Intel's Wind River, VIA Telecom Unveil Kunlun Platform For Android Handheld Devices
Kunlun will combine the Wind River platform for Android with VIA Telecom's EVDO Rev. A and 1xRTT modem and telephony software, as well as its print circuit board assembly. Wind River says Kunlun will allow Chinese regional OEMs to meet their network operator requirements and bring Android devices to market quickly.
"Working closely with VIA Telecom, Wind River is able to help OEMs gain quick entry into the lucrative Chinese mobile market by delivering high-quality and low-cost Android devices certified on Chinese operator networks," Michael Krutz, vice president of worldwide solutions and services at Wind River, said in a statement. "Kunlun is a reliable turnkey software and hardware Android platform that allows OEMs to bypass complex, expensive and time-consuming engineering hurdles such as integration and testing and focus their efforts on the features that will help them differentiate themselves from competitors."
Intel acquired Wind River in June in order to expand its portfolio in the mobile space. Wind River develops operating systems, middleware and software design tools for embedded computing systems. Its main products include VxWorks, a proprietary real-time operating system, and Linux software for embedded applications.
"Our work with Wind River allows us to now deliver Android to our large customer base by providing a powerful yet affordable integrated solution to help regional OEMs get their Android devices to market quickly," said Dr. Ker Zhang, chief executive officer of VIA Telecom, in a statement. "It was critical to find a partner who had the expertise to smoothly integrate the many complex elements from each contributor and possessed knowledge of Chinese operator and Android requirements. Wind River seemed the obvious choice."
Wind River and VIA Telecom say the Kunlun common PCBA platform can be adapted to devices designed for other markets, as Android handsets support GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as camera, keyboard, touchpad and microSD options.
Wind River's Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) can be customized to support a variety of architectures and devices from a variety of manufacturers and operators running the Android platform, the companies said in the statement.
In addition to testing, Wind River provided the overall system integration and optimization for Kunlun validating the Android devices' software and establishing their compliance with the Android Compatibility Test Suite.
If successful, it's possible that the joint Kunlun platform could leverage Android devices in markets beyond China in the future.