mobile CEO Pauline Lo Acker.

Lo Acker expects the Gupp design to be the first dual-mode Linux smartphone to feature a full QWERTY keyboard, “similar to the Palm Treo,” she said. The quad-band phone will be easy to use, and offer superior battery life, she said. It will include a VoIP (voice-over-IP) client based on SIP (session initiation protocol), a web browser, music download client, and an email client.

About 300 million dual-mode phones will ship in 2011, according to ABI figures cited by a la Mobile.

The company's Linux phone stack integrates VoIP software from Hellosoft, described by Lo Acker as a “sister company” that is also funded by Vennrock Ventures.

“[Gupp sees] a growing market trend for large retail chains to offer handsets and services from a variety of wireless companies,” according to Gupp managing director Guy Tessens. “Our plan is to capitalize on a la Mobile's mobile Linux expertise [and] 3P's long-term relationships with a broad network of retail chains to gain traction on a mobile retail playing field worldwide.”

Lo Alker added, “Our success in signing the first customer shortly after the release of our Convergent Linux Platform version 1.0 on September 1, 2006 is an encouraging endorsement of a la Mobile's vision and positioning. With a complete Linux system stack readily adaptable to GUPP's handset hardware, from device drivers and Linux kernel to applications, a la Mobile enables Gupp to bypass a long and technically challenging development cycle.”

Gupp Technologies was founded in 2005 by Tessens, a former Philips executive, and Sanjay Varma, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant. The company is based in Penang, Malaysia, and is backed by 3P Electronics, which describes itself as a global supplier of consumer electronics to mass-market retailers in over 15 countries.

A la Mobile's Convergent Linux Platform

A la Mobile claims its Convergent Linux Platform to be “the only complete operating system for mobile phones with an entirely open and configurable platform.” The stack supports XScale mobile application processors — including the forthcoming Marvel Monahans — and is based on an Intel-supplied 2.6 Linux kernel.

The stack includes a variety of third-party software that has been integrated, tested, and certified, Lo Acker said. Specific components are somewhat flexible, according to user preferences. However, Lo Acker listed components in the current version that include:

• A GUI based on Trolltech's Qt and “parts of Qtopia”
• A browser from long-time Trolltech partner Teleca
• A Sun Java virtual machine
• VoIP software from HelloSoft
• OTA (over-the-air) software from Redband
• SyncML software from Funambol
• A baseband interface from an unnamed global electronics powerhouse

A la Mobile's Convergent Linux Platform

A la Mobile's primary contribution to the stack, aside from integration and license aggregation, appears to be a unique “hardware mobility engine” (HME). The HME is described as a hardware abstraction layer aimed at providing a kind of BIOS for phones. a la Mobile says the HME will help its customers quickly spin new hardware models, without extensive software revalidation, because binary phone stack images will move to new phone hardware in much the same way that binary OS distributions such as Windows can be installed on any hardware with a compliant PC BIOS.

A la Mobile also offers development services on a non-recurring expense basis. For example, the company was funded by Gupp to integrate WiFi and VoIP support in support of its forthcoming dual-mode handset, Lo Acker said.

A la Mobile says its stack is open to customization, yet offers a “full and complete” stack that is supported, and will be maintained.

Lots more details about a la Mobile's HME and Convergent Linux Platform can be found in our earlier coverage, here and here.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.