By Vivian Yeo
Thursday, October 05 2006 01:44 PM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,61957301,00.htm

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.

S60 scores with Orange Nokia announced Wednesday a tie-up with Orange that will see the phone maker deliver a customized software package for the network operator for the S60 platform. By making S60 as its preferred platform, Orange will bring together its partner program with Nokia's global developer initiative Forum Nokia to develop applications, and create synergy between the S60 and its own roadmap. Mauri Metsäranta, director of software platforms marketing at Nokia, said that the partnership is "proof of concept" that the S60 platform is preferred in an operator environment, adding that the type of collaboration and support in this partnership will also be available to its licensees Lenovo, LG and Samsung.

"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.

However, the Finnish company has its eye on open source in other areas.

Nokia's executive vice president and CTO Tero Ojanperä on Wednesday also touched on open source as a component of Nokia's technology strategy. Addressing the media at Nokia's headquarters in Espoo, he noted that the mobile maker had embraced open source "early on".

The S60 open platform, built on the Symbian OS, is another focus area for Nokia, he said. Nokia has to date launched 44 devices built on the S60 platform, and has shipped some 70 million units. According to July figures from research house Canalys, S60 has a runaway 51 percent lead in the global converged devices market.

Open source projects under the S60 include a mobile Web browser and turning the S60 device into a mobile Web server with a unique IP address.

U.S.-based Ojanperä pointed out that open source presented Nokia an opportunity to work with the community and will not be limited to Linux. "Open source is not something that you only talk about Linux…it's much more than that. It's a bit irrelevant to discuss whether Linux will replace S60 or Symbian."

ZDNet Asia's Vivian Yeo reported from Helsinki, Finland.