Used iphone under a palm tree where I met android and formed a symbian relationship with a blackberry
October 29, 2010 5 Comments
Image via Wikipedia
“Wisdom knows what to do next, skill knows how to do it, and virtue is doing it.”
David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) Eugenicist, Ichthyologist and peace activist
Forgive me for the long winded and confusing title. Well, it was deliberate, as I wanted to create a title that reflected the confusion that most people face when they purchase a phone. Well, we don’t purchase phones anymore, do we really? We are sold features that most of us never use by the clever marketing departments of both the phone manufacturers’ and the mobile operators.
Additionally, most of you out there by now must be totally confused by all the different mobile phones (Hardware) and their operating systems (OS) (Software). Now, before I go into my short story of selecting an appropriate mobile (or is it a Smartphone now?). I would like to explain, in layman’s terms, for the uninitiated, what the hell, I am on about.
Well, in a galaxy, many lights year away from our humble abode and before Star Trek hit our screens, we, as earthlings, were managing quite well, with, err, telephones. Yes, that’s right, that piece of plastic that is still sat in the corner of some homes and occasionally goes, tring, tring or is it bing, bing (maybe Microsoft have bought the rights for the old plastic phones now aswell).
Anyway, these evolved into phones that we could carry around and then started to be called ‘mobile telephones’ or ‘mobiles’ (Americans had to be awkward and called them ‘cellular phones’ or ‘cells’). Currently, though, we don’t use them for phones anymore. They have become ubiquitous with carrying a ‘pocket computer.’ Now, there are five OS’s these ‘Smartphones’ use.
Symbian – Used by various manufacturers, based on ‘open source’ software and founded by Nokia, Sony Ericsson, NTT DoCoMo, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Vodafone, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics and AT&T
Android – Used by many manufaturers’ and is Google’s attempt at creating a mobile phone OS, based on ‘open source’ software.
Iphone OS Used by Apple Iphones, based on Apple’s proprietary OS.
Palm WebOS – Palm, based on Palm’s proprietary OS, was recently acquired by HP and they have been busy creating the Palm WebOS.
Windows Phone 7 – Microsoft’s proprietary OS and the re-incarnation of Windows Mobile, used by various manufacturers’
Blackberry OS6 – Used by Research In Motion (RIM) on all their proprietary Blackberry phones with their latest OS6 platform and new Blackberry Torch models and others.
So, you can already see the direction that my blogpost is heading towards now. You can select many smartphones (hardware) but they can arrive with many different mobile OS’s (Software).
Selecting the phone, was quite an easy decision for me, as all I had to do was find the phone that could, ‘beam me up, scotty.’ Naturally, I was disappointed when I found out that in this technological era and with all that competition between hardware/software providers, my key criteria of being teleportated across galaxies couldn’t be met.
As I still needed a Smartphone and my provider could supply all of the above, a decision had to be made. I was already a customer approaching the end of my 18 month contract. I didn’t really want Symbian, as in the past whenever I have tried ‘syncronising‘ my Outlook, contacts etc, using Symbian, it has always, quite successfully deleted or amended my most important information and subsequent ‘syncs’ were painful.
Okay, I will admit that I did want to buy the IPhone but I just couldn’t see the logic of contributing a sum of money towards it and paying approx £20 more per month, just for the privilege of owning a proprietary phone. Especially, as other phones can do the same now and more. Yes, I know, there are 300, 000 applications out there for the Iphone. However, I don’t think, I need that many and I will probably be dead by the time I went through the entire list, anyway.
That leaves the Palm WebOS, Windows Phone 7 and RIM phones. No one in my circle of friends, so far has mentioned HP’s re-incarnation of Palm, however, I will admit that many years ago, I was absolutely fascinated by the Palm devices and my past fascination in today’s fast paced technological world, just wasn’t enough to even justify it. As you can see, my selection criterion wasn’t very logical, but, hey, it’s my life and my choice, so I can select according to whatever criteria, I see fit.
Now, then, finally, we have Windows Phone 7 and RIM’s blackberry. Windows 7 wasn’t launched when I bought my handset in early October as the release date for Windows Mobile 7 was 21st October 2010. That said, Microsoft is renown for ‘bugs’ in its early days, so probably best to buy Windows 7 phones, after at least a year, anyway.
Even though, I still think, Blackberry are the best phones for email, I wanted more than just email, so Blackberry was also eliminated.
