LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif., May 15, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The OTA Flash Forum (OTAFF), a special interest group addressing the technical and operational issues facing over-the-air (OTA) management of mobile devices, today announced that it has formalized its structure as an independent, nonprofit organization and has elected Jim Eckels, general manager of Digital Solutions & Accessories at Motorola as the new chairman of the OTA Flash Forum. Gene Wang, CEO of Bitfone and co-founder of the OTA Flash Forum, will remain actively involved in OTAFF as a board member.
Eckels, in his role at Motorola, Inc., leads the software solutions business focused on mobile device management, location services, and software accessories.
"I'm committed to the success of FOTA and other device management technologies and I'm excited about the opportunity to lead OTAFF. The new structure of the OTA Flash Forum will enable the group to grow to the next level and support critical initiatives including usability studies and interoperability workshops to help accelerate industry adoption," said Eckels. "I would like to thank Gene for his exceptional leadership of OTAFF over the past three years. Under Gene's direction, OTAFF has made a significant contribution towards the adoption of these valuable new solutions. I look forward to continuing to work with Gene as a member of the OTAFF board of directors."
"I am thrilled to announce Jim as the new Chairman of OTAFF," said Wang. "I have worked with Jim for several years and have found him to be a vocal evangelist and driver of FOTA and other device management solutions. Jim's energy and passion will insure the continued success of OTAFF."
OTAFF membership has increased rapidly as mobile operators begin to deploy a broad range of device management technologies and now has more than forty members. The OTA Flash Forum encourages participation from all interested parties and membership information is available at its website www.otaflashforum.org.
The next OTA Flash Forum meeting will take place on August 25, 2006, in Beijing. To attend the meeting, interested parties must pre-register by sending email to: ota-flash-forum@bitfone.com. Non-member companies are welcome to attend as "observers".
About OTA Flash Forum
The OTA Flash Forum is an open membership special interest group formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of over-the-air (OTA) software updates for mobile devices and related OTA technologies. The OTA Flash Forum consists of leading carrier, manufacturer and solution provider companies which seek to promote widespread adoption of standards-based OTA update technology and contribute to the evolution of OTA services and applications in support of broader device management strategies. Founding members Bitfone, Gemplus, Motorola, Orange and T-Mobile USA initiated the OTA Flash Forum in June of 2003. For more information, visit www.otaflashforum.org.