Virtualization Goes Mobile

The technology could finally lead to one phone that does everything well. It's still early, but Motorola, Cisco, and Intel want in

Peter Richards, who runs software startup VirtualLogix, carries three phones. He uses a Research In Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry Curve 8300 for e-mail, a Motorola (MOT) Razr for calls, and an Apple (AAPL) iPhone for mobile Web browsing. He'd rather get that combination of features from a single phone.

Sunnyvale (Calif.)'s VirtualLogix wants to help build that phone using a kind of software known as virtualization, which increases the efficiency of computers. One of last year's most successful initial share sales came from VMware (VMW), a company that uses virtualization technology to help companies make better use of their servers, the computers that run Web sites and corporate networks. Orders for VMware's products surged 88% in 2007, to $1.33 billion. VirtualLogix and a handful of other companies, including Trango Virtual Processors, Green Hills Software, Open Kernel Labs, and Wind River Systems (WIND), are hoping to replicate that success by applying virtualization to cell phones.

Handset makers could use virtualization to more easily replicate the features found in one another's devices and confront the threat posed by Apple, which introduced the iPhone in 2007. Virtualization could also help cell-phone makers offer more features at a lower price. "Ultimately, the [handset] winner is going to be determined by their ability to manage security, costs, and time [to market]," says Steve Subar, CEO of Open Kernel. VirtualLogix got a push forward in its effort by a funding infusion from Motorola, unveiled on Apr. 21.

The Modular Mobile Phone

Here's how mobile virtualization works. Currently, programmers have to rewrite every application—be it a game, social networking service, or other feature—for each of the various operating systems, including Symbian, Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile, or Google's (GOOG) Android. The tinkering can take months. But virtualization software would enable a mobile-phone maker to add features regardless of the operating system. So Motorola could grab a Web-browsing application written for one system, an e-mail application for another, and calling features designed for a third OS, and elegantly integrate them onto one phone. That could significantly speed up the phone-design process. "It's certainly a difference of months," says Bill Weinberg, an industry analyst at consulting firm LinuxPundit.com.

Virtualization also helps a phone run with fewer chips. Today, mobile phones typically require a combination of a baseband processor, which enables the phone to communicate; an applications processor, responsible for running applications like e-mail; and a multimedia chip, which handles graphics, audio, and video. But a virtualized phone can accomplish all of the above with just one or two processors instead of three. "In terms of the ability to consolidate hardware, there are parallels to servers," says Matt Volckmann, a senior analyst at consultant Venture Development. Open Kernel Labs estimates that handset makers would save $5 to $10 per phone.

Virtualization could also help carriers respond to security challenges that are expected to ensue as networks are thrown open to competing devices and applications.