Texas Instruments (TI) has become a “Core” member of the LiMo Foundation, the global organization developing a mobile phone operating system based on mobile Linux.
The chip manufacturer will have a representative on LiMo’s board of directors, executive council, architecture council and requirements council and has pledged to contribute to the development and advancement of the LiMo Platform, the announcement said.
“With nearly two decades of wireless system experience, TI has a rich heritage of supporting the advancement of embedded and mobile Linux devices,” said Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation, in a statement. “TI shares the vision of all LiMo member companies, which is the need to reduce the complexity of creating Linux devices, and we greatly look forward to TI’s contributions as our newest board member.”
Avner Goren, who will be TI’s representative on the board, says joining the LiMo Foundation was a natural complement to TI’s commitment to support high-level operating systems. Goren is director of strategic marketing for TI’s Wireless Terminals Business Unit.
The LiMo Foundation was launched in January 2007 by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone.
Qualcomm has announced that it is launching a BREW managed service, a solution for operators that want to outsource their data services. With BREW managed service, Qualcomm hosts a single catalog of BREW applications that operators may offer to their respective subscribers who purchase BREW-enabled handsets.
This new offering will enable Qualcomm to provide BREW service to 23 operators who were previously being hosted by Midwest Wireless, including Bluegrass Cellular, Cellcom and Alaska Communications Group.
“The comprehensive catalog of BREW applications that Qualcomm continues to offer has allowed us to effectively meet our customer demand for data and unique applications,” said Barry Nothstine, director of marketing and product development for Bluegrass Cellular. “Since we launched the service, our users have become excited about the additional content that allows them to create a customized phone experience, and we have seen a marked increase in data ARPU.”
