China Mobile Launches OPhone 2.0 with WM API Support

Leading wireless carrier China Mobile, the largest in the country and the largest in the world by number of subscribers, has announced on Tuesday the release of a new version of its Android-based OPhone mobile platform, 2.0. There are a great deal of novelties that were included in the new version of the mobile client, it seems, among which one seems to be of great importance, not to mention that is also very unusual: support for Windows Mobile API.

Here's what the press-release notes: China Mobile Ltd. has upgraded its OMS (Open Mobile System) to 2.0 version, which is compatible with technologies such as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), Windows Mobile API, and voice recognition and generation.
OMS is a proprietary smartphone operating system developed by China Mobile using source codes of Google Inc.'s Android platform. It is regarded as a secondary development on the basis of Android. Mobile phones based on OMS are called OPhones.”

It is rather interesting that the carrier decided to include support for Windows Mobile apps within its Android-based operating system, yet it seems that this was the plan right from the beginning. According to Engadget, China Mobile aimed at making Windows Mobile and Symbian applications run on its OMS, though it is rather uncertain how this will be achieved in the end. Either WM apps will run natively on OMS via a compatibility layer, or developers will find it easier to port apps from Microsoft's mobile client to China Mobile's.

According to the wireless carrier, based on the fact that Google has upgraded the Android operating system a few times before, and that the updates will continue, it is also working on keeping its mobile platform up to date. However, the company hasn't said anything about releasing software updates for the handsets that were already launched on the market with the client on board, but mainly focused on the developer side of business.

“Because Android's codes are open to all developers, the R&D team of OMS embedded China Mobile's services like instant messaging and messengers client Fetion into OMS while making changes to Android. The latest version of OMS is able to provide support for the next-generation mobile Internet and communications technologies and stronger and more efficient technology R&D for family services,” the press-release also notes.