Open Handset Alliance

Abbreviation	OHA
Formation	2007
Type	Open mobile platform (Android) development organization
Headquarters	South Korea
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	Mobile operators, Software companies, Commercialization companies, Semiconductor companies, Handset manufacturers
Website	www.openhandsetalliance.com

The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) is a consortium of 84^[1] firms to develop open standards for mobile devices. Member firms include Google, HTC, Sony, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, T-Mobile, Nvidia, and Wind River Systems.^[2]

History

The OHA was established on 5 November 2007, led by Google with 34 members including mobile handset makers, application developers, some mobile carriers and chip makers.^[3] Android, the flagship software of the alliance, is based on an open source license and competes against mobile platforms from Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, (Symbian), HP (formerly Palm), Research In Motion, and Samsung Electronics (bada).

Products

At the same time as the announcement of the formation of the Open Handset Alliance on November 5, 2007, the OHA also unveiled Android, an open source mobile phone platform based on the Linux kernel.^[2] An early look at the SDK was released to developers on 12 November 2007.^[4]

The first commercially available phone running Android was the HTC Dream (also known as the T-Mobile G1). It was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on 18 August 2008,^[5] and became available on 22 October.^[6]

Members

The members of the Open Handset Alliance are:

Joining date	Mobile operators	Software companies	Commercialization companies	Semiconductor companies	Handset manufacturers
Founding members[7]	KDDI Corporation NTT DoCoMo Sprint Nextel T-Mobile China Mobile Telecom Italia Telefónica	Ascender Corporation eBay Google LivingImage Myriad Nuance Communications PacketVideo SkyPop SONiVOX	Aplix Noser Engineering The Astonishing Tribe Wind River Systems	Audience Broadcom Corporation CSR Plc. (joined as SiRF) Intel Corporation Marvell Technology Group Nvidia Corporation Qualcomm Synaptics Texas Instruments	HTC LG Sony Motorola Mobility (joined as Motorola) Samsung Electronics
December 2008[8]	Vodafone Softbank		Borqs Teleca	AKM Semiconductor ARM Atheros Communications ST-Ericsson (joined as Ericsson Mobile Platforms)	ASUSTek Garmin Huawei Technologies Sony Ericsson Toshiba Dell
May-June 2009	China Unicom[9]	SVOX[10]			Acer[11]
September 2009				MIPS Technologies[12]
January 2010			Sasken Communication Technologies Limited[13]		ZTE Corporation[14]
May 2010		NXP Software[15]
July 2010		Access[16]		MediaTek[17]
November 2010		VisualOn[18]
Unknown	China Telecommunications Corporation Telus[19] Bouygues Telecom[19]	Cooliris MOTOYA Co., Ltd. OMRON	Accenture L&T Infotech SQLStar International Inc. Wipro Technologies	Cypress Semiconductor Corporation Freescale Semiconductor Gemalto Renesas Electronics Corporation Via Telecom	Alcatel Mobile Phones Compal Communications Foxconn Haier Kyocera Lenovo Mobile Communication Technology Ltd. NEC Sharp Corporation

See also

• Google Nexus
• Symbian Foundation
• LiMo Foundation
• Open Mobile Alliance

References

1. ^ Alliance FAQ | Open Handset Alliance
2. ^ ^{a b} "Industry Leaders Announce Open Platform for Mobile Devices". Open Handset Alliance. 2007-11-05. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/press_110507.html. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 
3. ^ "Open Handset Alliance members page". Open Handset Alliance. 2007-11-05. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 
4. ^ "Developers". Open Handset Alliance. 2007-11-05. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/developers.html. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 
5. ^ "FCC Approved HTC Dream". Engadget. 2008-08-18. http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/htc-dream-fcc-approved-android-clear-for-launch/. 
6. ^ "Google Is Calling. Will You Answer?". http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94982690. 
7. ^ "Open Handset Alliance Members". 2008-10-15. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html. 
8. ^ "Open Handset Alliance announces 14 new members". Open Handset Alliance. 2008-12-09. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/press_120908.html. 
9. ^ "Open Handset Alliance member announcements". Open Handset Alliance. 2009. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/press_releases.html. 
10. ^ "SVOX announces its joining of the Open Handset Alliance". SVOX. 2009-05-27. http://www.svox.com/News-Items-SVOX-brings-speech-solutions-to-Android.aspx. 
11. ^ "Acer announces its joining of the Open Handset Alliance". Acer. 2009-06-01. http://phandroid.com/2009/06/01/acer-joins-oha-expects-end-of-year-android/. 
12. ^ "MIPS Technologies Joins the Open Handset Alliance". MIPS Technologies, Inc.. 2009-09-30. http://www.mips.com/news-events/newsroom/release-archive-2009/9_30_09.dot. 
13. ^ "Sasken joins Open Handset Alliance". SASKEN. 2010-01-22. http://www.sasken.com/newsroom/press/2010/22_Jan_2010.htm. 
14. ^ "ZTE to launch Android handsets this quarter". ZTE. 2010-01-15. http://wwwen.zte.com.cn/en/press_center/press_clipping/201001/t20100115_179607.html. 
15. ^ "NXP Software Joins the Open Handset Alliance". NXP. 2010-05-18. http://www.software.nxp.com/userfiles/PR%20NXP%20Software_OHA_Agreement_Final%281%29.pdf. 
16. ^ "Access Joins the Open Handset Alliance". Access. 2010-07-91. http://www.access-company.com/news/press/ACCESS/2010/20100729_oha.html. 
17. ^ "MediaTek Joins the Open Handset Alliance Continuous Commitment to Providing Multimedia-Rich Android Solutions". MediaTek. 2010-07-12. http://www.mediatek.com/en/news/info.php?sn=43. 
18. ^ "VisualOn Joins the Open Handset Alliance to Enhance the Multimedia Capabilities of the Android Platform". VisualOn. 2010-11-09. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101109005339/en/VisualOn-Joins-Open-Handset-Alliance-Enhance-Multimedia. 
19. ^ ^{a b} "Open Handset Alliance Members Mobile Operators". 2010-12-27. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html#mobile. 

• Google enters the wireless world
• Google's wireless initiatives go beyond Android

External links

• Open Handset Alliance official site
• Google's Android and the Open Handset Alliance (Exxplain.com video)