14 DAY TRIAL // VMware announced recently the development of the mobile virtualization platform (MVP), which is meant to offer handset vendors the possibility to allow their users to opt between two different platforms or phone numbers on a single handset. The virtual mobile phone seems to be the next step in the virtualization movement, which already brought us virtual storage, virtual machines and virtual data centers.
According to VMWare chief technology officer Steve Herrod, the new MVP would be able to allow users that normally keep two separate phones (one for home and one for work) to use both of them from the same device.
“The way that I envisage it working would be that IT departments would outline a set of policies and particular software build. In essence, this means that users would be able [to] bring any device into the workplace and the IT team could use that device to include any particular workplace policies. It could even be the case that one device could have multiple operating systems running so that you see Symbian and Android in a single view,” Herrod said.
Vmware managed to come up with the software for MVP after the acquisition of a French company, Trango Software. Herrod stated that the MVP was based on Trango's original work, but also said that a VMware team had been working closely with the original developers for a full-integration of the software into VMware's product line.
For the time being, the software has been showed to vendors, yet it is still uncertain when the final product will become available. At the same time, he also talked about some issues that would still need to be solved, one of them being related to power management. “We've done power management on the desktop but nothing like to the amount we have to do on the mobile phone,” he said.
Other issues need to be looked into as well. According to Julia Austin, senior director for R&D, one problem was the work with carriers. “I think it depends who you're talking to: some welcome the opportunity to simplify the software process, some are more defensive,” she said, also adding that one issue might be the billing.
MVP could prove to be a rather useful application for users who have several SIM cards from different countries' operators. “Think of it as a way of putting a new SIM card into your phone when you change country- without needing a SIM card,” she said.