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| gadgetsandhacks |
The new operating systems are able to transform a mobile phone into a complete multimedia device. Until a short time ago, the selection of a mobile phone was determined by its physical features: Signal reception, camera, size, weight… but, nowadays, the selection of an operating system has become a fundamental thing, especially when choosing a smartphone.
We want to help you have a clearer vision of the general characteristics by listing four key aspects (interface, apps, phones, future) of the seven most used operating systems today.
Android 2.0
* Interface: It is very similar to the Apple one but, at this time, the system seems an OS in an early version, which needs more improvements.
* Apps: More than 65,000 applications and many of them (about 50%) are free.
* Phones: There is a wide variety of mobile phones with Android including Nexus 1, Motorola Milestone, some HTC mobile phones, and some Samsung phones, among others.
* Future: With a continuous growth, it seems that the Android OS will be competing with Symbian to become the world leader in the market segment that don’t use Apple.
Apple OS 3.1
* Interface: Intuitive and easy to use. It has become an important reference for the touch screens adoption in the smartphones market.
* Apps: It offers more than 225,000 applications, which are available in the Apple Store (a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc.)
* Phones: It is used in the iPhone, but it is also used in other gadgets such as the iPod Touch and the iPad.
* Future: A very promising future.
Maemo 5
* Interface: It allows the use of several applications at the same time (multitasking).
* Apps: When compared to other operating systems, this OS has few applications, especially regarding downloadable applications.
* Phones: It is used in the Nokia N900. Also, it is used in other different devices such as the Nokia Internet “tablet”.
* Future: Maemo has teamed with Moblin (Mobile Linux) to create the MeeGo platform.
Palm Web OS
* Interface: Along with the Apple OS, this is the operating system with a more developed and advanced interface and, at the same time, it looks very different to the iPhone interface.
* Apps: It has around 1,500 available applications with a very good performance and quality. They can be downloaded through the Palm App Catalog.
* Future: In spite of its great features, the competition with other platforms is a very difficult thing due to the pretty small market share of Palm. So, the future doesn’t look too bright.
RIM OS V5.0
* Interface: The user interface has the typical appearance of a UI for a “sober” phone without many additional ornaments. Anyway, in general terms, it is still very user-friendly.
* Apps: It has about 6,000 applications, although some of them are a little old.
* Phones: It is an exclusive system for the Blackberry brand.
* Future: Perspectives are good, at least in the immediate future. Blackberry is not precisely a current remarkable star of the market, but its market share is quite stable with few variations.
Symbian ^1 OS
* Interface: Sometimes, there are some necessary steps that are not very user-friendly because they are complex, at least for average (or novice) users.
* Apps: Besides the available applications that can be accessed through Symbian Horizon, the makers of mobile phones have added other apps. For example: Nokia has more than 9,500 apps for Symbian, which are available in the Nokia OVI Store.
* Phones: Several versions of Symbian are present in many mobile phones with different brands (Nokia, Sony, Samsung, etc.) We can say it is a popular operating system.
* Future: Symbian continues being the leader in the market with the bigger market share. However, at this time, its more advanced functions are less used than the advanced functions of the iPhone and Android phones.
Windows Mobile 6.5
* Interface: It still uses a structuring that seems derived from the PCs, instead of looking like an interface that was designed originally to be used in mobile devices.
* Apps: A short while ago, users were allowed to download applications directly to the mobile phones through the MarketPlace.
* Phones: It is used in mobile phones like HTC HD2, Samsung Omnia II, Acer Neo Touch and other phones of different makers.
* Future: Some months ago, Microsoft presented a new version of this OS: Windows Mobile 7 (rebranded as Windows Phone), which has not been officially launched yet. There are some rumors circulating about compatibility issues with the current version.
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