Enables a host of benefits for handset vendors, corporations and mobile phone users.

VMware, Inc., a provider of virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today announced plans to bring virtualization and its benefits to mobile phones through the new VMware Mobile Virtualization Platform. Built on technology acquired from Trango Virtual Processors in October 2008, the company claims that its VMware MVP will help handset vendors reduce development time and get mobile phones with value-added services to market faster. In addition, it says that end users will benefit by being able to run multiple profiles – for example, one for personal use and one for work use – on the same phone.

"VMware is excited to extend the benefits of virtualization, which we pioneered for x86 hardware, to the mobile phone market," said Paul Maritz, president and chief executive officer of VMware. "By abstracting the applications and data from the hardware itself, we expect that virtualization will not only enable handset vendors to accelerate time to market but can also pave the way for innovative applications and services for phone users. We look forward to working closely with our partners to bring new mobile solutions to market faster."

"Gartner sees virtualization in the mobile space as a very promising and potentially a fast emerging market," said Monica Basso, research vice president, at Gartner. "We predict that by 2012, more than 50% of new smart phones shipped will be virtualized1. Virtualization can enable enterprises and consumers to easily manage and secure their phones and it can also help handset vendors reduce bills of materials and shorten development cycles to allow for faster releases."

"There is a rapid and growing demand for virtualization technologies from both the designers and consumers of next-generation mobile devices utilizing the ARM Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 processors," said Eric Schorn, vice president, marketing, processors division, at ARM. "Offering both time to market benefits for system integration and enhanced end-user experiences, we look forward to continuing to work closely with VMware as we enhance our support for virtualization."