Verizon has signed up as the final member on the board of directors of the LiMo Foundation, a group founded by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone “to deliver an open and globally consistent software platform based upon Mobile Linux for use by the whole industry to catalyze next-generation mobile consumer experiences.”
I’m all for openness, but what happens when we suddenly find ourselves with a dozen different “open” mobile alliances like this? Hopefully they’ll all be compatible with one another, although LiMo is commonly known as an Android competitor and questions have arisen as to whether or not the two platforms will play nicely together.
Full press release after the jump.
Verizon Joins LiMo Foundation™
With Verizon on Board of Directors, LiMo Expands Major Wireless Service Provider Engagement Across North America, Asia and Europe
LONDON, England; TOKYO, Japan, and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., United States, May 14, 2008—LiMo Foundation, a global consortium of mobile leaders delivering an open handset platform for the whole mobile industry, and Verizon Wireless, the builder and operator of the most reliable wireless network in the U.S., announced today that Verizon has joined LiMo as a Core member and will fill the final seat on LiMo’s board of directors. By participating in Limo, Verizon hopes to help LiMo unify the mobile industry around openness and Linux as the key enablers to lowering development costs.
“Verizon Wireless is demonstrating itself a champion of openness in mobile innovation by joining the board of LiMo Foundation,” said Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo Foundation. “Major wireless service providers from across North America, Asia and Europe are now engaged in committed collaboration through LiMo. This offers further concrete evidence that LiMo is positioned at the heart of the rapidly emerging, industry-wide trend to secure the benefits of openness and choice in technology.”
“Verizon Wireless is committed and invested in encouraging innovation, providing developers the opportunity to deliver new wireless choices and expanding the mobile market,” said Kyle Malady, vice president of network for Verizon. “We expect our involvement with LiMo to advance these principles.”
LiMo Foundation is open to all vendors and service providers in the mobile communications marketplace, including device manufacturers, operators, chipset manufacturers, integrators and independent software vendors. Verizon Wireless joins the foundation’s other 39 members in working within LiMo’s transparent governance model to shape the evolution of the LiMo Platform™, while remaining entirely free to deliver their own compelling and differentiated services to mobile customers.
“The addition of Verizon Wireless to the LiMo roster is another critical milestone in our foundation’s rapid growth and market impact,” said Kiyohito Nagata of NTT DoCoMo, chairperson of LiMo Foundation. “In technical output, governance constructs and business models, LiMo lives out its belief that openness is the key to unlocking innovation to the benefit of the whole industry and mobile consumers everywhere.”
Launched in January 2007 by six mobile industry leaders—Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone—LiMo was formed to deliver an open and globally consistent software platform based upon Mobile Linux for use by the whole industry to catalyze next-generation mobile consumer experiences.