Open-Plug software platform for Ultra Low Cost (ULC) phones will be demonstrated for the first time on Philips’ Nexperia cellular system solution 5130-based handsets at 3GSM Barcelona 2006

Succeeding to provide a software platform able to answer the drastic cost and flexibility requirements of the ULC phone segment, Open-Plug participates to the democratization of mobile telephony in emerging countries.

Sophia Antipolis, February 10, 2006 - Open Plug, the editor of the first open software framework designed for mass market phones, is pleased to announce that its new low-cost version of ELIPS software platform (ELIPS Basic) will be demonstrated at Barcelona 3GSM in ULC terminal prototypes based on Philips’ Nexperia cellular system solution 5130.

While most customers in Western countries are now equipped with mobile phones, a vast market is emerging in developing countries, where potential customers with little money wishing to get access to wireless telephony are estimated to amount to more than 3 billions. These customers - and the many people in Europe, Asia or the US who do not feel at ease with complex technologies or do not want to pay for extra features – are waiting for affordable and easy-to-use handsets to jump into the wireless era.

Lowering terminal cost is one key factor in the complex equation of wireless democratization. And the ability to put on the market seducing Ultra Low Cost handsets, really adapted to regional targets has been also a real problem up until now. Cost reductions on mobile phones design and manufacturing will mostly rely on component miniaturization and on the availability of platforms capable of addressing various requirements with little effort at reduced cost. In order to achieve this, a key technological challenge is to conceive software able to provide good user-experience that can easily be adapted to each user, in an extremely low memory footprint and constrained CPU environment.

In this context, as the time to market and the ability to adapt rapidly to each market demands become essential factors of success in the terminal business, phone makers are looking for complete ultra low cost hardware & software platforms, featuring good MMIs while providing enough flexibility to ensure easy customization and evolutions.

In order to meet these market and technological requirements, chipsets for the ULC market have to come together with very compact and flexible software on top of their protocol stack, adapted to ULC requirements. Such software can then be customized by handset-makers willing to launch ULC mobile terminals at bottom prices in very limited timeframes, while preserving deep customization capabilities.

Open-Plug ELIPS software platform version (ELIPS Basic) has been tailored especially for such highly constraining ULC environment. This highly flexible software suite for ULC includes:
1) Open-Plug’s unique component-based ELIPS application framework in its low-cost version.
2) A fully customisable reference MMI.
3) A set of basic applications targeting the ULC market segment that can be added or removed depending on customer requirements.
4) The ELIPS Studio tools set, that allows for fast and easy customisation of the handset software.

This ELIPS software platform version will be demonstrated at 3GSM in phone prototypes based on the Philips Nexperia Cellular system solution 5130.

Open-Plug’s software platform was chosen because of its unique intrinsic flexibility due to its component-based core technology, its fully featured reference MMI, as well as for its very low memory footprint. With Open-Plug software inside on top of their protocol stack, the Nexperia cellular system solution 5130 reference design brings both great performance and flexibility on the ULC market segment. Keeping clients options fully open, it allows handset makers to easily adapt their portfolio of products to the different market requirements while permitting fast and easy addition of the future “must have” features of the ULC segments.

To illustrate the performance of these new combined solutions, some prototype handsets based on Philips Nexperia cellular system solution 5130 integrating the Open-Plug ELIPS software suite will be shown on the Open-Plug & Philips booths.

Eric Baissus, Open-Plug’ CEO explains: “The ULC market is about improving process and productivity in order to fit with an highly demanding environment. And it is also about quality moving into the emerging countries. Open-Plug’s ability to fit the extremely constraining ULC environment in terms of memory consumption, unmatched flexibility, development processes and costs proves the validity of our revolutionary component-based approach to handset design for all terminals, from ultra low cost to high end mass market phones. Software resource-efficiency is a common requirement for all segments. And so is software flexibility, which is key in our industry nowadays. The unique ability provided by the Open-Plug technology to fully differentiate and customize handsets software at best cost is equally important across all handset segments from ULC to high-end phones.”

Editor’s Notes
About Open-Plug
Open-Plug creates and commercialises the first open software framework designed for mass market phones. The Open-Plug ELIPS Product Suite relies on a unique component-based technology, which drastically simplifies and secures all the phases of mobile phone software development, integration and deployment. It enables mobile operators and handset makers to create, update and customize their phones in record time, while keeping full control over their design and development cycle. Created in 2002, Open-Plug is a private company financed by leading-edge investors. Headquartered in France, the company also operates from its Asian offices. Open-Plug is a founding member and an active promoter of the LiPS Forum. Further information visit: www.openplug.com

Press contact:
Pascale Garreau
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Business contact:
Loïc Gonnet
VP Sales & Marketing
Open-Plug
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