VMware, a company that specialises in virtualisation technology, has debuted new software that could lead to a new generation of virtual mobile phones.

At the VMworld Europe 2009 conference in Cannes this week, the company ran a live demonstration of its new Mobile Virtualisation Platform (MVP) on a Nokia N800 smartphone. MVP is a piece of software that allows a handset to run two separate operating systems side-by-side simultaneously.

Essentially, it allows mobile phone users to run multiple profiles for business use, personal applications and more - all on one handset. Speaking at VMworld, Steve Herrod - VMware's chief technology officer - spoke about his ambitions for the software. He said: "The way that I envisage it working would be that IT departments would outline a set of policies and particular software build. In essence, this means that users would be able bring any device into the workplace and the IT team could use that device to include any particular workplace policies. "It could even be the case that one device could have multiple operating systems running so that you see Symbian and Android in a single view."

First announced in November 2008, VMware could have significant implications for the smartphone market, a sector of the mobile phone industry that has been widely predicted to weather the current economic downturn. Currently, for instance, Google's Android operating system only runs on the T-Mobile G1, though upcoming Android releases are slated for 2009. However, on a handset with MVP, Android could run side-by-side with the Nokia-owned Symbian operating system.

In addition to allowing users to switch profiles without switching SIM cards, MVP would also allow developers to create "virtual appliances" that could run on any handset, regardless of its operating system. However, Herrod warned that VMware had a few issues to tackle within the software, including power management.