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DoCoMo To Use Linux On Their 3G phones

Posted by timothy on from the darl's-ears-perk-up dept.

ilbrec writes "Looks like NTT DoCoMo will be using Linux on their 3G phones next year. This actually was reported yesterday in Japan (here), but I could not find any article in English until now. While it's not clear who will be making the Linux phone for them, I would certainly be interested in seeing them once they are out. No word on this anywhere at DoCoMo's website at all, however." Reader paku adds links to similar coverage in Forbes and in Japan Today.

3 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Reasons for adopting Linux by Trbmxfz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    According to J. W. Breen's Japanese-English dictionary, DoCoMo (dokomo) translates to "everywhere". Now that makes sense.

  2. Phones and operating systems by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 3, Interesting
    What I don't understand is why anyone needs to cram a whole multi-user, multi-tasking OS onto a small device with only two or three modes of operation (voice phone, Internet and maybe digital camera). None of these devices really need to be upgradeable - most Europeans get a whole new phone every 12-18 months because their network provider allows cheap upgrades - so that can't be the reason.

    Presumably it's cheaper to build additional processor speed and storage into the device, to cope with the overhead of Linux/Windows Embedded, than it is to spend developer time to knock up a custom OS for the limited hardware?

    --
    When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
  3. O/S not the main consideration by wombatmobile · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Many handset vendors are working with Linux in some way, and some vendors like Motorola are working with all kinds of O/S from Linux through to Symbian and MS.

    But does the O/S really matter if all the phones support Java now anyway? If you're going to write software for open mobile deployment, wouldn't you be inclined to consider Java first since it alone is ubiquitous on phones? O/S generally doesn't count for much in that decision.

    More than that, consider the data formats... Those indespensible new compelling 3G services if they ever eventuate will be all about selling and consuming data. Whose format(s) are service vendors going to use and support and work with? The content is what will be monetized with consumers and the format is what determines the nature of the franchises, like e.g. Office on the desktop.

    Whether the data format is something proprietary like .ppt or .doc or .swf or something open like SVG or XHTML I think is more significant to mobile developers' careers than the O/S.

    Look at the SMS business - the SMS standard can be implemented on any phone O/S and in fact it has been implemented on all of them. That is why SMS has been able to grow to $36b per year today.