e.Digital

QCT's Multi-OS Strategy Supports a Variety of User Needs and Devices

As consumers begin using increasingly powerful Smartphones and other connected mobile devices for both work and play, handsets are becoming available in a broader range of operating systems, capable of supporting a wide variety of user scenarios - from seamless integration with business email systems to mobile web browsing, social media interactions and even online gaming.

“ Handset makers are increasingly taking advantage of the Brew MP operating system's ability to bring high-level capabilities to affordably priced handsets. Brew MP provides solutions across the spectrum, including Smartphone and highest-tier devices. ”

- Jason Kenagy

Vice president of product management for Brew MP

To address those diverse needs, Qualcomm CDMATechnologies (QCT) is expanding its platform support for all of the leading operating systems. QCT is redefining mobility by making it easy for handset manufacturers to go to market with a multi-tiered array of solutions for every level of handset segment.

QCT broadens chipset OS support dramatically

For Smartphones running high-level operating systems, QCT chipsets support both Android™ and Windows Mobile®. And especially unique for mass-market handsets, Qualcomm offers its own Brew® Mobile Platform (Brew MP), enabling deeply integrated functionality and a multitude of top-tier performance capabilities.

Qualcomm will also begin working with Nokia Corp. to develop chipsets based on Nokia's S60 software and the Symbian operating system, the world's most-used software for Smartphones.

Driven by innovation

Steve Horton, who oversees QCT's portfolio of third-party operating system programs, attributes much of the growing interest in new mobile operating systems to manufacturers' desire to innovate and differentiate their products. "Qualcomm has a multi-OS strategy because our customers want to create unique value propositions in multiple markets around the world," he says.

With numerous operating systems vying for acceptance these days, many leading handset manufacturers are opting to design products for multiple markets. And that's where the multiple operating system capability of Qualcomm's chipsets becomes a real advantage.

Because most of Qualcomm's chipsets use similar application programming interfaces (APIs), for example, handset manufacturers are able to re-use much of the same software across a variety of operating systems. "Customers are eager to leverage more of their design work," says Horton. "So by having us provide more of the software solution for them, they get significant time-to-market advantages."

An Android pioneer

Qualcomm chipsets enabled the first Android-powered mobile phone - the T-Mobile G1, manufactured by HTC. It was a breakthrough moment for Linux-based open mobile application platforms when the G1 launched in September, several months ahead of any other Android phone.

Android is an open mobile platform that is constantly being enhanced with contributions from across the worldwide developer community. Manufacturers and developers are free to download the entire source code, contribute patches, report bugs, view submitted code and use the full set of available tools. Thanks to those collective efforts, developers, manufacturers, operators and code contributors have the opportunity to build faster, better and more innovative devices and applications.

T-Mobile reports that the G1 phone was its best-selling handset launch of 2008 in the U.K., where it now accounts for 20 percent of T-Mobile's contract sales. HTC is aiming to follow up that success with a second Android handset, the HTC Magic, which was announced at February's Mobile World Congress and will be marketed initially in Europe by Vodafone.

Windows Mobile success

QCT and Microsoft have worked together closely in recent years to enable a new generation of multimedia and data-centric Windows Mobile Smartphones using Qualcomm's chipsets. These handsets are designed for enhanced productivity, with features such as extended battery life when connecting to corporate Exchange servers and fast multimedia for users relaxing away from the office.

Qualcomm chipsets have been designed into more than 50 Windows-based devices, and QCT is a top provider of Windows Mobile products today. Look for a new generation of QCT-powered phones to reach the market next year using the future generation of the Windows Mobile operating system, which offers even more consumer-friendly features and functions.

The Brew Mobile Platform advantage

Jason Kenagy, vice president of product management for Brew MP, says that handset makers are increasingly taking advantage of the Brew MP operating system's ability to bring high-level capabilities to affordably priced handsets. Brew MP provides solutions across the spectrum, including Smartphone and highest-tier devices. But Brew MP's unique capability for enabling high performance on mass-market devices provides unique and broad opportunities.

INQmobile, for instance, used Brew MP capabilities to develop the award-winning GSMA device of the year INQ1 mass-market handset, which features deeply integrated support for Facebook and focuses on fast and simple access to data services.

The Brew MP operating system, which unifies many of Qualcomm's previous platform technologies (including BREW®, uiOne and the uiOne HDK), includes pre-integrated core applications and technologies such as Java, as well as a highly optimized and integrated implementation of Adobe Flash™, which enables millions of web developers to easily develop and modify existing web content and applications for use on Brew MP handsets. "Brew MP brings incredible value and impressive multimedia capabilities to mass-market phones," says Kenagy.

Whether it's enabling a wider selection of handset features or helping manufacturers deliver handsets to market more quickly, QCT's unique ability to support a wide range of operating systems has become an important advantage that is paying off in new business opportunities for its customers and partners.

http://www.qualcomm.com/innovation/stories/operating_systems.html