Mozilla, Others to Develop Smartphone/Laptop Hybrid

Seven companies, including Mozilla, are working on a Linux-based mobile device that would fall somewhere in between a smartphone and a laptop.Besides Mozilla, the partners include microprocessor designer ARM, Linux software developer MontaVista, Texas Instruments, Samsung Electronics, mobile Linux application developer Movial, and semiconductor manufacturer Marvell Technologies. Their collaboration covers chip design, operating system development, and several applications for a mobile device that would be smaller than a laptop but bigger than a smartphone, and have cell capabilities but not WiFi. It would be in a similar class to current ultramobile PCs but be free of Windows applications -- Jim Ready, CTO and founder of MontaVista said, "You can attach to the Web and do e-mail and browsing without all the baggage of a PC and Windows and Office."

The goal is to finish the platform's development in the first part of the next year.InfoWorld