I guess virtualization is all the rage this week. Now VMware, one of the leading firms in PC and server virtualization, has announced their VMware Mobile Virtualization Platform (MVP) that promises the ability to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single handset.

OK, I get that, and it sounds like fun, but as-is would probably represent too much complexity for your average user. On the other hand, the press release notes that MVP is a clever way to implement one of my favorite functions, which I have long called the virtual cell phone. This is along the lines of the dual-persona features now being implemented by some convergence and mobile unified communications vendors, but implemented as two (or even more) entirely isolated phone instantiations in a single physical handset. VMware advertises MVP as a way to isolate the personal and business functions (and respective data) of a single handset, and such could work, especially if augmented by the carriers allowing multiple phone numbers to be mapped to a single device. That may not happen anytime soon, but MVP might be valuable here nonetheless.

As I noted above, I think the success of such a direction will depend upon the amount of complexity involved. Support costs could be negatively affected, and consumers hate to learn anything new unless they really have to. For now, then, this is a development worth keeping one's eye on, and we'll regardless have to see what the notoriously cost-sensitive handset manufacturers want to make of this concept going forward.