Beceem Communications, D2 Technologies and ECS have formed an alliance to build a VoIP smartphone based on Google’s Android operating system. The smartphone will support WiMAX as well as other IP communication technologies.

Technically the smartphone will make use of D2’s mCUE™ converged communications client with vPort embedded VoIP engine powering the ECS T371 mobile device, based on the OMAP-3430 processor from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI), paired with Beceem’s BCSM250 WiMAX modem.

“With the industry actively working toward the creation and delivery of a WiMAX infrastructure, manufacturers will need to develop mobile devices that take advantage of the greater bandwidth, range and other benefits of this technology,” said Doug Makishima, chief operating officer at D2 Technologies. “Together with Beceem and ECS, we’ve shown how a complete ecosystem dedicated to mobile VoIP over WiMAX can help device manufacturers and unified communications/VoIP providers get new products to market more quickly, efficiently and effectively.”

“Beceem has been the market and product leader in WiMAX since first devices shipped, and we are excited to continue to push the envelope of what is possible in 4G by having a mobile VoIP solution available for Android devices,” said Lars Johnsson, VP of marketing & business development at Beceem. “We have worked closely with D2 to integrate our market leading BCSM250 Mobile WiMAX chip into TI’s OMAP™ processor, using the Zoom II MDP running Android and are excited to see how our collaboration with ECS has enabled this one-of-a-kind 4G phone.”