Red Bend Software and Trolltech announced they have formed a partnership to bring over-the-air software component management to Linux mobile phones that use Trolltech's Qtopia application platform.

Mobile phones have become sophisticated communications and multi-media devices. As functionality increases, so too does the amount of software inside mobile phones. Operators, manufacturers and software developers need the flexibility and control to update, add, change and remove any software component inside the mobile phone at any point during the device's lifetime.

To meet this growing need, Red Bend and Trolltech have integrated Red Bend's vRapid Mobile solution for software component management into Trolltech's Qtopia application platform. The joint solution has been implemented and tested on Qtopia-based handsets, including Trolltech's Qtopia Greenphone. It showcases how the software assets in Qtopia-based mobile phones can be customized for different consumer segments, creating new revenue opportunities in delivering software features, applications and services easily and securely over-the-air.

"With the addition of Red Bend's vRapid Mobile in Qtopia, Trolltech customers will gain unprecedented ability to manage core software and features on-demand," said Benoit Schillings, Trolltech CTO. "In addition, the broad community of software vendors that provide middleware and applications to Qtopia will be able to update or add software to phones already in the hands of consumers, increasing their competitiveness, improving time to market, and expanding the addressable market for their software products."

Red Bend's vRapid Mobile solution will become part of Trolltech's Qtopia Greensuite initiative. Built on top of Qtopia Phone Edition, the Qtopia Greensuite initiative offers pre-integrated market leading partner components on top of Qtopia Phone Edition.

With Red Bend's vRapid Mobile, operators can instantly deliver new revenue-generating services to their entire subscriber base, without waiting for new handsets to become available. Manufacturers can provide consumers with the ability to personalize the core functions of their phones to match their lifestyles. Software developers can reduce time-to-market for deploying new features and versions of their Qtopia-based applications.

"Our partnership with Trolltech enables us to extend the benefits of software component management to the many manufacturers, operators and developers that use Qtopia," said Morten Grauballe, EVP of Marketing for Red Bend Software. "Red Bend's vRapid Mobile delivers a comprehensive approach to software management on any mobile platform, including Linux, by providing greater control over applications, services and embedded software."