Funambol and OpenMoko Partner to Make World's First Integrated Open Source Mobile Communications Platform a Reality

Funambol and OpenMoko Partner to Make World's First Integrated Open Source Mobile Communications Platform a Reality

November 09, 2006

Funambol to Deliver Push Email and Mobile Applications on OpenMoko's Open Source Mobile Communications Platform

    REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Funambol, the mobile open source software company, today
announced it has been chosen to power mobile applications
for OpenMoko, the world's first integrated open mobile
communications platform. Funambol is the recognized leading
open source mobile software for delivering mobile
applications and services such as mobile email.

    The announcement of the OpenMoko mobile communications
platform coincides with the unveiling of FIC's Neo1973
smartphone, which utilizes the full OpenMoko platform.
OpenMoko aims to deliver a completely open, mobile
communications platform by working with a community of open
source developers. The project will give mobile developers a
fully open source software stack from the operating system
to middleware, applications and protocols. Users will get a
high quality smartphone that they can easily customize by
installing only the applications they desire, eliminating
the need to upgrade their device every 12-18 months.

    "The largest mobile open source project in the
world has just joined with the largest open design
manufacturer in the world to deliver on the promise of a
fully open mobile phone for the mass market. We're looking
forward to working with OpenMoko and the folks from FIC on
this trailblazing project," said Fabrizio Capobianco,
CEO of Funambol. "The time for high quality open
smartphones to deliver user-demanded applications is upon
us. FIC's Neo1973 will accelerate opportunities for
carriers to increase profits by effectively delivering on
consumer demand for mobile applications and services on
mobile handsets."

    The Funambol software will allow OpenMoko-based phones
to wirelessly synchronize mobile applications and content,
starting with PIM (contacts, calendars, etc.) and push
email delivery, to synchronization of photos, video,
ringtones, music and more. Funambol is based on the open
standard SyncML and provides a platform that delivers
mobile applications and data regardless of operating system
or development environment.

    "For the first time, the mobile ecosystem will be
as open as the PC, and mobile applications equally as
diverse and more easily accessible," said Sean
Moss-Pultz, initiator of OpenMoko and Product Manager of
FIC's Mobile Communication Business Unit.  "Ringtones
are already a multi-billion dollar market. We think
downloading mobile applications on an open platform will be
even bigger."

    "With any mobile phone, the application platform
is critical because it directly impacts its quality, cost
and ease-of-use. We chose Funambol because it is the most
widely used mobile open source project in the world,"
said David Huang, COO of FIC. "By partnering with
Funambol to provide the synchronization engine for
OpenMoko, developers will flock to the project and
ultimately, users will receive what they have been
demanding from their mobile phones."

    Since Funambol's preview release earlier this year, the
number of Funambol software downloads has more than doubled
to 700,000, reflecting pent-up demand for mass market
mobile applications. The open source software is being
downloaded by a burgeoning community of developers who are
testing it on a wide range of mobile devices all over the
world. Mobile operators around the world are deploying the
Funambol Carrier Edition in their networks. It is the
natural application platform for OpenMoko since it helps
carriers reach the largely untapped market for consumer
push email.

    About Funambol

    Funambol is the mobile open source company. Funambol's
Mobile Application Server offers "push" email,
multimaster PIM synchronization, and management facilities
for mobile devices.  Funambol (formerly known as Sync4j) is
an open source development platform for mobile applications
that has been downloaded more than any other wireless
middleware product -- more than 700,000 times.  The
commercial version has been deployed at wireless carriers,
Fortune 100 enterprises, hardware OEMs/ODMs and ISVs
including customers such as Computer Associates.  Funambol
is headquartered in Redwood City, California with a
development center in Italy.  See http://www.funambol.com
.

    For more information, please contact:

    Editorial Contacts

     Jennifer Cloer
     Page One PR for Funambol
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Mike Maney
     Page One PR
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Funambol