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Telecom Italia Creates New Unit

Six of the world's largest telecommunications companies have officially launched a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a common mobile Linux software platform. Founded by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone, the LiMo Foundation is inviting membership and participation from application and middleware developers.Spread the word:digg this storyThe collaboration of giants now known as the LiMo Foundation was first announced in mid-June of last year. The group's goals and official name remained a mystery until today, while the sheer stature of the companies involved led to much speculation about their intentions.NTT DoCoMo is the world's largest telecommunications company, and indeed, one of the largest companies in the world. Motorola is the world's second-largest handset vendor, behind Nokia. Motorola, Panasonic, NEC, and Samsung may well rank first, second, third, and fourth in terms of the volume of Linux-based phones shipped to date. Thus, the LiMo Foundation could have the power to unify the Linux mobile phone market in a way that standards bodies -- and there are many working to standardize Linux for mobile phones -- can only dream of.The LiMo Foundation says it aims to create the "world's first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices." It aims to achieve this by defining:An API specificationAn architectureReferences to open source codeNew source code-based reference implementation components (to be developed and contributed by Foundation members)Specifications for referenced third party software