Vodafone in "JIL" team up with China Mobile and Softbank

Joint Innovation Lab to launch

24 April 2008 10:16 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

China Mobile, Japanese giant Softbank and Vodafone have agreed to establish a Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) to "promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services".

The three companies have stated they expect the initiative will help to "accelerate the commercial deployment of mobile internet services".

The JIL will be a "platform to develop mobile services and drive innovation and synergy in the industry to the benefit of their combined global customer base".

The JIL will focus on areas of mobile internet services, such as mobile "widgets" and plans to develop a platform for such applications to encourage the development of innovative new services.

This platform will mean that different widgets and applications will be able to run "seamlessly" on different handset platforms and operating systems across different mobile operators.

The establishment of the JIL and completion is subject to regulatory approvals and certain customary closing conditions.

Full tags

Phones, Biz, Mobile phone industry, Vodafone, China Mobile, Softbank