linux

Linux may soon gain "multi-touch" support similar to that found in Apple's iPhone. The MPX (multi-pointer X) project is currently developing software aimed at enabling multiple cursors and input devices on standard OSes that use the X Window System, such as Linux and BSD.

"The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum will today release its first specifications in an effort to encourage people to develop more applications for Linux-based mobile phones.

This is a shiny list, with big pictures, of some of the coolest looking phones powered by GNU/Linux.

"We have seen the future of cell phones, and it’s Linux. These five phones bring the flexibility of Linux to the portable world." -- More here

Trolltech will give away dozens of hacker-friendly Linux phones to winners of a mobile phone software programming contest launched today. The "Qtopia Greenphone Developer Challenge" will also pay two winners $5,000 each, and fly them to Trolltech's "Developer Days" event.

Palm, best known for Treo smartphones powered by Palm OS and Windows Mobile, is likely to ship Linux phones this year, confirmed CEO Ed Collagan today at Palm's "Analyst and Investor Day." Palm's Linux platform will add reliability, performance, and stability to Palm's smartphones, Collagan said.

All tier one mobile phone manufacturers are "involved with Linux on some level," with openness, flexibility, and developer affinity rather than cost driving interest, IMS Research reports. Additionally, the high variability of separate vendors' implementations will not impede Linux adoption over the long term, according to the firm's latest research.

"Linux will ship in more than 200 million phones in 2012, up from 8.1 million in 2007, forecasts a new report from ABI. "The industry as a whole is rallying behind Linux," even while acknowledging that significant barriers to widespread Linux adoption still exist, the market research firm suggests."