ARM

British chip designer ARM will demonstrate a prototype of Google Inc's Android mobile phone platform in action next week at the world's biggest wireless fair, a reliable source said.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday what the working model that ARM plans to show at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona would look like or who would supply the parts.

Google plans to deploy phones and services using the Android platform commercially in the second half of this year.

Google and ARM declined to comment on the report.

Google established an alliance of more than 30 carriers, handset makers, software firms and chipmakers in November to develop Android, which is based on open-source software and designed to make the Internet work better on mobile phones.

Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile and Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp (HTC) have said they plan to offer phones based on the Android platform this year.

Internet search leader Google's entry into the wireless industry will upset established relationships between carriers, cellphone makers and customers and could challenge Nokia, Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc, among others.

Google is also bidding for wireless spectrum in the US in a move that pits it against entrenched carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Its operator partners in the Open Handset Alliance include China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Telefonica -- all of which have said they are working with handset makers to develop Google-based phones.

ARM and six companies have announced a collaboration to develop Linux-based open source platform for next-generation mobile applications.

This initiative will address the rising consumer demand for access to the Internet and advanced applications on larger display mobile devices, ARM said in a release on Wednesday.

The collaboration was announced at the fourth annual ARM Developers’ Conference, being held this week in Santa Clara, California.

This collaboration focuses on the development of an open source platform based on Linux, Gnome Mobile and Mozilla Firefox that runs on ARM Partners’ advanced systems on chip (SoCs). It also strengthens ARM’s OS and browser ecosystem, while

leveraging the ability of ARM Partners to quickly bring products and technologies with graphics, video, multimedia and internet capabilities to consumers, an ARM statement added.

“Today’s consumers are very knowledgeable about technology, want to be connected to the Internet and access multimedia content and applications anywhere, at anytime, yet they do not want to be restricted by short battery life and inadequate features that will limit their experiences,” said Mike Inglis, executive vice president, Sales and Marketing, ARM. “By stepping up the collaboration among key stakeholders in the mobile market, we will be able to jointly deliver the devices and applications with the innovation consumers have come to expect.”

The new platform will be released into the open source community and will be adopted by ARM’s large ecosystem of software and silicon vendors, including Marvell, MontaVista, Movial, Mozilla, Samsung, and Texas Instruments.

ARM and its partners plan to release a full platform in early 2008 and bring devices to the market in early 2009.