* Qualcomm to support Linux in its cell phone chipsets
Linux gained another friend in the mobile phone market last week, as Qualcomm said it would support the open source operating system in its cell phone chipsets.
Linux is gaining in popularity as a cell phone platform, as mobile phone handsets are designed look and act more like handheld computers and PDAs. Because vendors can freely modify the Linux operating system kernel, it can be boiled down and streamlined to run the specific tasks and applications of a cell phone.
Cell phone providers such as Motorola and NTT DoCoMo have announced Linux cell phone efforts as a way to diversify their handset platforms. The dominant cell phone platform is Symbian. Besides the flexibility, Linux also frees cell phone makers from licensing restrictions that govern the Symbian OS as well as Microsoft’s Windows CE platform for smart phones.
Currently, Linux holds a very small position in cell phones, according to InStat/MDR, with less than 2%. But another market research firm, IDC, expects Linux to be the operating system running on 4.2% of smart phones built next year.
The expansion of Linux into cell phones could also help stave off the rising threat of cell phone-based viruses and worms, which are beginning to proliferate among smart phone devices. As is the case on desktop PCs, a single dominant platform (according to IDC, Symbian commands more than 70% of the cell phone market share) is usually a target for exploits and malicious code. Not that a Linux cell phone virus could never exist, but some diversification in mobile handset software is probably a good thing.
