LG & Microsoft plan new "converged mobile devices"

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 04 November 2008 02:03

IT Industry - Strategy

In June 2007 Microsoft and LG Electronics forged a patent cross-license agreement that enabled LG to use Microsoft-patented innovations in its products, including Linux-based embedded devices and that gave Microsoft access to LGE's patents and to other patents developed by LGE but owned by business solutions provider MicroConnect Group.

Financial details of that deal were not disclosed but Microsoft revealed that the net result would be it paying LGE and MicroConnect for patents related to operating systems and computer systems and LG making payments to Microsoft for the value of Microsoft patents covering Linux-based embedded devices produced by LGE.

The market for what are loosely described as 'converged mobile devices' that blend the functions of PCs and mobile phones is becoming increasingly competitive and the leading platform contenders are seen as being Symbian, backed by Nokia, the LiMo Foundation's Linux based platform, Google's Android and Windows Mobile.

Mobile devices based on Symbian OS are claimed to account for 60 percent of the converged mobile device segment and Symbian OS to represent approximately seven percent of all mobile device sales in 2007, up from five percent in 2006.

By mid 2008, more than 200 million Symbian OS based phones had been shipped: over 235 models, from eight vendors and on more than 250 mobile networks around the world. More than four million developers were engaged in producing applications for Symbian devices, according to Nokia.

According to Adam Leach, principal analyst, Ovum, fragmentation within the software platform market is the biggest single barrier to growing mobile data services and revenues. "There are currently many initiatives to try and solve this. The two most promising candidates to make a real difference are, in Ovum's view, the LiMo Foundation and, now, the Symbian Foundation.

"Together with Microsoft's growing presence in the market there is a real opportunity for the industry to start to coalesce their activities around these platforms."