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DoCoMo To Use Linux On Their 3G phones
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.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
How does this work as far as distributing the source code? Is that available for modification and if so is it possible to upload a self-improved OS to the phone?
Does that open up the possibility of doing clever things or am I being ignorant? If the former then this could be great, if the latter - hey, I only wrote telecommns code for two years, what do you expect?
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
We all know Microsoft is trying to be the "standard" for cell-phone operating systems much in the way that they took over almost the entire desktop and workplace market, but will there ever be a Linux standard? I know Symbian is also trying to create a standard for cell phones that already is quite strong in Europe, but there really should be a consortium where Linux developers can get together and set standards, instead of them being scattered across the internet proposing a few ideas.
If there's going to be standards, they should always be open source and free as in beer. Corporate control of standards only creates monopolies. Even in America, a lot of people are dropping their landlines for cellphones, and if there's ever a Linux standard for it, it should be created quickly before it's too late.
I mean this seriously. Would a good sign of Linux becoming more mainstream be when it's no longer news that a company is using Linux in their products?
according to zdnet japan (sorry link in japanese), DoCoMo added Linux as an option for manufacturers to choose from, by setting standardized specs for Linux on 3G. apparently DoCoMo doesn't want to limit choices of OS on 3G. The article says that they have specs (requirement) for Symbian OS available also.
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As Japan's largest provider, DoCoMo's relaxed stance on choice of OS may benefit manufacturers and consumers in a long run. Obviously people at DoCoMo can't care less about the OS that will soon be running inside of every car
Freedom of choice is a blessing these days...
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.