Well, ok, the headline’s a bit inaccurate, because Android is effectively a Linux operating system, and technically, so is OS-X on the iPhone. However, another open source player’s set to enter the market in the form of the Access Linux Platform (ALP for short). There are two simple reasons why that’s exciting:
1. It has all the open source-y goodness we’ve come to expect from Android.
2. With Android, many people have the nagging suspicion that Google are sitting and watching everything they do on their phones, to push more adverts at them.
I have to be honest, though, looking at the ALP interface, it really is the absolute spitting image of the T-Mobile G1, although of course, with it being open source, I would imagine that can be changed quite easily. The question is, though, how well will it do against an already existing raft of operating systems, all of which are getting pushed to the high heavens by their developers?
Let’s be honest, the competition is pretty fierce…
First off, you’ve got Android, that’s broken out of the G1 and is going to power a lot more mobile phones, and since it’s open source, this is going to be, very possibly, ALP’s closest rival. You’ve got OS-X, although it’s tied in to just the iPhone, so whether it will pose any threat is harder to work out. However, even without those two relative newcomers, there’s still a massive double-header of operating systems ALP has to contend with. The obvious one is Windows Mobile, which I know a lot of people mither and whinge about, but by crikey, does it get the job done.
And besides, with the bespoke front ends that you see on the likes of the HTC Touch HD and the Toshiba TG01, there’s no reason why Windows Mobile has to be classed as not being user-friendly.
The other big rival is going to be Symbian Foundation, and I reckon it’s the biggest threat ALP will face. Symbian’s already one of the most used and respected operating systems in the world, with the likes of the Nokia N97 taking it to new heights. And that’s before it’s gone all open source, nicking the advantage ALP has over it. When we see full-on Foundation phones appearing (and you know I’m talking about the Sony Ericsson Idou, here), they’re going to be next to unstoppable.
Of course, that’s before you even consider the wildcard that is the Palm Pre, running WebOS, possibly the nicest operating system that’s ever popped up on any mobile phone…
One thing’s for sure. With smartphone interest remaining high, even during an economic hiccup like the one we’re going through now, that sector’s going to become more important in the world of phones. And with that particular battleground being the realm of the big name operating systems, you can bet they’re going to play a part in the evolution of mobile phones in the future.
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April 17th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
[...] you may be asking yourself why this is a good thing. But as I said when a Linux phone interface was unveiled at MWC, you get the huge benefit of it being open source (the same as Android), but [...]