Open Handset Alliance could prove a winner
19 November 2007
Some have called the newly formed Open Handset Alliance just another Linux forum and have questioned its ability to produce a commercially viable mobile platform. But the OHA has a number of advantages, not least of which is the backing of some big-hitting global companies.
Perhaps the most damning criticism came from Denmark-based consulting firm Strand Consult, which called the OHA a rehash of Linux forums. The company says the alliance's success will be measured in terms of device shipments, noting that content and applications developers are unlikely to work with its device platform, Android, if handset shipments do not number in the millions. Even if shipment figure hits 100 million within 18 months, it might not be enough to tempt developers, the firm says.
Strand Consult also says the goals of the OHA - open software, devices and content - might prove hard to achieve. "Maybe we should ask Qualcomm, Intel and TI if they plan to reduce the prices on the chipsets they ship to terminal manufacturers worldwide?" the firm states. "Or we could ask HTC, Motorola and Samsung if they plan to launch a series of cheap smartphones, where the savings on the hardware side will be to the benefit of operators and consumers?"
There is another question hanging over the OHA: What will it do that previous Linux forums have not? Strand Consult referred to the Open Mobile Terminal Platform group, established in 2004 to create a standard application interface, saying that "it's hard to notice any difference between this alliance three years ago and the latest one."
OHA members might reply that Android is different from previous working groups' attempts because it incorporates mobile Java, in addition to Linux. Java is widely deployed in mobile phones as an enabler of entertainment content, but it has proved tricky to implement as an operating system in its own right. That difficulty is perhaps best highlighted by the failure of Savaje, a well-funded company that set out to take on OS firms Symbian and Microsoft but which was quietly dissolved earlier this year.
So shouldn't the OHA just pack up and head for the hills?
The answer is no. The group has many strengths compared with its predecessors, most notably the fact that Android has existed since 2003 and is therefore reasonably well established. Some of the OHA's 34 members have reportedly already evaluated the software, making the forum's goal of launching handsets in 2008 appear more achievable.
The member companies themselves are a bonus for the new forum, with participants including major handset vendors Motorola and Samsung, leading global operators and search firm Google. The involvement of Google is significant, since it signals the firm's desire to be more closely involved in the mobile content world, and it indicates that new OHA initiatives could be readily bankrolled by the cash-rich company.
Google has already shown that it is willing to spend to make the OHA a success, having set up an application-development competition with a prize of $10m. The move could prove a shrewd means of quickly increasing the number of compatible applications available for Android while reassuring developers that the platform is not a flash in the pan.
Another major difference between the OHA and other industry bodies is that its members have set out a clear road map for developing Android. The aim is to get the first handsets running the OS into stores in 2H08, with Taiwanese original-design manufacturer HTC in the running to produce the first products. That move in itself is notable, given that HTC has relied heavily on Microsoft's backing to expand its global market share in recent years.
Many of the OHA's members also participate in other Linux forums, including the LiMo Foundation, which has led to speculation that the two bodies might ultimately look to merge. Any such move could prove difficult, however, since LiMo's operator members might be put off by Google's involvement in the OHA. Any plans that a carrier has to launch a walled-garden content portal could be ruined by Google's plan to offer a broader web-browsing experience on mobile handsets.
A full-blown merger might not be in the cards, but the OHA and LiMo could work together to promote Linux in mobile handsets. The technology's progress has arguably been hampered by the disparate approaches taken by the various bodies that have been established to standardize it for use in mobile phones, so if two of those groups were to work together, some progress could be made.
But existing Linux groups could equally look to limit the OHA's progress by clubbing together themselves. Three main working groups already exist for Linux - the LiMo Foundation, LiPS Forum and the GNOME Mobile and Embedded Initiative - and they could reap greater benefits by combining their efforts than by continuing to work in isolation. The technology developed by the three groups is considered largely complementary, meaning that if they worked together, they could conceivably create a strong framework for building handset software that could compete with Android head-on.
Michael Carroll is the editor of Mobile Handset Analyst
telecoms.com has a first look at Android, here
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