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Communications Software Handhelds Linux Hardware

Qualcomm Adopts Linux for 3G Handsets 84

Posted by CowboyNeal from the it's-the-clue-phone dept.
quan74 writes "According to an article at MacNewsWorld, it seems Qualcomm is the latest to add Linux to its handheld devices. 'By introducing Linux on the MSM, Qualcomm supports manufacturer partners who wish to leverage existing Linux applications, third-party developers and application catalogs to reduce their software development costs and improve time-to-market.' What I found interesting is that Linux will be the first third-party operating system supported by Qualcomm."
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Qualcomm Adopts Linux for 3G Handsets More

Qualcomm Adopts Linux for 3G Handsets

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  • Other mobiles (Score:1, Redundant)

    by zaguar ( 881743 )
    Will the other device makers ever support linux? Imagine the potential for custom mobile apps, etc.

  • Risks? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bigtallmofo ( 695287 ) on Saturday May 07, 2005 @10:24AM (#12461954)
    I'm all for pushing technology forward, but integrating so many functions into one device can have a downside. [symantec.com].

    I don't think we're too far off from having spyware for mobile phones that sends advertising SMS messages to everyone in your phone address book. Or even calls everyone and plays a pre-recorded message. As these things become more ubiquitous, they'll be a larger and larger target.

    • Re:Risks? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      spyware is already coming to mobile phones, and guess who's operating system is being exploited ? its not Windows this time

      In the past months, our developers have prepared Spybot-S&D for the next platform that is currently getting endangered. Spybot-S&D for Symbian cell phones is sitting here on our hard disks, and we planed to release it as RCs along with the 1.4 RCs, and - if everything runs smooth - the final along with the Spybot-S&D 1.4 for Windows final.

      from the Fantastic SpyBot S& [safer-networking.org]
    • those all sound like good reasons to be using linux on these devices.

    • Re:Risks? (Score:3, Informative)

      by drgonzo59 ( 747139 )
      I like Qualcomm, they are the guys who succesfully implemented CDMA when other companies (especially from Europe) thought it was too challenging. I am glad to see they are considering Linux. I hope, by addopting linux, they will also give back to the Open Source community some applications or some interesting code for embedded devices. When Sharp was releasing their Zaurus with Linux on it, I got a developer's version (SL-5000D) and played with it. It was great to log into it and have a full Linux OS in yo
    • That's only a risk to you, to the phone maker it's opportunity. An opportunity to say my phone does more than the next makers. Also it's an opportunity to the phone operators, think of all the test messages you'll be paying for that you didn't mena to send. Androk

    • Re:Risks? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Spacejock ( 727523 )
      I agree. I held of getting a new mobile for about five years (the old one is a brick which makes calls, and that's all I need) This new phone is a fiddly PDA without a proper keyboard, a digital camera with lousy resolution and it doesn't make phone calls that well either... Yes, it has obscure multi-function buttons. Do I press the green or blue sideways L to make a call? Hell no, it's another sideways blue L leaning the other way. Oops, pressed the middle of the button instead of the 1/16" bevelled edge.

      • Re:Risks? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by BenjyD ( 316700 ) on Saturday May 07, 2005 @12:28PM (#12462536)
        As my salary depends on sales of symbian software, I probably shouldn't say this, but it seems most smartphone hardware makers don't have a clue about UI design. For example, on my Sony-ericsson p910i:

        - The keyboard is flimsy, hard to type on while holding the phone, and because it's on the reverse of the number keypad, when you type on it you often press buttons on the reverse side, causing the whole phone to wobble.

        - The camera button and the "connect to the internet" button are right next to each other, on the side of the phone and exactly the same size and shape, making it very easy to get press the wrong one.

        - Handwriting recognition is pretty poor. As it uses the whole screen to recognise handwriting, if you try to tap on a button while recognition is enabled and slip slightly (like, if you're walking around with your *mobile* phone) you end up typing a full stop instead of activating the button.

        - Most of the on-screen UI is far too fiddly to use "in the field". Sitting at a desk it's fine: on a crowded, bumpy train I keep activating the wrong functions.

        Personally, I can see a huge market for somebody like Apple to do to the smartphone market what iPods have done to the MP3 market: produce an elegant, easy-to-use smartphone with all the functionality, but actually designed with usability in mind.

        • Interesting... SonyEricsson was formed as a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson. Sony was supposed to bring expertise in design of consumer electronics and Ericsson the radio engineering expertise. It seemed like a good idea, because earlier Ericsson phones had a reputation for solid radio performance but zero usability (to say nothing of being one of the ugliest on the market).

