The introduction of virtualization platforms on mobile devices has been advocated by vanguards like VirtualLogix, Trango, Open Kernel and SYSGO since few years. But unless a few conditions happen it’s unlikely that the technology will become as popular as inside the data centers.
The first condition is having a concrete reason to bring virtualization on mobile devices.
The second, mandatory one is having a mobile device enough powerful and usable to make really useful a virtual machine.
The third one is having a major virtualization player that announce the plan to go mobile.
A good reason to bring virtualization on mobile devices could be the need to have the home or corporate desktop available anywhere.
The VDI startup Desktone made the first step, signing an agreement with Verizon, one of the biggest US phone carrier, and VMware may do the rest with the OnDemand streaming technology that it’s developing since a while.
It’s easy to imagine the popularity that virtual desktop streamed on mobile devices could have among business users.
The just announced iPhone 3G (and the horde of competitors that will come) may be powerful and friendly enough to run virtual machines.
The last problem is which major platform will be the first to land on phones. It may be KVM.
LinuxPlanet published an article by Dor Laor, Software Director at Qumranet, where says that the virtualization platform is ready for embedded devices.
It’s probably the first time that a major virtualization vendor clearly states its intention to go on mobile and may mean that the time for embedded and mobile virtualization is coming.