China Mobile to use Red Bend’s FOTA software on OPhone

China Mobile Communications Corp., the world’s largest wireless operator, will use Red Bend Software’s firmware over the air (FOTA) software for updating and device management for China Mobile’s OPhone operating system.
Under an agreement with China Mobile Research Institute, China Mobile’s research and development arm, Red Bend will license its vRapid Mobile FOTA software and its vDirect Mobile DM software for use on OPhone devices. The software enables wireless operators and device manufacturers to manage and update software on devices remotely. The OPhone is China Mobile’s customized operating system based on Google’s Android OS. HTC Corp., Philips, Lenovo Mobile and Dell Inc. are making smartphones that use the OPhone OS.
“China Mobile is huge for us,” said Lori Sylvia, EVP of marketing for Red Bend, noting the world’s largest operator is the second Tier-One carrier to license Red Bend’s software. Japan’s NTT DoCoMo licensed the technology earlier this year.
Along with significant handset wins, Red Bend is gaining ground in the non-smartphone market, Sylvia said, noting that the company’s software has been installed in USB dongles, PC cards, WiMAX modems and M2M modules. M2M module maker Sagem Communications recently inked a deal to use Red Bend software. The ability to update software in devices remotely is important in the M2M space, where devices can have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years, Sylvia noted.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company said its software has been shipped in 620 million devices through the third quarter. The 10-year-old privately held company also just received two U.S. patents – one for a “fail-safe” feature that doesn’t turn a device into a brick if the power fails during a software update and one that reverts to the original version of the software if a carrier begins a software update but then pulls it back for whatever reason.