LiMo Foundation

The big news from the GSMA Mobile World Congress this year: New phones using the Android, LiMo and Symbian open-source operating systems are rolling out in 2009.

What's unusual is that it is not the handsets themselves that are creating the buzz so much as what is under the hood and invisible to the user, the basic software. Lines are being drawn in the battle for dominance among the three main systems.

Vodafone announced this week that it is launching the HTC Magic, a new touchscreen handset based on Google's Android operating system, in Britain, Spain, Germany and Italy this spring.

Expectations about new Android devices and features ran high for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. But with the show over Thursday, many of those expectations haven't been met.

The Android highlight has been the announcement that HTC, maker of the first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1, will release the Android-based HTC Magic for Vodafone. The Magic will be available in the spring, initially in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France and Italy. The G1, released in 2008, has met with considerable success.

Huawei and Samsung

With the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona just a week away, the LiMo Foundation on Monday endorsed a specification that could mark the future of Linux-based handsets.

When the specification, Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) BONDI, is installed on a mobile device, it allows Web applications called widgets to leverage native functions on mobile handsets, such as a calendar, camera or contact services. In other words, the new spec enables Web 2.0 functions on Linux-based mobile operating systems.

In the first 10 days after Apple opened its App Store for the iPhone, consumers downloaded more than 25 million applications, ranging from games like "Super Monkey Ball" to tools like New York City subway maps. It was nothing short of revolutionary, not only because the number was so high but also because iPhone users could do it at all.

The Linux Mobile Foundation has announced that 11 new companies have joined the global consortium for the open-source mobile platform.

In particular, new LiMo member Movial said it intends to open-source its Browser D-Bus Bridge technology, which translates standard HTML and JavaScript commands to Desktop Bus commands to facilitate inter-process communication (IPC) between Web 2.0 applications and services.

When it comes to cell-phone software, open is the new black. In less than two years, no fewer than three coalitions have formed with the intent of building mobile handset operating systems with input from all comers. Suddenly the business of developing mobile software -- once handled by coders working behind closed doors for a single vendor or group -- has gone open source.

Android, the open-source mobile platform spearheaded by Google, is gaining favor with developers and online media. At its Google I/O conference in San Francisco last week, Google showed off a variety of new Android tricks to the nearly 3,000 developers in attendance. According to news reports, the developers were favorably impressed, and media outlets are teeming with reports on the conference.

Movement-Sensitive Street View

A big hit was a demonstration of Google Maps Street View and a touchscreen interface with a unique navigational approach.

The competition between the Android and LiMo open-source mobile platforms heated up as Verizon Wireless joined the LiMo Foundation. On Tuesday, Verizon and the foundation announced that wireless carrier was joining as a core member, with a seat on the board of directors.

"By participating in LiMo," Verizon said, the company "hopes to help LiMo unify the mobile industry around openness and Linux as the key enablers to lowering development costs."

Membership Now Totals 40