Motorola and PalmSource are working on plans to put Linux on mobile phones. Working towards the adoption of Linux on handheld devices, the Mobile Linux Initiative has been launched by Open Source Development Labs (OSDL).
"There is a lot of momentum for Linux on handhelds, specifically for mobile phones," said Eirik Chambe-Eng, president and co-founder of Trolltech, a company that builds a graphical user interface on top of Linux for mobile devices which has joined the OSDL effort. But because an increasing number of companies are developing Linux for mobiles, there is a need to coordinate the efforts, he said.
Linux is a very good solution for mobile manufacturers in terms of cost, but also in that it may solve some of the problems that manufacturers face with building full-feature phones that may include cameras, color displays, video cameras and Web browsing.