Nokia Unveils N97 3G HSDPA Mobile Phone

Nokia unveiled the Nokia N97, the world's most advanced mobile computer, which will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other.

After the iPhone shakened up the cellphone market, celllphone manufacturers are desperately trying to create an iPhone killer.

Nokia too announced the Nokia N97 to compete in this space and here are the features:

* 3.5″ Wide Screen (16:9)
* Symbian
* WiFi and HSDPA
* A-GPS
* 3.5 mm standard headphone jack.
* MicroSD slot.
* 5 Megapixel Camera with Carl Zeiss lens.
* 32GB onboard memory, expandable to 48 MB.

Unlike the iPhone, Nokia is following a lot of standards, which is plus. Read more!

Nokia Going for Linux Instead of Android

After unveiling the very impressive N97, Nokia Vice President of markets units, Ukko Lappalainen, made several comments that brought to our attention the fact that the Finnish manufacturer was thinking of using the Linux OS for its more expensive, upcoming smartphones.

“In the longer perspective, Linux will become a serious alternative for our high-end phones,” said Lappalainen in what can only be deemed his most relevant statement in this sense.

Such a development may become a reality also because of the fact that Google has now developed a Linux-based Android platform. This may be one of the solutions that Nokia will be employing, although more realistic is the theory that the world's biggest mobile phone maker could be developing its own Linux system for its smartphones. This theory rings true mainly because the potential clients of this kind of smartphones are very demanding, their needs being a bit special, so it’s understandable if Nokia didn't want to take too many risks in this respect.

Also, the Linux maemo operating system found on the niche line of Internet tablets has been performing quite well, and is seemingly in conformity with the demands of Nokia's presidents in all aspects. As Lappalinen stated, “I don’t see anything in Android which would make it better than Linux maemo.”

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Palm Announces New Linux Based Mobile Platform

Treo-maker Palm's CEO Ed Colligan officially announced that it will deliver a new Linux and open source based mobile computing platform combined with Palm OS Garnet technology on new products later this year.

Colligan said that the company has been working on this new OS for several years and it has no plans to license it out to other handset makers. Palm still plans to use Garnet OS (Palm OS) and Windows Mobile in its Treo line of phones, but it plans to use its right to the Garnet OS (Palm OS) source code to evolve the current Palm OS into the just announced Linux-based one, which is also rumored to make use of Opera's mobile browser.

Colligan highlighted and stressed a few points about the new platform. He continually stressed the importance of the user experience citing the ability to have an instant on, highly portable device with great battery life. Other highlights included greater hardware flexibility and the ability to handle simultaneous voice and data, two key ares which have hampered the traditional Palm OS in recent years.

The Analyst presentation concluded without any technical or developer details revealed about the new Linux based platform. Many questions remain to be answered as to what the official name will be, what Linux technologies are included, how Palm OS Garnet compatibility will be handled and what the development environment will be composed of. Colligan ended the Q&A session stating that the Linux based platform will be a integral "core technology" for Palm for the foreseeable future.

But certainly it is a good move by Palm and let wait and watch for the progress.

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NXP Introduces Nexperia Cellular Linux System for 3G Handsets

NXP, the newly independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, announced the availability of the Linux open source operating system for its 3G mobile phone system solution. Working in collaboration with Purple Labs, a French design company offering fully integrated solutions for mobile communication products, NXP has launched the Nexperia(TM) cellular system solution 7210 with Linux for 3G handsets. Not having the additional cost and complexity of integrating a dedicated application processor, manufacturers will be able to enjoy the time-to-market advantages of using a high level operating system. Operators will also be able to provide a stable and powerful, yet cost effective platform to offer new connected services.

The NXP Nexperia cellular system solution 7210 is a powerful dual-mode UMTS multimedia platform running on a single-core ARM9 for the 3G mobile feature-phone market. By offering a Linux-based platform on a single core, the Nexperia cellular system solution 7210 gives greater flexibility, allowing easy development and upgrades. The choice of offering an open source operating system gives this flexibility without increase of cost.

"Linux is gaining ground in the mobile-handset space due to the benefits it brings to manufacturers and operators and eventually also to the end consumers," said Michel Windal, marketing director, Mobile & Personal Business Unit, NXP Semiconductors. "Linux motivates developers to generate and share new vibrant media applications such as games, advanced music players and intuitive TV-on-mobile, offering greater benefits to the end user and allowing for differentiation for both manufacturers and operators."

"The Open Source platform supports interoperability across the various brands of handset devices," said Dennis O’Donovan, managing director, Purple Labs, "Linux lends itself well to modular design by offering OEMs a flexible and powerful operating system, resulting in the easier development of new applications. Today’s end-users demand feature-rich, compact and cost competitive handsets, but will not compromise on core features such as low-power consumption and high performance, and the Nexperia cellular system solution 7210 with Linux easily enables manufacturers to meet these needs."

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