REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - April 14, 2010) - Funambol, the leading provider of open source mobile cloud sync and push email for billions of devices, today announced the availability of the world's first open source mobile device management solution for leading 4G devices. Funambol developed the open source solution in collaboration with leading 4G mobile broadband provider Clearwire. The solution, consisting of both mobile client and server software, performs over-the-air (OTA) management of devices connected to a 4G network, including bootstrap, provisioning, diagnostics and updates. The software is intended to help device OEMs speed their time to market and increase the number of 4G devices for customers.
Clearwire provides super fast mobile broadband service based on 4G WiMAX technology. 4G networks present unique challenges versus 3G networks, and most device management software does not yet support it. With the new Funambol-Clearwire mobile device management solution, user devices can be automatically provisioned, diagnosed and updated over-the-air. The service supports virtually all mobile devices and saves users time while offering increased ease-of-use and improved quality of service. In addition, the software supports multiple network profiles, allowing easy configuration of roaming on different networks that support different technologies.
"Finding an open source solution was one of our top priorities as we evaluated device management options," said Peter Cannistra, Vice President, Embedded Devices for Clearwire. "We needed the customizability and broad device compatibility that only open source provides. Our collaboration with Funambol has produced a device management solution that offers more choices for users who will discover that Clearwire's 4G network is easier to use than ever on a broad range of devices."
Clearwire has long been committed to open source and offers the most open mobile broadband network available. The new device management solution is being made available to OEMs and a worldwide developer community, expanding the WiMAX device ecosystem and making it easier for OEMs to make new WiMAX devices. Customers will soon have more WiMAX devices to choose from than ever before.
The open source device management software for WiMAX is the first of its kind and was developed through a collaboration between Clearwire and Funambol. Open source offers several benefits over proprietary solutions. The source code enables the solution to be fully customized for customer devices and needs. Thanks to a worldwide developer community, open source offers the broadest device compatibility and can be quickly adapted to support new devices as they hit the market. Open source is also a cost-friendly alternative to proprietary solutions.
"Device management is more important because people are using more mobile devices, and technologies like 4G are speeding consumption of rich content," said Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol CEO. "As 4G networks become mainstream, many mobile companies will follow Clearwire's lead and adopt this solution."
The open source solution can be downloaded from the Funambol forge at http://www.funambol.org. Funambol also offers an enhanced version which includes additional premium capabilities, professional services and technical support. For more information, contact Funambol at http://www.funambol.com/contact/contactsales.php.
More information about the Clearwire Software Development Program for third-party developers, Clearwire partners, as well as device manufacturers and network provisioning component providers, is available at http://developer.clear.com/. Here developers can learn more about 4G network services and obtain the latest information on Clearwire platforms, APIs, and device and network requirements.
About Funambol
Funambol is the leading provider of mobile open source cloud sync and push email for billions of phones. Funambol open source software has been downloaded over three million times by 50,000 developers in 200 countries. The commercial version of Funambol has been deployed by the largest device manufacturers, mobile operators, portals, service providers and ISVs in the world, including AOL, 1&1, EarthLink and CA, Inc. Funambol is headquartered in Redwood City, California with R&D in Europe. For more information, please visit http://www.funambol.com. You can also follow Funambol on Twitter at http://twitter.com/funambol.
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