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<img src="http://parcom.pro-networks.org/images/cellphone3vk.jpg" align="right" alt="No Linux phones yet">No Linux phones yet
By Vivian Yeo
October 05 2006 01:44 PM

HELSINKI--Nokia has still no plans to adopt Linux as a platform for its mobile phones, at least for now. Jarkko Sairanen, vice president and head of corporate strategy at Nokia, told ZDNet Asia in an interview Tuesday that there are areas "we believe Linux needs some further work to be really mature as a platform for small portable devices".

The Finnish phone maker has yet to embrace the open source platform in its phones, although it has a portable device--the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet--that is based on Debian Linux. In contrast, rival Motorola is enjoying success with its Linux-based smartphones.

Sairanen noted that Linux cannot yet be termed as a platform for the mobile space as "there are very different implementations" and the developer community is also "not on that side" due to the fragmented market. According to the Nokia executive, there are also issues with memory footprint, as "Linux has been built traditionally for an environment where the device is hooked to the wall, as with PCs".

Given that memory is an expensive component, building a low-cost mobile phone would require better optimization of memory, he said. "What the world will be like three or five years into the future, we will see, but currently this is how we would position Linux," he added.

<img src="http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/images/smiles/source.jpg"> ZDNET News
<img src="http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/images/smiles/view.jpg" border="0"> <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,61957301,00.htm" target="_blank"> complete article</a>