OpenMoko announced the immediate availability of a completely integrated open source mobile communications platform in partnership with FIC. The announcement of the OpenMoko mobile communications platform coincides with the unveiling of FIC’s Neo1973 smartphone, which utilizes the full OpenMoko platform and will be available in January 2007.

With the release of OpenMoko, which is based on the latest Linux open source efforts, developers now have an easy way to create applications and deliver services that span all users and provide a common “look and feel”. OpenMoko also offers common storage models and libraries for application developers, making writing applications for mobile phones fun and easy.

“For the first time, the mobile ecosystem will be as open as the PC, and mobile applications equally as diverse and more easily accessible,” said Sean Moss-Pultz, architect of OpenMoko and Product Manager of FIC’s Mobile Communication Business Unit. “Ringtones are already a multi-billion dollar market. We think downloading mobile applications on an open platform will be even bigger.

OpenMoko has partnered with mobile open source software company, Funambol, to provide full push email and PIM synchronization support to all applications running on the OpenMoko platform. Connecting to corporate messaging and collaboration servers will be as transparent as sending a SMS and installing a new application will be possible from virtually anywhere.

First International Computer (FIC) announced that OpenMoko is the platform of choice for their next generation smartphones. Joining OpenMoko at the Open Source in Mobile Conference in Amsterdam, FIC announced that their latest smartphone, called the “Neo1973,” will be the first commercially available smartphone powered by OpenMoko. Key features of the Neo1973 smartphone include:

• 2.8” VGA touch screen
• A-GPS for location and navigation services
• GSM850/900/1800/1900 compatibility for network support in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Africa and the US
• Application manager to install / remove / update applications
• Push email, contacts, and calendar synchronization
• OpenMoko Software Development Kit (SDK) for application development

The Neo1973 smartphone, along with OpenMoko, will be internationally available January 2007.