BARCELONA — LiMo Foundation, global communications company
Orange and ACCESS CO., LTD, a global provider of advanced mobile software
technologies — pioneers in the Mobile Linux movement — today announced
that
Orange and ACCESS have joined LiMo Foundation to unify the Mobile Linux
industry and make truly open devices more accessible to mobile users all
over
the world.
In recognition of its historic and pioneering role in the mobile Open
Source community, Orange has been invited to join LiMo as a Founder member,
alongside original Founders Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile
Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone. ACCESS, which shares a
strong heritage in Mobile Linux innovation, joins as a new Core member and
will also hold a seat on the LiMo Foundation board.
“The reputations of Orange and ACCESS for leadership within the Mobile
Linux community are widely recognized, so these companies represent major
additions to LiMo Foundation’s governing board,” said Morgan Gillis,
executive director, LiMo Foundation. “Both Orange and ACCESS will make an
invaluable contribution to delivering the LiMo Platform(TM) as a consistent,
open source-based software platform that will benefit the entire mobile
industry.”
Dr. Malik Kamal-Saadi, principal analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media
commented, “With Orange and ACCESS joining LiMo Foundation, we are now
seeing
even stronger industry support for LiMo’s open, transparent approach to
delivering a global handset platform based on Mobile Linux. This important
milestone illustrates an intensifying commitment across the industry to
Mobile Linux compliancy, portability of applications from one mobile device
to another and the achievement of better user experiences through
unification.”
“Orange was one of the first mobile operators to make significant
strides
in open source innovation,” commented Yves Maitre, senior vice president,
devices, Orange. “Our vision is for a truly open mobile community which
delivers richer mobile services, more affordable devices and a better
experience for our customers. We previously supported open source Mobile
Linux through our participation in the LiPS Forum. Today, we believe that by
participating in LiMo, we will accelerate the delivery of new and compelling
mobile services.”
The addition of ACCESS provides further evidence of strong industry-wide
engagement with LiMo Foundation. ACCESS and Orange have a long track record
of collaborating to promote the introduction of Linux in the market for
mobile and convergent devices. By participating in LiMo Foundation, the two
companies will work to substantially advance the creation of Linux-based
mobile platforms; establish an ecosystem that highlights the advantages of
Linux development (including transparency, innovation and scalability);
collaborate with other industry peers, and promote platform standardization.
“Our motivation to join LiMo grew out of our longstanding dedication to
accelerating Mobile Linux innovation,” said Toru Arakawa, CEO, president and
co-founder of ACCESS. “Mobile users are demanding easier-to-use products
with
more sophisticated applications. Our experience in developing the ACCESS
Linux Platform and our work with LiMo Foundation will help to meet these
demands and hasten the development and delivery of new, innovative products.
Together with Orange and the other Founder members, we look forward to
playing a key role in bringing Mobile Linux innovations to market.”
LiMo Foundation
