VMworld: Mobile operators offer first handsets with virtualisation

COPENHAGEN: Verizon Wireless in the US and Telefónica in Europe have announced support for VMware's Horizon Mobile technology, which lets companies deploy and manage a self-contained corporate workspace onto an employee's smartphone.

Announced at VMworld Europe, Verizon is to support the technology on LG handsets, while Telefónica said it will offer the Samsung Galaxy SII tested and ready for use with Horizon Mobile.

The technology is based on VMware's Mobile Virtualisation Platform (MVP), which currently runs only on Android-based smartphones. It creates a virtual phone that is controlled by the IT department, with Horizon Mobile adding the management and provisioning tools.

VMware demonstrated Horizon Mobile during the first day keynote session at VMworld, with vice president of End User Computing Vittorio Viarengo showing how the virtual phone can be provisioned simply by sending the end user an SMS text that initiates the process.

The corporate phone looks just like any application icon to the user, but contains all the user's business applications and data, managed via VMware's Horizon Application Manager, which lets administrators set policies controlling the virtual phone and allowing them to wipe it if a user leaves the company.

Telefónica is the parent company of O2 in the UK, but did not specify when and in which territories it will make Horizon Mobile available. In the US, Verizon said the technology will be available "in the coming months".

VMware has previously stated it intends to extend Horizon Mobile to other platforms, but has declined to offer a timeframe.