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Funambol and OpenMoko Partner to Make World's First Integrated Open Source Mobile Communications Platform a Reality

Funambol
2006-11-08 11:49 6251

Funambol to Deliver Push Email and Mobile Applications on OpenMoko's Open

Source Mobile Communications Platform

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Funambol, the mobile

open source software company, today announced it has been chosen to power

mobile applications for OpenMoko, the world's first integrated open mobile

communications platform. Funambol is the recognized leading open source

mobile software for delivering mobile applications and services such as

mobile email.

The announcement of the OpenMoko mobile communications platform coincides

with the unveiling of FIC's Neo1973 smartphone, which utilizes the full

OpenMoko platform. OpenMoko aims to deliver a completely open, mobile

communications platform by working with a community of open source

developers. The project will give mobile developers a fully open source

software stack from the operating system to middleware, applications and

protocols. Users will get a high quality smartphone that they can easily

customize by installing only the applications they desire, eliminating the

need to upgrade their device every 12-18 months.

"The largest mobile open source project in the world has just joined with

the largest open design manufacturer in the world to deliver on the promise

of a fully open mobile phone for the mass market. We're looking forward to

working with OpenMoko and the folks from FIC on this trailblazing project,"

said Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of Funambol. "The time for high quality open

smartphones to deliver user-demanded applications is upon us. FIC's Neo1973

will accelerate opportunities for carriers to increase profits by effectively

delivering on consumer demand for mobile applications and services on mobile

handsets."

The Funambol software will allow OpenMoko-based phones to wirelessly

synchronize mobile applications and content, starting with PIM (contacts,

calendars, etc.) and push email delivery, to synchronization of photos,

video, ringtones, music and more. Funambol is based on the open standard

SyncML and provides a platform that delivers mobile applications and data

regardless of operating system or development environment.

"For the first time, the mobile ecosystem will be as open as the PC, and

mobile applications equally as diverse and more easily accessible," said Sean

Moss-Pultz, initiator of OpenMoko and Product Manager of FIC's Mobile

Communication Business Unit. "Ringtones are already a multi-billion dollar

market. We think downloading mobile applications on an open platform will be

even bigger."

"With any mobile phone, the application platform is critical because it

directly impacts its quality, cost and ease-of-use. We chose Funambol because

it is the most widely used mobile open source project in the world," said

David Huang, COO of FIC. "By partnering with Funambol to provide the

synchronization engine for OpenMoko, developers will flock to the project and

ultimately, users will receive what they have been demanding from their

mobile phones."

Since Funambol's preview release earlier this year, the number of

Funambol software downloads has more than doubled to 700,000, reflecting pent-

up demand for mass market mobile applications. The open source software is

being downloaded by a burgeoning community of developers who are testing it

on a wide range of mobile devices all over the world. Mobile operators around

the world are deploying the Funambol Carrier Edition in their networks. It is

the natural application platform for OpenMoko since it helps carriers reach

the largely untapped market for consumer push email.

About Funambol

Funambol is the mobile open source company. Funambol's Mobile Application

Server offers "push" email, multimaster PIM synchronization, and management

facilities for mobile devices. Funambol (formerly known as Sync4j) is an

open source development platform for mobile applications that has been

downloaded more than any other wireless middleware product -- more than

700,000 times. The commercial version has been deployed at wireless

carriers, Fortune 100 enterprises, hardware OEMs/ODMs and ISVs including

customers such as Computer Associates. Funambol is headquartered in Redwood

City, California with a development center in Italy. See

http://www.funambol.com .

Source: Funambol
collection