August 6th, 2008
The fast track to mobile Linux
Virtualization from Virtualogix can transform today’s mobile phones into Linux-based mobile Internet terminals in one product generation.
Founder Michel Gien will describe to LinuxWorld how this is done tomorrow, calling it a “Killer App Enabler or Atomic Fly Swatter.”
Gien, who previously co-founded Chorus Systems, now part of Sun, told ZDNet his software can jump-start the necessary replacement of the Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) phones have been using with mainstream systems like Linux.
“High end innovation is going to come through the user community, through new people, through high level applications,” he said, and open source Linux is the best way to do that.
“Over the long term, virtualization is going to change the way software architecture works.”
Virtualogix lets these applications come to phones without extensive re-engineering. “Linux can replace RTOSs while the RTOS is still there to support the wireless stack,” and Virtualogix has joined the LiMo Foundation to push that idea.
What this means is the user interface is the only bottleneck preventing the market from emulating what the iPhone can do.
The mobile market of 2010 will look entirely different from what you see today.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
| 08/06/08
