Baidu prepares mobile operating system

Baidu, China’s largest online search company, took the first step towards launching a mobile operating system as it seeks to extend its dominant position in the Chinese market to the growing mobile phone segment. The company announced a software platform, Baidu Yi (meaning ‘easy’), which allows consumers fast and easy use of search-related functions on mobile devices. The current version of the system is based on Google’s Android open source software, but “it is possible that we [will] launch our own operating system in the future,” said Wang Jing, vice-president.