Maybe it’s flattering when dozens of companies attempt to take you down.
Per Macworld UK, mobile phone providers O2 and Orange will team with leading mobile phone companies across the world to create a new open application platform that could rival Apple’s iTunes App Store.
The new consortium, will be announced by industry trade body the GSM Association at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona today.
América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KT, mobilkom Austria group, MTN Group, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, Orascom Telecom, Softbank Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, SingTel, SK Telecom, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, VimpelCom, Vodafone and Wind are all involved in the plans.
The group has stated that it wants to create an ecosystem for the development and distribution of mobile and internet applications irrespective of device or technology, uniting a fragmented industry.
Three of the world’s largest device manufacturers – LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson – also support the new initiative.
Ultimately, the group will collectively work with the W3C for a common standard based on a converged solution to ensure developers can create applications that port across mobile device platforms, and in the future between fixed and mobile devices.