Group To Push Development Of Mobile Linux Devices

A group of Linux device and software vendors Monday launched a group aimed at fostering and speeding the adoption of Linux in mobile devices.

Among the founding members of the group, dubbed the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum, are Palm OS vendor PalmSource, cellular operator France Telecom/Orange and Linux software vendor MontaVista Software.

The group said in a statement that their goal is to "accelerate the adoption of Linux in fixed, mobile and converged devices by standardizing Linux-based services and APIs."

"Linux offers an increasingly attractive alternative to proprietary operating systems," Haila Wang, president of the LiPS Forum, said in a statement. "By standardizing the Linux-based system services and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), we will help to simplify the creation of fully functional Linux phones, ensuring they match the requirements of operators and increasing their appeal to consumers."

The group cited a market study showing that the market share of Linux-based devices doubled in each of the first three quarters of 2005. That market share is expected to increase next year as PalmSource starts releasing Linux versions of its venerable Palm OS.