Mobile Leaders Around the World Launch LiMo Foundation

Mobile Leaders Around the World Launch LiMo Foundation

January 25, 2007

World's First Global Mobile Linux Initiative Begins
Membership Process, Encourages Creation of an Ecosystem
Spanning Application and Middleware Developer Communities


    LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., TOKYO, YOKOHAMA, Japan, SEOUL,
South Korea and NEWBURY, England, Jan. 25
/Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- To support their goal of creating
the world's first globally competitive, Linux-based
software platform for mobile devices, Motorola, NEC, NTT
DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung
Electronics, and Vodafone announced today the official
launch of the LiMo Foundation.

    A not-for-profit organization, the LiMo Foundation is
aimed at blending the community-based development benefits
of transparency, innovation and scalability with the best
development practices from the mobile community to create
an innovative new business model.  Overseen by a Board of
Directors comprising representatives from the founding
member companies including Foundation Chairman, Greg Besio
of Motorola and Vice Chair, Kiyohito Nagata of NTT DoCoMo,
the LiMo Foundation will be seeking new members interested
in participating in the development of a set of APIs,
architecture, and contributing source code for the common
components of the Linux based mobile platform. Foundation
members will be available to discuss membership
opportunities at the upcoming 3GSM World Congress in
Barcelona, Spain, February 12-15, 2007.

    LiMo Foundation details -- along with guiding
principles and bylaws -- can be found at
http://www.limofoundation.org .  Foundation members will be
involved in building an active ecosystem and will have the
opportunity to influence the evolution of the platform,
leaving them free to provide compelling and differentiated
services to customers. 
  
    The LiMo Foundation, through a fair and balanced
contribution and participation process, will focus
primarily on the joint development of a competitive
Linux-based mobile platform, built around a common source
code tree that can adapt to ever evolving market
requirements around the world. In addition, members will
also work on the following:

    --  Establishment of safeguards to minimize
fragmentation;
    --  Collaboration on a mobile Linux developer
ecosystem;
    --  Co-operation with existing industry organizations
    --  Securing new members from across the industry:
device
        manufacturers, operators, chip set manufacturers,
        independent software vendors, integrators and third

        party developers 

    About the LiMo Foundation

    The LiMo Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit
entity that strives to increase the adoption of Linux
within the mobile industry.  The LiMo Foundation aims to
leverage the mobile Linux platform to create an open,
transparent, scalable ecosystem spanning application and
middleware developer communities and to encourage the
creation of compelling, differentiated and enhanced
consumer experiences.  A full description of the
foundation, including the vision, goals, charter and
membership information can be found at
http://www.limofoundation.org . 

    MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the
US Patent & Trademark Office.  VODAFONE, the Vodafone
logos and Vodafone live! are trade marks of the Vodafone
Group. All other product or service names are the property
of their respective owners.     



    For more information, please contact:

     Sharen Santoski
     Motorola, Inc.
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Akiko Shikimori
     NEC Corporation
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Masanori Goto
     NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Junji Kanegawa
     Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd.
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Sophia Kim
     Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Vodafone Group Media Relations
     Vodafone Group Services Limited
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 


SOURCE  LiMo Foundation