          Looks like SonyEricsson still has a long way to go.. How do we like the sound of SonyEricssonApple? Or maybe AppleEricssonSon

    • Re:Risks? (Score:2, Funny)

      by MikeSingee ( 881775 )
      Systems Not Affected: DOS, Linux, Macintosh, Novell Netware, OS/2, UNIX, Windows 2000, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Um...sound ok to me

  • sigh, more marketing nonsense (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What the device manufacturers and the network equipment vendors like is that Linux doesn't lock them into a single operating system.

    except they are locked into Linux, unless the phone will let me choose wether i want to run Windows,Solaris,Mac,QNX,Symbian,Java etc etc

    why cant they just use plain english?

    the "article" reads more like a press release drummed up by some marketing droid than any insightful commentary about OS'es

  • Difference in total cost.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by wcitech ( 798381 ) on Saturday May 07, 2005 @10:28AM (#12461979)
    I remember reading somewhere that the cost of a single liscense of Windows Mobile is only a few bucks. What is the total cost saved by using Linux in handheld devices? It'd be interesting to compare.

    • Re:Difference in total cost.. (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I doubt they're using it as a cost savings. I'd think they're using it because it's so customizable and can be a small or large as they want it depending on features.

      • Re:Difference in total cost.. (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Having access to the source code, both for customization and to avoid getting slammed by the Virus of the Week Club, can't hurt the decision making process...

    • Re:Difference in total cost.. (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      There are so many functions that are included with Linux. Having all that included without licensing or maint. or ... worries would have to be inviting to a ISV/IHV. The big concern though is how to keep the device focused on its intended task, including some good things (mp3, avi or jpg) for the consumer and end-geek alike. If other OS vendors would include such simplicity, and coverage, it might make other OS's attractive.

    • Re:Difference in total cost.. (Score:5, Informative)

      by nchip ( 28683 ) on Saturday May 07, 2005 @12:46PM (#12462617) Homepage
      Like allways when someone asks about total costs, "it depends".

      In Qualcomm case, you may end up saving lot. Qualcomm has just ported Linux to their _Cellphone_chip_, which means you don't have to buy another CPU to run the smartphone OS on. On The otherhand, Windows will still need another CPU, increasing Power consumption, weight and material costs.

      In other cases, it depends on the platform you are developing for. For example if you don't have an MMU in your hardware, you simply can't run windows. OTOH if you are just basing yourself on one the most popular reference designs with windows already available, windows is likely the cheapest route. But once you start creating something more exotic and unique, it becomes more blurry and depends on case-to-case basis.

      However, Qualcomm going Linux is fascinating for a totally unrelated point. Before this, their BREW platform has been the most DRM-encumbered development platform. There is no way to run code not signed, distributed and billed by Qualcomm on their BREW handsets. This might be a relatively large move from completely proprietary to more community friendly.
      • So you think they are going to force carriers to run an open-ed up version of their platform to unsigned code? Not likely. More likely is they will offer the carriers the option to keep it locked down or open it up. I would expect that at minimum things like network APIs will be restricted to signed content which the carrier can revoke.
      • don't you mean YOUR brew handsets?

        i mean whats the point of "buying" a product if they still own it?
        • I ment "Qualcomms handsets" as in handsets based on their BREW platform. However, I don't know contractually if you actually OWN "your" handset, if the operator is giving to you free/subsided as part of the plan.

          In gsm networks, you can actually buy a cellphone without a plan (ie, SIM-free), in which case it is clearly yours. However, I think that in cdma2000 networks, there is no SIM, so the phones are much more tied to the operator.

  • MacNewsWorld? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by IamTheRealMike ( 537420 )
    Does anybody else find it weird that a Mac news site is posting Linux news, and finishing off with a paragraph labelled "Freedom of choice" which talks about avoiding vendor lockin?

    • Re:MacNewsWorld? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 07, 2005 @10:34AM (#12462005)
      Actually it's MACNewsWorld, it's actually a web publication that started out about MAC addresses [wikipedia.org] (the raw addresses used by Ethernet, and more recently 802.11 devices, to identify physical network connectors), but recently branched into discussing CDMA on the off chance that they might get more readers that way. It worked, they doubled their regular readership figure, getting six hits every month. Although three of those have Google searches in their Referrer: headers.
    • Not really, you can install linux on a mac [gentoo.org], it is not as good as it wouild be on a pc, but it could be done.

  • It's all about getting there first (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    '... and improve time-to-market.'

    If your competitor has a product on the market already, you have a hard time. First mover advantage is a very real thing.

    FOSS is so well understood and documented that you can produce products much faster than if you have to depend on proprietary products. This is especially so if you have to integrate more than one such product. Being proprietary is all about keeping secrets and that, by its nature, makes your job much more difficult.
    • "...and that, by its nature, makes your job much more difficult."

      No it doesn't. Nothing you said makes any sense at all. Linux, compared to other products that may be used, is not "so well understood and documented that you can produce products much faster". It's all a matter of what your development team already knows. Linux is unlikely to be easier to work with than other products made specifically for the purpose and keeping secrets does not require extra work. Linux has been around long enough alread

    • Linberg wasn't the first to cross the Atlantic, but most people think he was, most of those who know he wasn't (such as me) have no clue who was first.

