As the mobile industry adopts new services and conceives models faster than ever, handset makers have to develop or integrate an increasing number of software applications. And those applications are sourced from a growing ecosystem of third-party suppliers. This inevitably leads to considerable challenges in terms of cost, time-to-market and quality.

The problem is particularly acute for makers of mass-market phones, about 80% of the market in 2008, who are trying to reduce prices by producing a wider range of phones that are highly optimized around a particular set of functions. Many of those phone models are based on dated proprietary firmware, making development and customization extremely slow, costly and prone to quality lapses.

The key challenges for handset makers are:
o Ultra-segmentation of wider product ranges, needing efficient variant creation
o Reuse of software across hardware platforms to get better R&D return-on-investment
o Integration of 3rd-party software, including open-source software
o Managing the software lifecycle through to end-user personalization.

In response to those challenges, Open-Plug has developed a unique and patented component-based technology which runs on top of existing proprietary firmware, and allows companies to modularize, open and extend legacy systems… with no overhead.

With Open-Plug's software package you'll find that:
o Developing and customizing your phone software becomes extremely easy.
o Existing applications can be re-used across any platform and be seamlessly exchanged between the different actors of the value chain.
o Development times of phone derivatives are slashed, and new application additions are performed in days, versus weeks with traditional approaches.
o New Applications can be pushed by mobile operators or downloaded by end-users based on their needs.

There are other benefits too. In particular, you'll be able to create a seamless development environment encompassing internal and 3rd party software developers… whilst ensuring consistent quality, security and interoperability standards for every application.

Now check out some of the problems experienced by your peers in the mobile handset ecosystem.

Note: Features characteristic data and other information mentioned in the document are subject to change.