The Purple Magic phone developed by Purple Labs is based on NXP Semiconductors Nexperia Cellular System Solution 7210 for 3G and was unveiled last month by the two members of the LiMo Foundation as the first sub-$100 3G Linux mobile phone. The Purple Magic is a 3G Linux reference feature phone offering video telephony, music playback, high-speed Internet browsing and video streaming.

“Essentially, we’ve designed the complete phone – hardware and software – so our manufacturer partners can enter into production quickly, with little investment,” added Wilkinson. “The economics of our Linux-based design make Purple Magic ideal for emerging markets like Southeast Asia, as well as first-time mobile users and prepaid users in any country,”

The Purple Magic phone is being exhibited at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on February 11-14, 2008 at the LiMo Foundation booth (Hall 8 B135) and the NXP booth (Hall 8, B110).