      I once worked for a company making routers years before Cisco started, yet Cisco has convinced everyone they were first. (I don't think this was intentional on their part) That company often introduced a new technology that Cisco released about a year latter. We never went anywhere though, while Cisco made billions.

      First is interesting. It is usefu

    • Having worked in embedded products with both Linux and WinCE, I feel in somewhat of a position to comment.

      Both platforms had advantages and disadvantages. In general, Microsoft has *far* better documentation, and is simpler to get up and running (MS basically provides a step by step guide to the things you need to do, and it has pretty much minimised them).

      Linux is more difficult to get started with as the documentation and instructions on what to do do not really exist for embedded products (the parent i

  • ....it's handheld devices. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Simonetta ( 207550 ) on Saturday May 07, 2005 @10:56AM (#12462099)
    Let's be short and sweet about this. It's is a contraction of "it is". It's a beautiful day!
    Its is a posssessive adjective, something belongs to it. The computer crashed again. Its program is wrong.
    Mastering the natural language can be as hard as mastering C++. But it's all precision symbol manipulation necessary to understand subtle meanings.
    Feel free to mock my intelligence for forgetting the 'address of' & operator or messing up the pointer structure, but I don't want to hear anything about being a grammar Nazi. I only do this to keep people from knowing that you were smoking sinse in 4th grade instead of paying attention in English period.
    • ..."knowing that you were smoking sinse in 4th grade instead"...

      "sinse"? As in sensimilla? Meaning no seeds?

      I am having trouble following your lesson due your to use of misspelled slang.

      • "Sinse" as in "sinsemilla," Spanish sin "without" + semilla, "seed" (itself derived from Latin, sine, "without," and from Latin semen, "seed." The slang spelling "sensimilla" is itself a misspelling. If you're going to smoke the stuff (I won't, I value my neurons too much), you should at least learn how to spell it.
        • fair enough.

          but why the hate for cannabis users?

          • No hate. Just because I don't want to smoke the stuff because I think it's harmful with no worthwhile effects doesn't mean it's wrong that you do so. I just don't like people trying to correct other people's spelling wrongly (and you've apologized for that, so no problems here).
        • If you're going to smoke the stuff (I won't, I value my neurons too much), you should at least learn how to spell it.

          In what way does proper spelling aid the transportation of cannabis to the lungs?

          If you're going to spell the stuff you should at least try smoking it.

  • The marketing jargon in that blurb made my head spin! I'm still not sure what it means but it sounds good...I think.

  • 3G (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    3G = 96ft per second squared. (29.4 m/s)

    I'd hope a cellphone could take more acceleration than that (what happens if you drop it on concrete)
    • In that sort of scenario, your phone still only undergoes 1G of acceleration, all the way down until right before it hits the floor. I think you'll find, if you test this, that most cellphones will survive the drop and the 1G acceleration absolutely fine with no damage.

      Discussion of the rapid deceleration left to the student as an exercise.

  • good (Score:2, Interesting)

    by suezz ( 804747 )
    does this mean the will be releasing a driver for the airport card on macs for linux.

    at least I think it is them that manufacture the card.

    I think we start throwing our weight around a little bit - where if these companies are going to use open source to make money then how about making some drivers for the everday devices - i.e. why doesn't ibm make a dvd player for linux that can ship with their laptops. I know I would buy one if that was the case.
  • Qualcomm left the handset business a few years ago, they sold their handset division to Kyocera.

    That's why Kyocera's first phones seemed so similar to existing Qualcomm handset designs - Because they WERE Qualcomm handset designs.
    • Qualcomm is putting Linux support into their chipsets.

      It'll be up to the handset manufacturers (who buy from Qualcomm) whether to actually use such support or not.

      This kind of surprises me, most of the really high-end handsets use ARM-based processors (Intel XScale or TI OMAP) instead.
  • Hey boss! I've got this great idea! Let's turn our product into a commodity!
  • it seems Qualcomm is the latest to add Linux to it's handheld devices.
    Its m'y utter delight to see that Slashdot posters finally get thei'r grammar right.
  • Qualcomm makes some good stuff. Nice codec work , lots of product integration. But they're not a top dog company by any means, which makes them a great candidate to use Linux. Why? Well in my mind, the underdog with the secret weapon can turn the show around can create a world of change.



    It's fluff talk hehe, but hey, Linux will get a shot on some nice portables besides showing up every blue moon on some PDA by Sharp.

  • 'By introducing Linux on the MSM, Qualcomm supports manufacturer partners who wish to leverage existing Linux applications, third-party developers and application catalogs to reduce their software development costs and improve time-to-market.'

    Jeez! It's like Buzzword Bingo [betterworkplacenow.com] all over again! (no time to find the Dilbert reference, though)

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