Softbank Mobile said it will “adopt new software that will make it easier for different manufacturers to make mobile phones for its network” reports Dow Jones via Cellular News. Softbank will adopt the Portable Open Platform Initiative (POP-i) which it claims will speed the development of new handsets by providing a common software interface. I’m pretty sure Softbank is the first operator to adopt the POP-i platform, which is from the Khronos Group and provides multimedia platforms for mobiles. (release)