In effect, the new initiative grants the same patent-free access currently enjoyed by fellow OSGi Alliance members to companies outside the group.
The five companies involved are IBM, Nokia, Samsung, Gatespace Telematics, and ProSyst Software. They claim to be responsible for the vast majority of technology underlying the OSGi framework. With the fourth version of the OSGi framework now available, the backers consider the technologies stable enough for broad adoption.
The technology behind OSGi originated as part of an initiative to develop a so-called services gateway for Java-based home multimedia set-top boxes.
The original vision was for an open technology that home services providers, ranging from cable TV companies to electric utilities, would tap to deliver services such as interactive broadband or smart appliances.
Instead the technology found the most interest among Java handset manufacturers, which saw its potential for delivering software updates to Java phones. With over a billion Java-equipped devices in circulation, OSGi backers see a fat target for adoption.
It has also seen some interest in the telematics community, which seeks to add consumer services and intelligence to the electronics that are integral to modern vehicles today.
For instance, the BMW 6 series already incorporates OSGi, as will the next generation of telematics systems for Volvo Bus. However, the telematics market is nowhere near as developed as that for smart phones.
On the IT side, IBM has backed the technology, tapping it as the software updating mechanism for the Eclipse framework. It plans to incorporate the technology in a number of Lotus and offerings, where there is the need to manage the life cycle of rich clients.
And, manufacturers of enterprise-scale multifunction printers already incorporate OSGi courtesy of the underlying Wind River’s VxWorks embedded operating system, which supports the technology.
Conceivably, OSGi technologies could provide a standards-based framework for automated software distribution and software lifecycle management on any electronic device, from server and desktop/laptop to consumer and industrial products.
But until now the technology has largely remained confined to several well-defined niches, such as smart phones, where the players saw a huge market waiting to be tapped.
Not surprisingly, Nokia and Samsung view the technology as the enabler for delivering handsets that can deliver services, such as gaming or social networking, for which demand has already been proven. This way, new software could be added during the life of the phone, as opposed to current practice where everything must be burned in at the factory.
And they envision a new secondary market for base components. Rather than rely on one developer to build all the networking, plumbing, business logic, and user interface, they could leverage a supplier base to create custom services by mixing and matching the pieces together, said Jon Bostrom, director of emerging technologies for Nokia.
