2005: The year of the Linux mobile phone?
It's only been about two years since Linux started becoming a significant factor in mobile phones, an arena that has been dominated by Symbian, Microsoft, and proprietary operating systems. With the burgeoning complexity of mobile phones, feature phones, and smart phones -- plus increasing time-to-market pressures -- there's a clear movement toward off-the-shelf, third-party operating systems based on industry standards, and Linux figures to be a major beneficiary of that trend.
How rosy is the mobile communications picture for Linux? Early indications in just the first two months of this year are that it will be very positive indeed. Consider Motorola, for example, one of the big three in mobile handsets, which brought its first Linux phone (pictured) to market in 2003. That company is expecting to introduce between eight and ten new Linux phones in 2005, according to the Taiwanese daily newspaper DigiTimes, representing more than 25 percent of the company's planned introductions for the year.