Yep, as you can guess by now, I settled on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 phone powered by Google’s Android OS. An additional reason for my selection was that Google now powers my personal (Via igoogle, web browsing history etc) and business life (IT system), so it made sense. I won’t launch a review of the X10, suffice to say that I am happy with it, so far and it takes nice photos.
For more information, please read:
Android Beats Apple–In One Small Corner of the Mobile Ad Market
Apple Has $51 Billion and a Shopping List. Is Facebook on It?
Jobs on Android: The Fight Isn’t Closed Vs. Open, but Integrated Vs. Fragmented
Get smart: What makes a clever phone?
Comparison of Android vs iPhone vs Nokia vs BlackBerry vs Windows Mobile 7
iPhone vs Android vs webOs vs Blackberry vs Windows Mobile vs Symbian
Ultimate Mobile OS Showdown: iPhone vs Android vs webOs vs Blackberry vs Windows Mobile vs Symbian
Palm WebOS 2.0: Now This Is Multitasking
Enterprise Java: Oracle’s real reason for suing Google?
Related Articles
- “Rogers to Start Selling the Samsung Captivate on October 25” and related posts (mobiletopsoft.com)
- Adobe bringing Flash Player 10.1 to BlackBerry, Symbian (electronista.com)
- Symbian OS Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed? (wired.com)
- Spotify sees a future with HP’s Palm, launches on webOS (eu.techcrunch.com)
- “Microsoft Not to Make Windows Phone 7 Tablets?” and related posts (mobiletopsoft.com)
About mubbisherahmed
Engaged IT for the CIO 
Roger Green added the following view on a social media site:
It’s worth noting that Android, Chrome and WebOS are all based on Linux kernels (basically a non-commercial version of Unix) and that Iphone OS is based on BSD Unix, and QNX the new OS from Blackberry is also a variant of Unix. So are we really seeing a proliferation of OSes or a major trend to use Unix/Linux as the new standard?
I replied:
Roger, I think the problem we are starting to see is that in the server market, the open source movement has done quite well as many companies have got together and worked to improve common code, that hasn’t happened in the mobile arena. Everyone of these variations is working towards ‘knocking’ the other one off the edge.
If even a few of these ‘major players’ got together and worked together towards improving some common code, as the ‘Symbian’ consortium of hardware providers once did, we could actually move towards a day where there maybe less variants of similar code but mobile hardware and software that worked better than ever before.
I would be interested in your views on the above, so please do continue with more of your contribution…
Long Han said the following in a social media discussion on this topic:
I think the left ones must be open or can help the developers succeed that can feed a community.
Matthew Burden added:
There are quite a few … are you looking to predict some winners in order to develop some applications without having to chase the systems at some significant cost ? Or is it just general interest?
Andy Jenner added further:
Probably not, but I would be equally opposed to a single product dominating a market. Such a situation stifles development whether that be in the software or hardware market. Personally I would always give preference to supporting Open Source systems or at least market places where the developer tools and application distribution methods didn’t lock the developer into the whim of the manufacturer. But then I run Linux on my PCs at home and even installed “RockBox” on my portable iRiver media player. For this reason Android would be my preferred platform.
Henry Ubik replied:
I believe in the next 12 months there will be a shakeout & a convergence. It may be a few 1 or 2 but again there will in the end be 3 or 4. Much of what will survive will & can have several influences. It may be the HMI, it may be something as simple as memory expansion, it may be the Auto-Phone interface. At the end of it all is the sheer number
I then said:
Interesting debate and Matthew, I am interesed in these mobile platforms both from a commercial perspective and one of general interest. The mobile arena is one of the fastest moving areas within technology and as such I started this debate so we could debate how all of us on LI view this technology’s evolution and future.
Commercially, it affects my line of work as I do have to advise companies on which route to take and with a plethora of hardware and software platforms, yes, I need to know or map out which would be a better platform for creating business applications.
In another group, a fellow LI member pointed out that, ‘Android, Chrome and WebOS are all based on Linux kernels (basically a non-commercial version of Unix) and that Iphone OS is based on BSD Unix, and QNX the new OS from Blackberry is also a variant of Unix. So are we really seeing a proliferation of OSes or a major trend to use Unix/Linux as the new standard?’
I thought I would add my reply to his comment as it is relevant to the discussion that we are all having now:
I think the problem we are starting to see is that in the server market, the open source movement has done quite well as many companies have got together and worked to improve common code, that hasn’t happened in the mobile arena. Everyone of these variations is working towards ‘knocking’ the other one off the edge.
If even a few of these ‘major players’ got together and worked together towards improving some common code, as the ‘Symbian’ consortium of hardware providers once did, we could actually move towards a day where there maybe less variants of similar code but mobile hardware and software that worked better than ever before.
