The Open Handset Alliance, a group of technology and mobile players, has announced that Vodafone, Sony Ericsson and Ericsson are among the membership of 14 additional companies. By joining the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, the companies are demonstrating their support for Android as an open mobile platform and their commitment to its commercial success, says the OHA..
New members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices. With these commitments, the Open Handset Alliance says it will continue to drive greater and faster innovation for the benefit of mobile users and everyone in the industry.
Open Handset Alliance members' continued contributions to Android give everyone in the mobile ecosystem a free and complete mobile platform to build Android devices. The new members will add to the momentum of Android device availability, providing developers with an even greater opportunity to deploy compelling applications that will reach a global audience.
"Sony Ericsson is excited to announce its membership of the Open Handset Alliance and confirm its intention to develop a handset based on the Android platform" said Rikko Sakaguchi, CVP and head of Creation and Development, Sony Ericsson. "We believe Sony Ericsson can bring a wealth of experience in making consumer focused multimedia handsets with new user experience to the Alliance drawing on the successes of the Walkman and Cyber-shot sub-brands. Sony Ericsson is a strong supporter of open operating systems and we believe the Open Handset Alliance offers an exciting opportunity for a new and unique user experience only Sony Ericsson can deliver."
The new members are: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone.