DoCoMo invests $3M in Linux developer MontaVista
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NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's biggest mobile phone carrier, expects to complete on Wednesday aÂ $3 million investment in Linux software development company MontaVista Software, a DoCoMo spokeswoman said.
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Three-year project will back programmers' effort to build Linux software support for the high-speed networking technology.
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A consortium including Mandrakesoft, the Paris-based Linux seller that recently exited bankruptcy protection, has won a three-year contract worth â¬7m to improve Linux security.
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The KDE Project has released version 3.3 of its Linux desktop interface software.
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(InfoWorld) - Despite signs that mobile Linux is gaining momentum -- such as the launch ofÂ Motorola's Linux-based Razr2Â -- heated competition, confusion about goals, and slow-moving consortiums may be hindering growth. These developments are an indication of how much may be at stake. Between 2006 and 2012, cumulative Linux mobile device shipments are expected to reach 331 million, said Stuart Carlaw, an analyst with ABI Research. Such predictions are drawing interest to the segment from handset manufacturers, software developers, and carriers. The LiMo Foundation, the Linux Phone Standards Forum (LiPS), and the Open Source Development Labs' Mobile Linux Initiative are among the new groups formed over the past couple of years to try to reduce the fragmentation in the mobile Linux market and to encourage interoperability. But at least one mobile Linux vendor is critical of their progress. "They're still trying to figure out where to hold meetings," said Jim Ready, CTO and founder of MontaVista, of the activities of some of the groups. Progress at organizations like LiMo has been extremely slow, agreed Dan Cauchy, director of product marketing at MontaVista. "I'm concerned about what that will mean to the actual marketplace because each member company is building phones regardless," he said. Phone makers and software developers don't want to wait for the groups to decide on platforms and standards so they continue to make products that may not ultimately conform to the parameters set by the groups or interoperate, he said. Mobile phones are already plagued with interoperability issues that make it difficult for applications to run properly on all handsets. This problem hurts users interested in applications that are incompatible with their handsets. Also affected are software developers who have to make multiple versions of the same application for different handsets. Some operators, including Vodafone, have said they will soon require that all of their handsets run only two or three specific operating systems as a way to ensure that applications will work across all phones. The operators don't want to introduce Linux devices into their lineup of phones if they only exacerbate the interoperability problem. While MontaVista is active in many of the groups, it is also continuing to work closely with handset makers to meet their needs. According to Cauchy, 90 percent of mobile Linux devices--including Motorola's Razr2--are running MontaVista Linux. Confusion about goals in the industry could also be dragging down progress. "It's clear that the leading operators are telling the industry to consolidate," said Jason Whitmire, general manager of mobile solutions for Wind River, a Linux software developer with products for mobile phone vendors. "They expect to use only one OS stack or maybe two, so they have asked the industry to join together and do something." By his count, there are 22 different flavors of mobile Linux. But MontaVista has a different perspective. "Some of these consortiums are under the impression that they'll provide one stack to satisfy the world and I think carriers are saying, 'I don't think so'," said Cauchy. Choice is one of the main reasons driving the mobile Linux industry. In an ironic twist, Symbian, the mobile phone operating system, was first created by a group of mobile phone makers that feared that Microsoft, which had just entered the mobile market, might dominate like it did in the PC industry. But more recently, Symbian has begun to dominate the smart phone market enough that mobile operators wanted to be sure they had another choice, Carlaw said. Mobile Linux is an attempt to ensure that Microsoft and Symbian aren't the only options, he said. "The whole point is to have choice and alternatives," said Ready. "It's because of this paranoia about having one supplier ... that's why these consortiums show up." Too much choice, however, has been causing problems. At a mobile Linux conference in Madrid this week, fragmentation was a key concern particularly among smaller operators, Whitmire said. Without consolidation, they see costs related to supporting mobile Linux soaring, he said. Wind River, MontaVista, and others have one less potential competitor to worry about. During a keynote presentation at the Madrid conference, Red Hat said it has no intention of entering the embedded device Linux market. Fragmentation is an issue in mobile Linux, but some advancements are happening, Carlaw said. He's seen real progress in terms of different layers of the stack working together. It's been more difficult to improve on "horizontal" fragmentation. But that's starting to get better too, he said. For example, the LiPS Forum recently began working with the Open Mobile Alliance to improve interoperability both between mobile Linux devices and between Linux and non-Linux phones. It's natural to have this amount of fragmentation at this stage of the market development, and companies appear to have the incentive to continue to work it out, he said. "Carriers are still saying they're looking at Linux as a long-term prospect," he said.
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Oracle is near a deal to acquire Hyperion Solutions, which makes business analysis software, for about $3 billion.
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Today at 3GSM in Barcelona, LiMo announced the release of a software development kit with the ultimate goal of providing developers with a completely open, Linux-based alternative to other mobile operating systems.
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(InfoWorld) - NTT DoCoMo will partially fund the construction of AT&T's 3G phone network in Hawaii, it said Thursday. The unusual agreement will see NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest cellular carrier, provide AT&TÂ with $24 million to help it build the network. The network will be based on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and AT&T will launch service on the island of Oahu late this year and statewide in 2008, NTT DoCoMo said in a statement. Hawaii is a major holiday destination for Japanese tourists but most NTT DoCoMo customers can't use their cellphones on the island. That's because the carrier's 2G handsets are based on a proprietary standard used only in Japan and because in most 3G phones it has left out GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) compatibility leaving only 3G for overseas roaming. Because the proprietary 2G format kept many previous handsets offline many consumers aren't used to it and don't look for it when buying a new handset. Although that's slowly changing as more experience the convenience of using their phone overseas for the first time. NTT DoCoMo said it will work with AT&T to promote roaming in the U.S. as a result of the deal. Last year NTT DoCoMo made another investment in the Pacific when it acquired Guam Cellular & Paging and then used that company to acquire Guam Wireless Telephone Company. The investments, which totaled about $72 million, were made to speed up the introduction of WCDMA on Guam and help its roaming business. Guam is another major tourist destination for Japanese people.
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CSC has a distinguished history in IT, and its latest deal comes to $3.73 billion.
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Lenovo will pay $1.25bn (Â£647m) in cash for the business, which is expected to transform it into the world&#39;s number three PC maker.
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Motorola and NTT DoCoMo, Japan&#39;s top mobile phone operator, plan to jointly develop third-generation handsets, giving Motorola a way into a market largely out of reach for foreign manufacturers.
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Deal to purchase the streaming-media tools developer is valued at nearly $160 million in cash and stock.
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SourceLabs, a provider of tested, certified, and supported open source systems, announced that it has secured a $3.5 million investment from Ignition Partners and Index Ventures to deliver on the promise of Dependable Open Source Systems.
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NTT DoCoMo and Motorola have announced a deal to jointly develop a third-generation handset for business users, marking the American company&#39;s first major foray into the lucrative Japanese mobile phone market.
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US manufactuer 3M plans to invest at least 200 million dollars (270 million euros) in Poland over the next two years, tripling the current level, its local boss said Saturday.
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After big layoffs and management turmoil, the developer of the metaverse There looked near death. But $14 million in new funding has pumped some life into the company. By Daniel Terdiman.
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P has announced that it will invest more than $3 billion over the next three years on its Intel Itanium 2-based HP Integrity servers to gain market leadership.