TI in $100M wireless software outlay

Texas Instruments Inc. on Thursday announced plans to invest $100 million in software developers writing wireless Internet software for its Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP) over the next 12 to 18 months. OMAP is essentially a blueprint--based on TI's digital signal processors (DSPs) and other silicon--for building next-generation cell phones and other wireless devices that will access the Internet.

The ecosystem for the wireless Internet will be created over the next few years, and TI wants to ensure it enjoys a prominent place in it. By seeding the market for OMAP-friendly applications, TI will, the theory goes, have an easier time persuading cell phone manufacturers, among others, to adopt its chips.

Several potential areas of focus for developers include mobile commerce, multimedia, messaging, encryption and interactive gaming.

The program is "wide open," James Wainerdi, TI's OMAP marketing manager, said. "We want to stimulate software development communities to architect...using (OMAP) DSP technology." -- John G. Spooner, ZDNet News