PalmSource joins Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum

Some news from PalmSource, about them joining a forum that is trying to "standardize" Linux components and APIs that run on mobile phone devices. The reason why Microsoft has been making such strong in-roads in the mobile phone market arena is because they have strict requirements and they provide a baseline operating system that makes it easier for developers to cross-develop applications for different, often competing Windows Mobile devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 (or earlier generations). Here's the release from their website.

PalmSource, Inc., provider of Palm OS, a leading operating system powering next generation phones and mobile devices, today announced that it is a founding member of the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum. The LiPS Forum, a consortium of leading companies, has come together to accelerate the adoption of Linux in fixed, mobile and converged devices by standardizing Linux-based services and APIs that most directly influence the development, deployment and interoperability of applications and user-level services. Alongside PalmSource, the founding members include France Telecom/Orange, FSM Labs, Huawei, Jaluna, MontaVista Software, MIZI Research, Open Plug, Arm, Cellon and Esmertec.

The primary goal of the LiPS Forum is to establish standards for the growing numbers of companies providing Linux-based technologies for mobile, fixed and converged telephony terminals. With the rapid increase of Linux's popularity in these markets, there is an increasing need for industry standards to avoid fragmentation and ensure interoperability of technologies from different vendors. The LiPS Forum intends to support device manufacturers and operators in bringing to market Linux-based devices at a lower cost, while facilitating the programming and development process for software and semiconductor vendors. Additionally, the LiPS Forum plans to foster communication between the open source community and the telecom industry in order to drive market awareness.

Michael Kelley, senior vice president of engineering from PalmSource commented, "Becoming a part of the LiPS Forum further demonstrates our belief in the potential of Linux and our plans to developing on Linux. We believe that by simplifying the adoption of Linux in fixed, mobile and converged devices, and working to ensure that they match the requirements of operators and consumers, the LiPS Forum will play an important part in making Linux a truly mass market proposition.

About the Linux Phone Standards Forum (LiPS)
The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum is a consortium of leading industry players formed to standardize the Linux-based services and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that most directly influence the development, deployment and interoperability of applications and user-level services.

The success of Linux in phones, as elsewhere, is reliant on standards that ensure interoperability and guard against fragmentation. To date, standardization efforts have focused on the important question of Linux kernel optimization to achieve improved boot time, power management, system footprint and other performance-related factors. But for mass-market telephony terminals, standards that enable key applications and services to be deployed with a high degree of interoperability are at least as important as performance characteristics. LiPS has been created to meet this need that is crucial for modern phones and thus complement current initiatives around Linux standardization.

The founding members are ARM, Cellon, Esmertec, France Telecom/Orange, FSM Labs, Huawei, Jaluna, MIZI Research, MontaVista Software, Open-Plug and PalmSource, Inc.