"Purple Labs was originally known for its Linux phone stack,
which was used in several iMode-compatible Grundig phones
distributed by French carrier Bouygues (pronounced "Bweeg"). The
company later offered an interesting Purple Magic design (pictured
above), which used NXP's "Nexperia" hardware reference design and
VirtualLogix VLX to reduce component count, targeting sub-$100
end-user pricing. As far as we know, however, the phone was never
widely distributed.
"Purple Labs pegged its second-half revenue increase to its
acquisition and relaunch of Openwave's mobile browser business.
Purple Labs acquired Openwave's mobile phone software business for
$32 million last June, gaining Openwave's cross-platform browser
and messaging client technologies. Purple Labs had previously
committed to upgrading Openwave's high-end Surfer Browser, as well
as its Mobile Integrated Dynamic Application System (MIDAS) mobile
development kit and function library, which was also part of the
deal."
