Motorola lifted the curtain on its next generation mobile Linux platform this week, paving the way for further adoption of the operating system throughout its handset portfolio.

Building on the vendor’s heritage in Linux-based platforms, MotoMAGX lays the foundation for up to 60 per cent of Motorola’s handset portfolio to be based on Linux. But it remains to be seen whether this will be enough to turn the beleaguered company around.

To date, Motorola has sold more than 9 million Linux-based handsets worldwide and the first products based on the MotoMAGX platform are the music-optimised ROKR Z6 and the RAZR2 V8.

Pitching to the developer community, Motorola said its MotoMAGX platform is designed to support a broad array of content created by third-party developers.

Today, the platform supports Java ME, with plans to introduce new widgets and Web 2.0 experiences, as well as native Linux application environments in upcoming releases.

“At Motorola, we know that software is just as important as hardware – through the introduction of our MotoMAGX platform, we are reinforcing our firm commitment to Linux and empowering our developer community to innovate with us in exciting new ways,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president, platform technology, Motorola Mobile Devices business.