Linux Mobile Foundation Created To Promote Open Source Software For Mobile Devices

A collaborative effort by mobile device manufacturers and service providers to create a Linux-based software platform gave itself a name and a formal structure Thursday. The goal of the non-profit LiMo Foundation is to trim development costs and speed the spread of the open source software technology for use with handsets and other mobile devices.

The firms participating in the launch are: Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone. Membership in LiMo is open to individuals and companies at annual fees ranging from $40,000 for an individual and up to $800,000 for a company.

"The LiMo Foundation is aimed at blending the community-based development benefits of transparency, innovation, and scalability with the best development practices from the mobile community to create an innovative new business model," the foundation said in a statement.

Chairman of the foundation's board of directors is Greg Besio of Motorola; vice chairman is Kihohito Nagata of NTT DoCoMo. The foundation said it plans to explain membership advantages at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona next month. The foundation will seek new members from the ranks of device manufacturers, operators, chip set manufacturers, independent software vendors, integrators and third party developers.