iGO730 and the LinAP running MontaVista linux software is set to be released in Italy

The two new smartphones, the iGO730 and the LinAP, have been designed by Italian manufacturer Enteos, a specialist in the development of advanced mobile handsets. Enteos, a supplier of handsets to OEMs and to network operators such as Italian market leader TIM, expects the products to attract business customers who require mobile broadband, e-mail and office productivity applications. The new phones combine 3G, Wi-Fi and VoIP capability.

Bill Seawick, Chief Marketing Officer at MontaVista, said that the company was now being accepted by the mobile telephony market as the mainstream choice for Linux software and tools. He said: ‘Symbian and Microsoft clearly have their adherents, but the whole of the embedded world is moving towards Linux, and mobile devices are no different. MontaVista is at the epicentre of that move towards an open, scalable, real-time platform.’

Examples of the applications ported to the MontaVista platform include Enteos’ own Wireless Telephony Manager (WTM), a software module that acts as an interface between applications and the device’s telephony engine. Because MontaVista Linux is an open-source product, Enteos was able to choose the way WTM would link to the OS. In doing the same with Windows Mobile or Symbian, it would have been forced to follow Microsoft’s or Symbian’s protocols. This would have made it much more difficult, and much more time-consuming, to get the same WTM functionality.

Massimo Zanzi said: ‘We are completely happy, both with MontaVista’s product’s performance and with the support that the company has provided.’