The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum has completed the first release of its mobile Linux specification, reports IDG. The group released the first part of the spec back in June, and this second part covers APIs for telephony, messaging, calendaring and scheduling, instant messaging and presence. The LiPS Forum’s spec differs from something like Google’s (NSDQ: GOOG) Android platform in that it isn’t a complete Linux implementation, but rather a tool to create interoperability among different mobile Linux implementations. This means that device makers could use different versions or implementations of mobile Linux on their handsets, but as long as they follow the LiPS spec, applications and services for their devices will be compatible and interoperable with other LiPS-compliant devices.

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The LiPS Forum counts Orange, France Telecom, (NYSE: FTE) ACCESS, MIZI and MontaVista among its members; the LiMO Foundation, founded by Motorola, (NYSE: MOT) NEC, NTT DoCoMo, (NYSE: DCM) Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone, (NYSE: VOD) is working on a similar project. These groups, along with the Open Handset Alliance, are all trying to reduce fragmentation of the mobile Linux market by creating common platforms that will allow compatibility among different hardware vendors’ mobile Linux devices. Reducing fragmentation and cutting the number of different platforms mobile developers must support is seen as a crucial step for the success of the mobile Linux market—but for many developers, even three separate mobile Linux environments could still be two too many.