The project, Webinos, has a €10 million grant from the European Commission and it backed by companies including Deutsche Telekom, Telcom Italia, BMW Research and Technology, Sony Ericsson and Samsung Electronics. It will be led by the Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS.
At present, mobile phones are stuck firmly in the ruts of proprietary standards, which means they have limited ability to interoperate. Webinos will develop an open source platform and software components that will allow cross-platform use of services and technologies that can be operated on multiple screens.
The standardised, interoperable technology will allow software designers from across the industry to create web applications and services that can be used and shared over a broad spectrum of converged and connected devices, regardless of hardware and operating systems.
The project is supported by W3C, the international Internet standards body, which will ensure that the reference platform is consistent with current and emerging standards.
“The vision is to create a universal application platform that enables the use of web applications consistently and securely across all Internet-enabled screens, including mobile, PC, TV and in-car entertainment units,” said Stephan Steglich, who will lead the project at the Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS.
“We want to overcome restrictions applied by proprietary and vendor-specific technologies, enabling the rapid design of more personalised, secure, and innovative applications,” said Steglich.
The consortium also expects the new technology to encourage collaboration between companies, developers, operators, and manufacturers. The new technology will eliminate some of the economic barriers associated with developing mobile internet platforms, allowing companies to develop new business models and re-evaluate their strategic position within the mobile multimedia market.
For more information, visit: http://www.webinos.org
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