Click to View

Several big name telecom providers and a raft of software developers announced support for the Google-led Open Handset Alliance (OHA) announced on Monday. The OHA supports a Linux-based software platform called Android, owned by Google, that promises to make development of applications for mobile phones easier and less costly.

While the initial list of official OHA backers, including Motorola, Sprint Nextel, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile, is impressive, the absence of AT&T, Verizon, Microsoft, Apple, Nokia as well as Symbian is also worth noting.

Symbian, which brands itself "the open mobile operating system," is jointly owned by Nokia, Ericsson, Panasonic, Samsung, Siemens and Sony Ericsson and has the biggest share of the operating system market for mobile devices.

Scott Rockfeld, Microsoft group product manager for mobile communications, said the OHA announcement "isn't new or revolutionary."

Microsoft has evolved Windows Mobile for the past five years, has deals with 160 mobile operators and 48 devices manufacturers worldwide including the one's supporting OHA. "We have thousands of developers who have built over 18,000 applications for Windows Mobile," he told told InternetNews.com.

Rockfeld pointed to several examples of developers innovating on top of the Windows Mobile platform, such as OHA member HTC which offers its TouchFlow touch-screen interface on certain models.

About 11 million devices shipped with Windows Mobile software last year and Rockfeld said that number is projected to almost double, to 20 million, for 2007. He said the OHA announcement is a confirmation of Microsoft's strategy to grow a large developer community. "We already have an entire ecosystem and we're going to continue with the strategy of working with multiple partners."

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said OHA isn't about one or several companies trying to steal market share from others, but a chance to grow the consumer market for cell phones. "It's really time to grow the pie rather than keep trying to figure out how we cut that pie up," he said in the OHA conference call this morning. "There is opportunity for many different operating systems."

Some observers think the OHA will help the U.S. catch up to other countries in offering a range of advanced mobile services to consumers. "Until now, the industry has been afraid to speak out publicly about the amount of power that U.S. mobile carriers wield and the limited personal control and choice given to the consumer," said Greg Spector, a spokesman for Rebtel, in an e-mail sent to InternetNews.com. Rebtel is a consumer service that enables cheap or free international calls.

Click here for rest of this story at internetnews.com.