LiMo Foundation, a global consortium of mobile leaders delivering an open handset platform for the whole mobile industry, today announced the completion of specifications for the second release of the LiMo Platform (R2). R2 will be at the heart of next-generation LiMo handsets that will reach market starting Q4 2009.
Included within R2 is integrated support for OMTP's BONDI v1.0 specification, which standardizes a set of device interfaces for Web applications and widgets. The BONDI specification and framework enables developers to use common web authoring tools to create richly featured web applications and widgets that will run across all LiMo R2 handsets that support web runtimes. LiMo Platform is the first industry handset platform to provide explicit support for BONDI technologies.
The R2 platform also includes enhancements to the existing R1 framework as well as a series of robust new frameworks contributed by both LiMo members and/or derived from Open Source communities with the aim of delivering state-of-the-art LiMo devices with next-generation functionalities. Key technologies supported by the R2 platform include location-based services, multimedia, personal information management and advanced security applications.
"With the completion of R2, LiMo Foundation has reached another key milestone in its history. The R2 platform reflects inputs and contributions from all member classes within the foundation and is further evidence of the effectiveness of LiMo's proven collaborative development model," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo Foundation. "By integrating support for BONDI frameworks, R2 makes a major leap towards democratizing mobile application development and unlocking true innovation from millions of web developers around the globe for the benefit of mobile consumers everywhere."
To accelerate time to market and increase competitiveness of LiMo devices, LiMo members have also contributed Reference Implementations based on the R2 specifications. These fully pre-integrated stacks of commercially proven code represent substantial intellectual property contributions from leading OEMs, platform providers and ISVs and are available free of charge to all LiMo members.
In early fall, APIs corresponding to the R2 platform will be published on the LiMo website for pubic download and consumption. Commercial R2 devices are expected to reach the market as early as Q4 2009.
About LiMo Foundation
LiMo FoundationTM is a dedicated consortium of mobile industry leaders working together within an open and transparent governance model-with shared leadership and shared decision making-to deliver an open and globally consistent handset software platform based upon mobile Linux for use by the whole mobile industry. A full description of LiMo Foundation, including its vision, goals, charter, guiding principles, bylaws and membership information, can be found at www.limofoundation.org