Industry Leaders to Collaborate on Linux Mobile Computing Platform

CAMBRIDGE, UK, - Oct. 3, 2007 - To address the rise in consumer demand for access to the Internet and advanced applications on larger display mobile devices, ARM and six companies today announced a collaboration that will result in the development of a Linux-based open source platform for next-generation mobile applications.  The collaboration, announced at the fourth annual ARM® Developers’ Conference being held this week in Santa Clara, California, builds on the ARM architecture and its rich ecosystem of Partners to deliver a standards-base platform based on Linux. This group of companies are all working to accelerate the enablement of truly always on, connected mobile computing (CMC) devices.

The new platform will be released into the open source community and will be naturally adopted by ARM’s large ecosystem of software and silicon vendors, including Marvell, MontaVista, Movial, Mozilla, Samsung, and Texas Instruments.

This effort between ARM and its Partners focuses on the development of an open source platform based on Linux, Gnome Mobile and Mozilla Firefox that runs on ARM Partners’ advanced systems on chip (SoCs).  The collaboration strengthens ARM’s well-established OS and browser ecosystem, while leveraging the ability of ARM Partners to quickly bring products and technologies with compelling graphics, video, multimedia and internet capabilities to consumers.

Time-to-market is critical, competition is fierce and consumers’ expectation for an always on Internet experience on mobile devices continues to increase.  This group addresses the technology challenges and time-to-market requirements that are essential in the development of differentiated Connected Mobile Computing (CMC) devices including but not limited to battery life, software integration and Web browsing capabilities.

“Today’s consumers are very knowledgeable about technology, want to be connected to the Internet and access multimedia content and applications anywhere, at anytime, yet they do not want to be restricted by short battery life and inadequate features that will limit their experiences,” said Mike Inglis, executive vice president, Sales and Marketing, ARM.  “By stepping up the collaboration among key stakeholders in the mobile market, we will be able to jointly deliver the devices and applications with the cutting-edge innovation consumers have come to expect.”  

“The market for ultra mobile devices is expected to grow at over a 20 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) through the next decade driven by new communications standards, content rich data provided over the Internet, new usage models, and new business models,” commented Jim McGregor, research director, Enabling Technologies Group, In-Stat.   “A critical component of success in this market will be building on industry standards that promote innovation in silicon, systems, and most importantly, software solutions.  Through open standards and growing industry support, Linux naturally promotes such innovation.”
 
ARM will demonstrate multiple Partners’ reference boards running the Linux Mobile Computing Platform in the Mobile Computing Pavilion (booth 701) at the ARM Developers’ Conference.  ARM and its Partners plan to release a full platform in early 2008 and bring devices to the market in early 2009. The platform is subject to open source licensing terms and the collaboration is expected to deliver additional projects over time.

About ARM
ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from mobile, home and enterprise solutions to embedded and emerging applications. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. Combined with the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.

SUPPORTING PARTNER QUOTES

“Marvell is a longtime ARM Partner, committed to enabling the ARM instruction set architecture for high-end, portable Linux-based devices,” said Sam Arditi, senior vice president and general manager, Cellular and Handheld Business Group, Marvell.  “Marvell’s architecture license of the ARMv5, v6 and v7 instruction sets has allowed us to deliver hundreds of millions of custom microprocessors to our customers that can be found in a vast variety of products including storage devices, WLAN, smartphones, and other communications/networking devices.”

“Millions of ARM and MontaVista technology-based mobile devices are in use around the world every day, showing that ARM is with us at the forefront of advances in connected mobile devices,” said Jim Ready, CTO and founder of MontaVista Software, Inc. “We are excited to apply what we have learned from deploying our commercial-quality, field-proven MontaVista Mobilinux 5.0 operating system—which supports ARM processors—to help the formation of the Linux Mobile Computing Platform.”

“We are pleased that ARM is building on our open technology to deliver the complete Web experience on new types of devices,” said Mike Shaver, chief evangelist, Mozilla. “Making an open source, standards-based platform available for mobile devices will spur innovation and enhance access to the Internet for millions of people.”

“Movial is delighted to support ARM’s significant push to improve the mobile Internet experience through the development of a standards-based open source platform for next-generation mobile applications,” said Tomi Rauste, president, Movial Creative Technologies Inc. “Device manufacturers now have a highly-maintainable software platform with which they can easily create new products, speeding time-to-market and the ability to deliver on consumer expectations.”

“Samsung intends to offer the industry’s most advanced mobile platform devices to enable a truly mobile internet experience with seamless connectivity to life-enhancing services for consumers,” said Yiwan Wong, VP of Marketing, System LSI Division, Semiconductor Business, Samsung Electronics.  “An important step in the creation of this mobile platform is to make common software frameworks available that  facilitate third-party software developers to deliver value-added applications for future mobile computing devices.  Samsung is, therefore, excited about, and supportive of, the development of the Linux Mobile Computing Platform. 

“The emergence of a new class of web-centric mobile devices is inevitable.  With the OMAP3430 processor, we support solutions with PC-like performance coupled with low-power multimedia engines and the connectivity capabilities of a Smartphone,” said Avner Goren, Texas Instruments.   “The Linux Mobile Computing Platform provides a software framework that is easily leveraged by both device manufacturers and our rich ecosystem of application developers.  Our support of this partnership will help to bring these new devices to the market more quickly and accelerate the creation of exciting new applications and services.”