Mobile phone software specialist Openwave and embedded Linux provider MontaVista have renewed their commitment to jointly develop and market Openwave's mobile phone app stack and graphical application framework on MontaVista's embedded Linux OS. The companies hope to integrate their technologies more tightly, and cultivate the third-party software ecosystem needed to deliver complete Linux-based mobile… handsets.

Montavista believes the partnership will promote a better understanding of Linux among operators and manufacturers, given Openwave's market reach. Openwave claims to be the largest independent mobile phone software supplier, with technology in more than half of all data phones, and partnerships with seven of the top ten manufacturers.

The companies believe that a tightly integrated, comprehensive software environment can enable operators to fine-tune user experiences and quickly integrate new service-enabling software. They also say that more third party applications and expanded industry awareness of Linux advantages will accelerate operator service development.

Openwave first partnered with MontaVista last September, when the companies announced Openwave Phone Suite Version 7 (V7) for MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition (CEE). V7 is a graphical application framework and app stack for wireless mobile appliances that includes a browser, messaging client, file manager, and multimedia player. CEE has already seen use in several mobile phones from Motorola, including the A760 and E680.

Rob Williams, a GM at Openwave, said the partnership “allows us to take advantage of the rapid innovations in the Linux community.”

 
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.