LiMo based phones drive Vodafone's 360 apps service

John Walko
Sep 24, 2009 (6:54 AM)
URL: http://www.commsdesign.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220200026

LONDON — Samsung has collaborated with Vodafone to bring its first handsets using the LiMo operating system Release 2 to market, and the operator is using the two models to launch a set of new internet services for mobiles that draws on the growing popularity of social networking on the move.

Similar to the Samsung Jet, the Vodafone 360 H1 packs a 3.5 inch AM OLED touchscreen, a 5MP camera, 16GB on board, GPS, Wi-Fi, HSDPA and supports push email.

The move is seen as Vodafone's attempt to claw back some market share from the likes of Apple's successful iPhone, Google's Android mobile OS and RIM's Blackberry.

The new services, called Vodafone 360, will bring together a customer's mobile and messaging contacts with their online social networking information, and will be launched by Christmas in eight European countries on the two exclusive Samsung handsets, and shortly after over a hundred non-exclusive models.

The core service on Vodafone 360 is its address book, which draws together mobile, messaging and social networking contacts, and customers can share some of their information with their friends.

The 360 app store promises a wide range of applications, games, music and mapping services.

Apple started the trend with its App Store, which offers a massive range of free and chargeable application downloads for which Apple takes a cut, selling the items through its established iTunes channel.

Google has since opened up an application store for phones that use its Android operating system, and Nokia says its version, the Ovi store, is growing fast.