Qualcomm has finally announced Linux support for the MSM6550 chipset, this being the first time the company announces products compatible with operating systems developed by third party producers.

The integrated single-chip Mobile Station Modem (MSM) 6550 solution will improve the efficiency of the Linux version by eliminating the need for separate co-processor. It seems the design of the single-chip will reduce the complexity and costs associated with the multi-chip implementations.

By announcing this Linux on MSM solution, Qualcomm endorses partners that want to extend their applications and hardware solutions into the Linux area and towards applications developed by third party producers. These are some of the aspirations of Sanjay K. Jha, president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, for the new chipset.

The MSM6550 model represents only the beginning of a series of solutions that will support Linux. This model was generated by the producers' trend to launch more and more cell phones compatible with this operating system, the first company that adopted such a solution being Motorola.

One of the main promoters of adopting Linux for cell phones is Trolltech, which already has a wide experience in implementing these distributions into mobile devices. Trolltech is expecting that in the following period several producers of mobile solutions will launch solutions compatible with the open-source operating system. The latest version of the Linux mobile version is Mobilinux 4.0.