VMware's Dual OS Smartphone Virtualization Plan Firms Up 179
Sharky2009 writes "VMware is developing virtualisation for smartphones which can run any two OSes — Windows Mobile, Android or Linux — at once. The idea is to have your work applications and home applications all running insider their own VMs and running at the same time so you can access any app any time. VMware says: 'We don't think dual booting will be good enough — we'll allow you to run both profiles at the same time and be able to switch between them by clicking a button,' he said. 'You'll be able to get and make calls in either profile – work or home – as they will both be live at any given point in time.'"
Also mentioned in February of this year, but now the company's announced a target of 2012 for mass production.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Interesting)
Supposedly, it's to support the growing trend (seriously?) of companies requiring employees to provide their own phones/PCs/whatever. Virtualization will allow them to run a "work phone" environment on their personal phone. Reported advantage is that it eliminates the need to carry two phones while still firewalling off work data from the "personal phone" environment.
Sounds great, huh?
From this point on.... (Score:1, Interesting)
Who the Frack wants windows on their phone?
The real questions (Score:4, Interesting)
With Microsoft's OS lagging way behind the others in the mobile market, does VMware plan to convince Steve Ballmer that running other companies' OSes side-by-side with Windows Mobile will be a good way to regain market share?
VMware says virtualization can separate personal data and apps from work ones. But if the trend is for smartphone apps to be essentially browser-based, or at least built with Web standards, isn't running a hypervisor and multiple OS instances on a phone the very definition of overkill?
Equally important, if Apple is unwilling to allow even the Flash player onto iPhones, how does VMware figure it's going to convince Apple to run a hypervisor?
Oh wait, the last one is actually easy: VMware's release doesn't even mention Apple. Doesn't mention BlackBerry either. Or Symbian. Funny how this revolutionary, much-in-demand technology specifically excludes the top 85 percent of the smartphone market.
Re:Why? (Score:4, Interesting)
At our company employees do get their own cell phone, company chips in $30 or $60 a month depending on whether they need a data plan (which we cover the cost of) into the first paycheck of the month.
Works extremely well.
I don't really see the point of this in the real world. I could see where this could be useful where we would have 1 phone and test in Windows Mobile and Android on one hardware platform. Outside of that, I see no real value.