Phone’s aren’t like computers so you can’t install a different operating system (OS) if you don’t like the one that came preloaded. A mobile OS reflects your lifestyle because it determines the choice of apps and phone functionality.
The mobile market is fragmented between the following software platforms: Palm OS (and newer webOS), BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android, and iPhone OS. Android, Palm webOS, and iPhone OS are frequently updated with new software features, followed by BlackBerry and Windows Mobile updates. Symbian is updated irregularly and installing the latest update is a bit clunky.
Windows Mobile has ascended from the PDA era and some PDA-like UI aspects still show in Windows Phones. Microsoft recently updated Windows Mobile 6.1 to version 6.5, calling a device that runs Windows Mobile 6.5 a “Windows Phone”. Windows Mobile 6.5 includes a revamped appearance, the new lock screen that lets you jump right into a specific alert (missed calls, messages, email, etc), an app store called Windows Marketplace, an improved browser based on IE6 rendering engine, and a free wireless phone backup and restore service called MyPhone. It’s designed to keep Microsoft in the game until a major Windows Mobile 7 upgrade arrives in 2010, packing in a complete UI overhaul and iPhone-esque features, including multi-touch.
Windows Phones come preloaded with Microsoft’s Pocket Word and Pocket Excel apps that allow you to edit office documents without conversion. Pocket Outlook handles your email, calendar, and tasks. Windows Phones sync with corporate Windows environments without a glitch thanks to Microsoft’s ActiveSync solution.
RIM’s BlackBerry OS has the most reliable email so BlackBerry phones are considered the best email machines. It supports up to 10 private or corporate email accounts and instantly pushes messages to your phone via RIM’s efficient servers. The OS also has the app store called BlackBerry App World, a reliable browser, cool maps app, and comprehensive media features. BlackBerry OS is menu-driven and relies on a trackball or trackpad, but it also supports touch on devices like the Storm. The OS integrates with Facebook (photo uploads, profile pics, and more) and has an intelligent keyboard software called SureType that, RIM fans say, turns average BlackBerry users into typing machines.
Symbian was Nokia’s proprietary operating system until the phone giant decided to open-source it. It’s now maintained and developed by an independent organization called Symbian Foundation. Symbian is mostly found on Sony Ericsson and Nokia devices. It’s strongly focused on the phone functionality – like quick dialing, voice control, texting, taking pictures, sharing items over Bluetooth, etc. – but also has some PDA features and thousands of third-party apps.
The iPhone OS features the largest mobile store in the world (nearly 100,000 apps currently), superb multimedia capabilities, great software iPod, the best mobile browser, and a responsive, easy-to-use UI based on icons and animations. Enterprise features include a built-in Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for push email, contact, and calendar, the support for secure VPN connections and Cisco routers, remote wipe, administrator and deployment tools, etc. Apple’s $99-a-year MobileMe service enables private email, calendar, and contact on the push basis, in addition to online storage, web galleries, and the ability to locate, lock, and wipe your lost or stolen device remotely, via the web interface.
Analyst firm Gartner says that Google’s Android will overtake the iPhone OS by 2012. The number of Android devices is expanding rapidly, and includes phones from HTC, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson. Google is adding new features to Android at a rapid pace, providing device vendors with the OS code on an open-source basis so they can make it their own. Android is Linux based so it scales from basic phones, to fully-featured smartphones, to netbooks. It also has it’s own app store with over a thousand apps, including Google Voice. Google doesn’t screen apps and its partner Verizon allows VoIP and telephony programs on its network. Android’s UI lacks the iPhone’s polish, but it’s equally efficient. Android’s full HTML browser is based on the same WebKit rendering engine like the iPhone’s Safari. Android is tightly integrated with Google services, enabling you to sync Google contacts, calendars, and email out-of-the-box. There’s also the YouTube app, cool maps program with Google’s Street View and directions, and a music player paired with the Amazon MP3 store, allowing you to wirelessly purchase songs. Unlike the iPhone, Android supports background processes so you can run many apps at the same time. As you’d expect from Google, Android’s killer feature is the efficient search engine that finds matching queries on your phone and the web, including search suggestions from both the web and third-party apps. Android falls behind the iPhone OS in multi-touch gestures, games, and enterprise features, but Google promised to fix them all in Android 2.0, scheduled for the years’s end.
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