Device Arena

MontaVista® Software announced the new 5.0 release of MontaVista® Mobilinux, the mobile operating system used in 90 percent of Linux-based smartphones. Mobilinux provides a commercial-quality, field-proven embedded Linux operating system (OS) optimized for mobile devices plus a rich development environment for the engineers who design them. Mobilinux 5.0 will enable manufacturers to deliver new mobile devices (such as phone handsets, GPS devices, portable medical devices, and wireless point-of-sale terminals) to consumers more quickly and with new functions, breakthrough connectivity, fast performance, NSA-level security, and battery-extending dynamic power management.

Leading handset manufacturers, including NEC, Motorola, Panasonic, and others have made MontaVista the most widely-used provider of commercial-quality Linux software to the mobile telephony market, and also the fastest-growing commercial operating system provider in that market, according to analyst firm VDC. More than 35 million smartphones, cell phones, and other mobile devices run on MontaVista Mobilinux, far more than any other commercial Linux. Unlike freely-available source code, Mobilinux is a field-proven production-quality OS, has been tested and debugged by MontaVista’s testing facilities, and is backed by MontaVista’s battle-hardened support team.

“Competition in today’s mobile device marketplace calls for differentiated software products that specifically address the requirements of both manufacturers and operators,” said Matt Volckmann, Senior Analyst with VDC’s Embedded Software Practice. “With Mobilinux 5.0, MontaVista has targeted improved power management, real-time performance, optimized execution, reduced footprint requirements, as well as many other features that allow customers to differentiate through the software stack and effectively deliver advanced Linux-based mobile devices to market.“

“No other mobile operating system today gives developers so many ways to unleash their creativity to add new functions,” said Jim Ready, CTO and founder of MontaVista Software. “Mobilinux 5.0 delivers new technologies invented by MontaVista for configurable dynamic power management, plus a powerful security framework that MontaVista’s competitors can only dream about. This is simply the best OS ever built for mobile devices.“

In addition to providing a platform for the features common in smartphones today (such as touchscreen control, email processing, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, video cameras, multimedia and Adobe Flash display, and more), the flexibility of Mobilinux 5.0 enables developers to easily provide custom functions. Mobilinux supports Linux standards, so designers can add functionality by including off-the-shelf Linux utilities without worrying about function loss due to incompatibility. Built-in support for emerging methods of connectivity and new I/O types (including a full-featured Linux networking stack with IPv6 support) increase device functionality by enabling devices to communicate and interact with new types of software and other devices.

“Today’s competitive marketplace requires differentiated products that address unique operator requirements while avoiding commoditization,” said Jeff Wender, Worldwide Marketing Manager, Software Solutions, Texas Instruments. “MontaVista has a successful history of enabling differentiated products across the entire OMAP™ product family through the flexibility of its Mobilinux products. We expect Mobillinux Edition 5.0 to maintain this focus and add the functionality necessary to address customer needs and deliver unique devices.“

MontaVista Mobilinux 5.0 will be available worldwide in November 2007. Initial platforms supported will include OMAP 2430 from Texas Instruments, with OMAP 3430 following shortly. Six additional platforms will be added in early 2008.