Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum Releases of 1.0 Specifications

The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forumannounced completion of the LiPS Release 1.0 specifications, fulfilling the commitment announced in June of this year.

With this release, LiPS enables mobile industry players to achieve basic interoperability for applications and services deployed on Linux-based phones, benefiting Linux-based software stack suppliers, mobile device OEMs and regional and global telecom operators. These specifications include the LiPS Reference Model, Telephony, Messaging, Calendaring and Scheduling, Presence, User Interface Services, Address Book and Voice Call Enablers APIs.

Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum Completes Release of 1.0 Specifications
Targets interoperability & marketability of Linux-based mobile phones through shared open standards and implementations

In contrast to recent announcements from other bodies promoting Linux-based mobile software, LiPS output targets interoperability through real open standards and specifications, not de facto acceptance of a single platform implementation. The completed open specifications are publicly available on the LiPS web site at http://www.lipsforum.org.

From Open Standards to Standards-based Phones
The principal advantage to real open standards comes from choice of implementation. As with all formal standards, the challenge lies in moving from “paper standards” to creating code and actual devices. To that end, LiPS Forum members are already building software and equipment that follow the LiPS specifications. LiPS members and their peers across the mobile ecosystem have the choice of creating their own versions of LiPS-compliant code, of licensing implementations from other LiPS members or third parties, or of leveraging and contributing to open source implementations. “Standards-based interoperability is crucial to the success of the global telecommunications marketplace,” declared Haila Wang, president of the LiPS Forum. “LiPS is following the clear path blazed by GSM, TCP/IP, WiFi and other standards that enable communications among device types and brands, over multiple operator networks and across regional markets.”

Delivering on Industry Commitments
“The completion and delivery of the LiPS 1.0 Specification illustrates the power of cooperation among industry leaders,” noted Haila Wang. “LiPS Forum owes a debt of gratitude to Architecture Working Group members, and especially to chair Guilhem Ensuque of Open-Plug”. Having completed its commitments for 2007, LiPS Forum is setting its sights on additional specification work in 2008. Planned for release are the Application Framework, advanced Services APIs, Device Management APIs and additional Enabler APIs (e.g., for multimedia).

About LiPS Forum
The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum is a consortium of leading industry players formed to standardize the Linux-based services and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that most directly influence the development, deployment and interoperability of applications and user-level services.

LiPS Forum was founded in November, 2005 to help accelerate the adoption of Linux in fixed, mobile and converged devices. By standardizing Linux-based services and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that influence the development, deployment and interoperability of applications as well as end-user services, device manufacturers, third party software vendors and operators can increasingly differentiate their offerings from competitors and generate revenue. The LiPS Forum now comprises 20 companies from across the mobile industry ecosystem and around the world.

The founding members of the LiPS Forum are ACCESS, ARM, Cellon International, Esmertec, France Telecom, Orange, Huawei Technologies, MIZI Research, Inc., MontaVista Software, Inc., Open-Plug and VirtualLogix

To learn more about LiPS, please visit www.lipsforum.org. To join, please email join@lipsforum.org.