The OMTP tackles mobile device testing

The Open Mobile Terminal Platform today released it’s recommendations for “mobile terminal testing”. This is part of the OMTP drive to make mobile devices more open (imagine my surprise). Todays release is geared towards standardising the actual methods used to test mobile devices and services pre-release.

The Mobile Terminal Testing recommendation document is intended to make automatic testing easier. The idea behind it is to create a set of standards not only for the devices, but for that actual testing process as well. The lack of standardisation at the moment means automatic testing isn’t really possible right now. Many tests are still done manually. But if a set of “functional requirements” were accepted across the board, fully automated remote testing of devices and applications would be possible. And it goes without saying, that would speed up the time to market for products hugely.

From the release:

Tim Raby, OMTP’s managing director said, “Mobile terminal testing is an essential stage in developing successful new products. The fragmented approach to testing to date has meant that it’s over complicated.  The implementation of the OMTP recommendations will ease the process for all parties involved in the testing of devices and services.”

“Having a common set of APIs implemented across different execution environments that enable automated testing but with controlled and secure access can greatly reduce manual testing efforts for both manufacturers and operators” stated Mathias Poeten, Vice President Terminal Integration & Validation, at T-Mobile International.

“Perfecto Mobile believes that implementing the recommendations detailed in the Mobile Terminal Testing document will significantly improve the quality of content and applications that are deployed on mobile devices,” commented Mr Eran Yaniv, CEO of Perfecto Mobile “The clear specification of the functionality-rich testing interface, required by mobile operators as well as testing equipment vendors, will help reduce the ambiguity and fragmentation in the market. Using the recommended interface, robust automated testing solutions, such as that of Perfecto Mobile, can be implemented faster while increasing the depth and breadth of the testing scenarios. This will lead to lower testing costs of new devices and applications, shorter time to market and overall better quality.”

What we think?

While I am in favour of this kind of thing, and I think it’s great that the OMTP is getting involved - do we really need another set of specifications? I know this is only meant to help, but there are so many different services out there that are trying to be the cure to fragmentation that they themselves are becoming utterly fragmented. It’s all very confusing - but with its experience in the Bondi initiative and other open mobile projects, I imagine the OMTP will do more good than harm.