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E28 brings Linux to smart-phone market, THE STANDARD

Posted on: Monday, 15 December 2003, 06:00 CST

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Emerging Markets DatafileDecember 15, 2003

THE STANDARD

HONG KONG

ENGLISH

E28 brings Linux to smart-phone market, THE STANDARD

Georgina Lee

ASIA

WorldSources, Inc. 322 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE 2ND FLOOR, NE WASHINGTON, DC 20002

COPYRIGHT 2003 BY WORLDSOURCES, INC., A JOINT VENTURE OF FDCH e-Media, INC. AND WORLD TIMES, INC. NO PORTION OF THE MATERIALS CONTAINED HEREIN MAY BE USED IN ANY MEDIA WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION TO WORLDSOURCES, INC.

E28, a Chinese designer of wireless solutions for smart phones, is beating global telecommunications giants in bringing Linux software technology to market.

The Shanghai-based company was the first to move Linux, which until recently was mainly a computer operating system, out of the corporate server arena and into the consumer-focused mobile phone market when it brought the Linux-based E2800 to the Chinese market in August.

Motorola had claimed to be the first when it launched its A760 model in China last month.

Chief executive Roger Kung said setting the standard for Linux-based mobile phones was part of the company's preparation for expanding overseas.

``We are launching E2800 to other Southeast Asian countries, and have started discussions with mobile operators to sell it to the US and Europe ... we are truly the first Linux-based phone maker in the region,'' Kung said.

The company said it had sold 40,000 E2800 phones in China. The model was produced by CEC Telecom, a subsidiary of China Electronics, and sells for between 5,000-6,000 yuan (HK$4,691-HK$5,629).

Established in October 2000, E28 said it was already generating positive cash flow from sales of the new phone, which will be launched in Hong Kong today.

The smart phone - a mobile phone that combines the functions of a PDA (personal digital assistant) - is targeted at business users as it boasts 32 MB (megabytes) of data capacity. Users can also expand memory capacity to 512 MB with a SD memory card, a storage equivalent to 60-70 MP3 songs. It uses the GPRS (general packet radio service) for high data speed transmission. With a built-in digital camera, it is a touch-screen phone with handwriting recognition technology feature.

Kung, who was the Asia Pacific president for Motorola's personal communication sector before founding E28, said the company chose Linux because the open source software gave flexibility to the product. The phone has six user interfaces, so that users can have the same experience as when they are using a PC. Backed by the Chinese government, the open standard Linux is widely employed by Chinese government departments and corporates.

Linux-based smart phones are also expected to find a solid market in Japan, as NTT DoCoMo recently said it would adopt Linux as the operating system for its FOMA 3G mobile phones. Keiji Tachikawa, chief executive of the Japanese mobile giant, said choosing an open system had sprung out of the need to reduce costs of production.

E28 has 110 staff, of which 90 are engaged in research and development, and Kung said headcount should grow to 175 next year by adding more marketing and technical staff.

Copyright 2003 THE STANDARD all rights reserved as distributed by WorldSources, Inc.

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