Eight of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies-including the world’s No. 3 mobile-phone maker-said they will team together to promote and standardize Linux technology for electronic devices, including mobile phones.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Sony Corp., Hitachi Ltd., NEC Corp., Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp. founded the new CE Linux Forum. IBM Corp. said it is pursuing membership.
One name that is notable only in its absence is Motorola Inc. The world’s No. 2 mobile-phone maker recently announced major support for a Linux/Java operating system and said it would include the technology in a majority of its devices. Motorola officials could not immediately comment on whether Motorola will participate in the new CE Linux Forum.
The CE Linux Forum said it will work to promote Linux technology, to improve device startup and shutdown time, reduce ROM/RAM size requirements and improve power management.
The move comes as Linux technology makes its way into the mobile-phone industry as an alternative to major operating system efforts like Symbian and Microsoft Corp.’s Smartphone OS. Chinese carriers and manufacturers have voiced major support for Linux, and Sharp has already shipped a personal digital assistant-style device using a Linux operating system.
