Finland-based embedded and mobile outsourcing house Sesca is demonstrating a mobile phone stack that runs on Linux and Symbian. Based on Nokia's open-source Qt application development framework, the “Ample” stack offers touchscreen support, a customizable GUI, and a reference implementation for Openmoko's… NeoFreerunner.

Sesca bills itself primarily as an embedded and mobile service provider. The Ample platform appears to be positioned as a platform on which the company can deliver application integration and development services. Applications developed for the stack can be easily ported between any OS supported by Qt, the company says, and the stack's license agreements allow for protecting property rights (likely a reference to last month's move by Nokia's Qt Software unit (formerly Trolltech) to allow LGPL licensing for the forthcoming 4.5 release of the Qt libraries).

Sesca lists its areas of expertise as including:

• VoIP (voice-over-IP)
• Mobile TV
• Email clients
• Video
• GPS

Vaasa, Finland-based Sesca Group offers “ICT and automation solutions and services” for the telecommunication, energy production, and process industries, it says. The company had a 2008 “estimated turnover” of 51 million Euros (~$65M). It employs 800 people in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, the UK, Czech Republic, Romania, and China.

Ample — a cross-platform device stack

Ample offers a touchscreen-oriented graphical user interface (GUI) solution based on ITU-T keyboard layouts and dynamic UI elements, says the company. The GUI is designed so that the only physical button required on the device is a power button. All visual components are said to be customizable by operators and corporate customers.

Sesca Ample supplies several modular applications, including a multimedia player that supports MPEG-4 and MP3. The player provides virtual playlists that can “react to changes in the multimedia file collection and adapt themselves to user actions,” says Sesca.

A messaging application is said to handle all common message types, and offers unified messaging features that can dynamically select the appropriate messaging technology, including SMS, MMS, and email. In addition, users can send MIME-encoded messages simultaneously both as an email message and an SMS message, to different recipients, says Sesca. The communications software supports voice and data connections over cellular 2G and 3G technologies, and a VoIP/SIP stack for telephony.

Stated Juha Sumelahti, EVP, “With Sesca Ample, it is easy to build applications and user interface elements which can be easily moved and used between different devices regardless of the operating system.”

Availability

The Sesca Group will be demonstrating its Sesca Ample stack this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, at stand 1F07(1-0). The company did not provide any availability information for the final release.

 
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