Freescale Semiconductor is the latest semiconductor firm to join the LiMo Foundation, the industry group behind an open Mobile Linux-based software platform for mobile phones.
Freescale said it was “committed to open operating system platforms” for mobile communications.
"We are delighted that Freescale is joining LiMo as a further leading semiconductor vendor," said Morgan Gillis, executive director, LiMo Foundation.
LiMo’s Linux open software platform seems to be cleaning up as the main mobile phone operating system despite the best efforts of Nokia and Google to convince the market of their open platform credentials.
The LiMo Foundation, a grouping of mobile companies including Motorola, Samsung, NTT DoCoMo and Orange, has scored a success with another wave of handsets using the LiMo platform. The seven new devices from Motorola, NEC and Panasonic Mobile Communications confirm LiMo as the one to watch in the mobile Linux market. There are now more than 20 handsets supporting the LiMo standard OS.
However, the expectation is that a multi-standard approach looks the most likely outcome. And it looks certain that Linux-based platforms will put significant competitive pressure on the proprietary mobile operating systems of Microsoft, RIM and Apple.