Have you ever sat there in the airport with your Android device, full internet access and everything, having a drink or a terrible pastry, just cursing the fact that Android doesn’t have that one perfect app you saw the other day on an Apple machine? Or perhaps it’s the other way around, you’ve seen the fabulous freewheeling things Android can do with their wild apps and you wish you could do it. Or maybe you’re on a Windows phone and don’t have either, or better yet, you’re using Symbian! What should you do, what CAN you do? Marvell has the answer. An answer that might very well shape the future of mobile OS, believe it or not.
We’ve been shown an app here at Mobile World Congress 2011, an app that runs a complete virtualization platform, a new OS built from the ground up by Marvell. This system is one that doesn’t look like the most fantastic project as far as aesthetics go, but movement and functionality are right up there with the big boys. And what’s so special about it? Why would you want to run an app that’s just what you might see as a distortion of your OS of choice? Because not only does it work on essentially every single mobile OS in the market today, it’ll run any app.
You can run any app on this system. Any. That’s Android apps from the Android Marketplace, Apple apps from the iTunes App Store, Windows Phone 7 apps, Symbian, MeeGo, anything, everything. What could this mean for mobile OS? It could mean some very significant things, some things that we’re sure a lot of operating system developers might not like, but that developers will have a heyday over. Think of the possibilities – one single app is all you’d need to make, one singular version of every app you want to develop, and you’re done.
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Have a closer look at this system here in a demo presented to us by Marvell, and wonder and awe at it, then peek at the press release below:
Marvell Introduces Kinoma – Revolutionary Open Software Platform to Unify Applications – Simple, elegant, intuitive and lightening fast user experience will debut at Mobile World Congress
Barcelona, Spain, Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL), a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, today announced Kinoma®, a software platform that will dramatically transform the way consumers interact with the devices that fuel their digital lives. Kinoma is a new foundation for creating and delivering fast, simple user experiences for an unprecedented range of devices. Through its recent acquisition of Kinoma Inc., a visionary creator of mobile media software, Marvell now offers an experience and solution that is fully integrated from silicon to applications, creating new opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and manufacturers while freeing developers from traditional restraints.
“We are living in an exciting world of proliferating electronic devices. They are becoming a key part of our lives. More than ever consumers demand great ease-of-use and seamless connectivity across all these devices,” said Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-Founder. “I am very excited to bring the talented Kinoma team to Marvell – it is our mission to coherently integrate our industry-leading hardware solutions with beautiful software experiences to enable the entire ecosystem to address this emerging demand. The addition of Kinoma – a simple, intuitive, easy to use software experience optimized for Marvell’s total silicon solutions – provides a unified look and feel across an array of products from handheld devices to smart appliances and smart furnishings. It gives designers and developers the freedom to dream up more innovative, personalized, and intelligent products and applications that I believe will change the world by making consumers’ lives easier and more convenient. That’s our passion.”
The newest version of Kinoma Play is the first product built on Kinoma. Featuring an elegant, touch-friendly design coupled with lightning fast speed, Kinoma Play shows how Kinoma delivers a seamlessly integrated user experience. Combining 40 applications, ranging from social networking to digital media to location to search, Kinoma Play offers consumers a simple, consistent user experience for work and play.
To encourage broad industry adoption, Marvell will offer Kinoma under an open source license. Developers will be able to adapt Kinoma for any device they can imagine. Marvell will also provide two software development kits (SDKs). The first SDK is for application developers to fully integrate their content and services into Kinoma powered devices. The second SDK is for OEMs and manufacturers to port and customize Kinoma for their products.
“As digital devices have become more powerful, creating the software to power them has become increasingly difficult,” said Peter Hoddie, vice president of the Kinoma Platform at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. “Kinoma makes it easier for developers to bring their ideas to life. Kinoma lets developers focus on creating great applications with thoughtfully refined user experiences that taps into the full power of the underlying hardware. We want to make life better for developers, so they can craft the products that make life better for our users.”
“Kinoma delivers on the promise so many companies are chasing – a thoughtfully designed, beautiful user interface that enhances user experience,” said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies. “The capabilities of this platform are crucial for creating a new class of connected devices with a simple, consistent user experience and access to the content they need, no matter where they are.”
Marvell will demonstrate the newest version of Kinoma Play in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress (Courtyard CY15). For those unable to see Kinoma Play in person, a video showing the speed, elegance, and simplicity of Kinoma Play is available on the Marvell web site.
Marvell will announce further information on developing with Kinoma and licensing in the coming weeks.
About Marvell
Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a world leader in the development of storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions. Marvell’s diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure, including enterprise, metro, home and storage networking. As used in this release, the term “Marvell” refers to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries. For more information, visit Marvell.com.
Marvell, the M logo and Kinoma are registered trademarks of Marvell and/or its affiliates. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