I would be interested in your views on the above, so please do continue with more of your contribution…
Matthew Burden added further:
Understood. We were fortunate enough in what we do to be able to adopt a strategy of retreating to the level of an Application Programming Interface (API) and leave Third Parties to sort out this very complex issue by providing applications against the API in a restricted competitive marketplace. Some great systems out there though …
I added further:
Did that restrict the ability of potential application providers to deliver applications, though? (Quantity vs Quality). When you say ‘restricted competitive marketplace’ does that mean that you knew the applications that you wanted them to create or were they ‘open’ to suggest applications that you may potentially have required? Go on, please do tell me more about these great systems out there…..
He replied:
We adopted the strategy – we haven’t got far enough with it yet. We don’t have enough data in to determine whether it was the best approach. One or two parties expressing interest and a couple of test applications started a while ago.
I don’t believe it restricts the ability to deliver applications much. In fact with an API more normally you are hoping people come up with uses and integrations you haven’t thought of ? I agree you can have quality issues.
Initially however the first few parties were encouraging us to develop with iPhone and now Android seems to be ‘all the rage’ already here. So maybe we avoided some unnecessary development costs there.
Will let you know how it goes ..
“Go on, please do tell me more about these great systems out there…..” .
I just meant Android, the iPhone OS etc. You don’t like them at all?
I replied:
Brilliant! Thanks, Matthew. The reason why I asked for further clarification was the explanation that you provided. I agree with the open API approach, as that is the way to do it. To have the data publicly available (If you can) and leave it to all the developers to innovate. The same as http://data.gov.uk/ did – http://www.research-live.com/news/government/uk-government-opens-up-online-data-hub-datagovuk/4001905.article –
I agree with you again, leave any application development ‘open source’ (Android is open source) and not tied to a proprietary system, such as the ‘iphone.’ Do keep me informed, as it will be very interesting to see the development….
Chrsitian Murphy said the following in a social media discussion based on the blogpost:
Hello Mubbisher, in essence we are quickly becoming a mobile world and from an application standpoint I suspect you will see a standard in line with the web browser market that is viewed regardless of the OS. I also suspect the move towards mobility lends to the entire SaaS model that is taking hold today from a software perspective.
I see mobile technology as a fundamental turning point where previously we have all seen in personal computing, the hardware has gotten faster however the software has grown to demand more resources, thus the incremental growth in speed never truly materialized for the user. This approach does not play well in the wireless game since spectrum is finite and the hardware must perform under these conditions. Unix/Linux and it’s other variations are prime platforms for this because of the cost to license…for all intensive purposes free, as well Microsoft’s OS had to evolve in a direction that goes against the companies orginal vision bigger is better.
Therefore, agility, flexibility and vision are key and I see Google, Apple and RIM as having that, as for Microsoft, well they can afford to buy those traits! Now Apple! bruised but sweet and so loved by their diehard fans, has reached out and taken a position in this market. The iPhone and iPad are quickly gaining a great share of the market and popularity. Like a diamond, its value comes from image. A force to be watched. Who will win, well Microsoft is for the most part a “You might as well, you have no choice” brand in the PC market and consumers will be more than happy to not get caught in their web again. Thus in my opinion watch Apple, RIM and Google. I suspect if the Hardware manufacturers start picking sides it will be Google since the other two are Direct Hardware competition as well as the OS.
I replied:
Christian, I just loved your reply. So, far, I have multiple conversations going on regarding this debate in a few groups. I know there is no award, for best discussion feedback etc, but I would like to award that to you. Again, just shows how good our TRP group really is. Insightful and thoughtful answer. I will leave you with an answer from another group that you will also enjoy (From a fellow group):
“This is the kind of issue that the marketplace manages to solve on its own. When PCs first appeared on the scene in the late 1970s there was a multitude of OS’s — the same was true of mainframe computers and even printers, LAN solutions and communication protocols, etc etc. In fact, immature markets are characteristically driven by a multitude of proprietary non-interoperable standards, which companies believe differentiate their products and give them “customer control”. When (and if) these markets mature, standards — whether defacto or “mandated”– typically emerge and everyone who’s still standing benefits greatly. And then differentiation is achieved in ways that are more meaningful to consumers. Why should the smartphone market be any different? The move towards Unix/Linux kernels is already a sign that this is happening.”
thanks, it was a nice post and worth speding time for
You are most welcome. Thanks for the feedback and glad you enjoyed it.