SAN FRANCISCO-European carrier Orange plc said it approved the Access Linux Platform to run on its network, potentially giving much-needed support to Japanese firm Access Co. Ltd., which has sought operator partners for its new mobile-phone operating system.
The companies made their announcement in conjunction with the LinuxWorld trade show in San Francisco.
Access and its subsidiary, PalmSource Inc., are making the platform available to carriers in hopes of seeing them adopt it in new lines of phones and, indeed, Orange plans to use ALP to develop new mobile phone models in its portfolio of Orange Signature Devices.
Orange’s move is not surprising; the carrier was the first in the world to sell a phone running Microsoft Corp.’s operating system for smart phones.
Several players and alliances have sought to move Linux into the mainstream of mobile-phone operating systems to compete with market leader Symbian and competitors such as Microsoft and its Windows Mobile platform.
