NTT DoCoMo to acquire MontaVista Linux
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PalmSource is not the only mobile device manufacturer with high interests in Linux, NTT DoCoMo has just announced an agreement with MontaVista Software, a developer of Linux software for mobile handsets and other related devices, to acquire majority stake
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NTT DoCoMo, which recently announced that three of its phones will be based on Linux, invests in US vendor MontaVista Software. By Mobile Pipeline News.
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Motorola ed NTT DoCoMo, il maggior operatore di telefonia mobile del Giappone, hanno raggiunto un accordo per la produzione e la vendita di cellulari di terza generazione compatibili sia con lo standard europeo Gsm/Gprs che con quello asiatico W-Cdma.
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Casio Computer Co. (6952.T) and NTT  DoCoMo Inc. (9437.T) will form a joint venture to link cash  registers with wireless electronic payment systems, the two  Japanese companies said on Tuesday.
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NTT DoCoMo, Intel and IBM have published a jointly developed security specification called the Trusted Mobile Platform. It aims to provide an end-to-end security architecture for mobile wireless devices, including
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As predicted UK mobile operator mmO2 has signed a deal with NTT DoCoMo of Japan to offer i-mode services in Britain. The terms of the agreement will allow the former mobile wing of BT to offer i-mode services
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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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Japanese mobile phone firm DoCoMo is in talks to buy 3G handsets from Motorola.
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NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's top mobile phone  operator, plans to offer electronic payment services at  McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) outlets, with special  promotions for some users.
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CALIFORNIA&#39;S MONTAVISTA HAS landed the deal to supply its Linux OS to two major Japanese handset providers, NEC and Panasonic.
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Japan's NTT DoCoMo will join hands with Cingular Wireless of the United States, aiming to unify technical specifications for third-generation (3G) cellphones and services.
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Japan's largest mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437.T), unveiled on Wednesday a new line of advanced mobile phones with stereo-quality surround sound, high-resolution digital cameras, and a special chip that allows owners to use their phones as a debit card.
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TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan&#39;s leading mobile phone service operator, said it will invest a total of 8.2 mln usd in two China-based companies in a move to strengthen its mobile phone businesses in the rapidly growing market there.
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U.K. mobile operator mmO2 has announced that it's reached an agreement with NTT DoCoMo to offer the Japanese company's I-mode mobile Internet service on its network.
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Japan's top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo said it was launching its i-mode Internet service in Russia and three other former Soviet republics through an agreement with Russia's largest provider Mobile TeleSystems (MTS).
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NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator, has developed a common software platform that can run on both the Linux and Symbian operating systems used in its 3G (third generation) mobile phones, the company said Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - NTT DoCoMo is planning to buy a slice of a Japanese venture company that has made some promising advances in fuel-cell technology. Japan's largest cellular telephone company will acquire 36.5 percent of Aquafairy for an undisclosed sum, the NTT DoCoMo said Monday. Aquafairy is based in Osaka and was spun out of Japan's Nitto Denko to work on fuel cell technology. Aquafairy is developing polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC), in which water is injected into a cartridge and converted to hydrogen by a catalyst. The hydrogen is sent to an anode where the ions and electrons are separated and the electrons flow to the cathode, creating electricity. NTT DoCoMo has been working with the startup for some time on a micro fuel-cell recharger for use with cell phone handsets. Such a device could recharge a cell phone battery without having to plug it into an electrical power outlet. It's seen as an intermediate step towards the ultimate goal of a fuel cell small enough to be integrated into the cell phone handset itself. A prototypeÂ unveiled by Acquafairy in JulyÂ was a quarter the size and twice as powerful as one NTT DoCoMo developed with Fujitsu Laboratories and displayed a year earlier. The latest recharger has an output of 2 watts and measures 24mm square and is 70mm long and weighs 45 grams.