The open-source software Linux help Motorola, Samsung, NEC and Panasonic manufactured mobile phones that can sell for less than 125 dollars (about 95 euros), while enabling the rapid launch of new services.

The collaboration is an attempt to save money on the purchase of software for multimedia phones, including Symbian Series 60 or Microsoft Windows Mobile.

The U.S. company, the South Korean Samsung and the Japanese NEC and Panasonic - owned by Matsushita - teamed up last year with operators Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo to develop standard software for Linux mobile phones.

These suppliers produce more than 95% of all mobile Linux that are manufactured today. Most mobile phones that use Symbian and Windows programs cost more than 200 dollars (about 152 euros).

These vendors sell hundreds of millions of mobiles each year, enough to support a new operating system like Linux that allows them to put new applications in a fraction of the time.