Startup brings new OS in embedded arena

步从容

Job and Esther Technologies (J&E), a startup with offices in Finland and the Philippines, is offering an alternative embedded operating system called Igelle. The OS comes in garbs most suitable for the application at hand. And that, according to Markku Kero, founder and CEO, is the unique selling point of the product. An OS for desktop computers, mobile devices, embedded systems and server computers, Igelle provides a wide range of customizable software packages and applications to adapt to different environments and end-user requirements. EE Times-Asia talked to Kero on the company's strategies and plans for the Igelle OS. EE Times Asia: How did you conceive the idea of J&E Technologies?
Kero: Originally it's really all driven by the technology. The thing is, I've been involved in the industry of mobile applications for so many years now, and I've seen all the different operating systems, platforms and programming toolkits that have come and gone, and for the longest time I just could not understand how nobody seems to be able to "get it right." There were things that just could not be done from the perspective of an application developer, so I ended up considering the option of making a completely new operating system. I was fortunate to be able to experiment with different ways of making an operating system, and as a result we were able to release some initial testing versions of Igelle to the community and see them received with great enthusiasm. The feedback was just absolutely amazing. When the community understood what we had come to understand, that there was indeed a better way to make an operating system, we knew we had started something special. What need do you see in the market for yet another OS? What's unique to Igelle?
There is no other OS in the market that can adapt to different devices and use cases like Igelle does. There are many OS that have been designed for a particular use case and device and then, as they were able to achieve success in that, the makers have made it "evolve" into other hardware configurations and usage scenarios in order to grow the business. This way, we have these OS that were designed for mobile phones but that are being installed on netbooks and those that were designed for desktop computers but being stuffed on mobile phones. For me, I understand how this makes good business for the makers; but technically it's just not good. What is unique with Igelle is that it was designed in the first place to be an OS that can be adapted to different devices with different features, and be able to provide the functionality in an optimal manner. No one else is doing this. What major applications are you targeting?
We are currently offering Igelle in four different "series" that each address to different segments of potential usage scenarios. We have the D-Series for desktop computers, M-Series for mobile devices and phones, S-Series for server systems and E-Series for embedded devices. We offer general purpose offerings in all the series, and we also provide our professional services to customize and tailor the OS to specific niche use cases. We are very excited to offer Igelle in this manner to the many industries needing advanced operating system features such as the automotive industry, home electronics, entertainment, mobile devices and the computer/laptop industry, just to name a few. What geographical markets currently look the most promising to you?
We do not at all wish to limit ourselves in terms of geography, since clearly our market and customers are global. That having been said, currently we are of course very excited to introduce and present our products in China, as we acknowledge the central role that China plays in the manufacturing and design of advanced electronics.

Why did you locate J&E operations in the Philippines?
Job and Esther Technologies is a global operation and we currently maintain a presence in both Finland and the Philippines. This is of course natural for me, being Finnish and having lived in the Philippines for many years. True enough, Philippines is not yet well known for software companies, but there are a lot of brilliant, creative, and hardworking people there. What we look for at Job and Esther Technologies is people who are responsible and hardworking, and that are able and willing to learn, adapt and be taught. So far the Philippines has been a fantastic place to do this.
What are the main challenges you faced during the early days of your startup? How did you overcome them?
It's always hard to start up from nothing. With a new startup, you often end up being personally involved in everything. Until you have the proper people in place, you need to take care of the legal department, marketing, sales, product development, IT support, HR, you name it. Actually I have been blessed enough that in the beginning I have been able to divide these roles between myself and my wife, who is also my partner. It's still been tough of course, as most entrepreneurs will probably tell you, but in times of challenges we've always kept going in the faith that this is what we've been called to do right now. And true enough, in the end things have always fallen into place at just the right times, and as the team has developed and we've received encouraging feedback from the product, we've seen the fruits of our hard work come to life. How did the recent economic recession impact you?
Our main focus in the past has been mostly on developing the product, so we've been privileged enough to have been somewhat shielded from the turmoil that probably has surrounded others. It has been a bad year because of the recession though, and many people in other companies have lost their jobs, so hopefully things are getting back on track, and hopefully we as a company can be a part of the solution by providing jobs and encouraging the economy. What are your technology and business strategies for 2010?
What we want to do first and foremost is to make sure that everyone will be aware of what Igelle is, what it can do, and how Job and Esther Technologies will be able to assist it's customers in building better and more efficient software-enabled products. Throughout 2010, we will be deploying Igelle on all kinds of devices performing many kinds of different tasks. We will be introducing several editions of Igelle to the market. There will be development tools and software development kits made available for developers, and manuals and tutorials to support them. We will be working with our partners, suppliers and customers to produce the absolutely best software solutions possible. - EE Times-Asia