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MobileOs posts

Windows Mobile 7 'Maldives' test program reportedly on track for Q1 2010 release to OEMs

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 10th 2009 @ 8:19PM

Ballmer may have wanted it to be out yesterday, but it looks like the initial release of Windows Mobile 7 may now finally, actually be in sight. According to ZDNet Taiwan, the mobile OS is now on track for a release to OEMs for testing (the so-called "Maldives" program) sometime in the first quarter of 2010, and will be launched publicly sometime in the third quarter of the year (or about a year after the release of Windows Mobile 6.5) -- all of which more or less lines up with earlier rumors of a release to manufacturing in Spring 2010. If past history is any indication, however, it seems likely that the earliest builds of the OS could be circulating around the usual channels well before that -- probably right on the heels of the release to OEMs.

[Via WMPoweruser.com]

Samsung announces Bada mobile OS, SDK sets sail in December

by Ross Miller posted Nov 10th 2009 @ 12:21AM

Because what the world needs now is yet another mobile operating system, Samsung has announced its foray into the field with Bada. Not much to reveal at this point other than some key PR speak: the name means "ocean" in Korean, the company's committed to "a variety of open platforms" in mobile industry and it plans this to be easy to integrate / customize based on carrier's experience. All real news should be coming sometime in December, when Sammy is saying it'll have a London launch event and reveal the SDK. Full presser after the break.

Continue reading Samsung announces Bada mobile OS, SDK sets sail in December

CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XLV: Symbian's Lee Williams rips into Android, implies Google is evil (video)

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 26th 2009 @ 7:06AM

Strap yourselves in, folks, we're about to launch the Mudslinger 3000 again and figure out if any of it sticks. Lee Williams of Symbian starts off with a few attack volleys relating to Google's "fragmentation" of UI elements, and the resultant closed APIs being a nightmare to code for. With so many divergent UI elements and styles, he argues, developers would suffer, and the consequence would be a less vibrant app ecosystem. His major gripe with Google's mobile OS, though, has to do with the pervasive "cookie-ing" of customers, which raises the specter of privacy concerns. When asked directly by our buddy Om Malik whether he considers Android "more evil" than Apple's iPhone OS, Williams replied:

"I don't view Apple as evil, they're just greedy... Google, come on! When you have to say in your motto that we're not evil, right away the first question in my mind is, 'why do you have to tell me that?'"

All this must be tempered by the knowledge that Android is set to overtake large swathes of the mobile OS space, and some retaliatory trash talking is probably to be expected from the incumbent smartphone leader. Om does ask another sage question, in querying why Williams thinks companies are making such large investments into Android, and you'll find the answer to that and much more in the video past the break.

[Via MobileTechWorld; Thanks, fido]

Read - Lee Williams interview with GigaOM
Read - New York Times: 'Big Cellphone Makers Shifting to Android System'
Read - PCWorld: 'Android, Symbian Will Own Smartphones in 2012'

Continue reading CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XLV: Symbian's Lee Williams rips into Android, implies Google is evil (video)

Android could nab second place in mobile operating systems by 2012, says research

by Laura June posted Oct 7th 2009 @ 5:58PM

Sure, Android is a brand new operating system at a seemingly huge disadvantage to other, more entrenched household names like Windows Mobile or Symbian. Well, all that could change -- at least according to research just released by Gartner, Inc. The company's report claims that Android could claim upwards of 14 percent of the global mobile operating system share by 2012 (it now has less than 2 percent). This would make it the number two (behind Symbian OS) phone OS in the world. The main factors behind this surge, according to Gartner's report, are the fact that Android is a Google-backed proposition, a company which will continue to offer more cloud-computing services and apps which will increasingly draw users into its web. They also note Android's "blend" of app heaviness (making it like the iPhone) combined with the task-mastering of Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones. We'll let you know when Grandma Elly has a Sholes -- that's the real test of success and popularity in our world.

Google's mobile OS well on its way to production

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 28th 2007 @ 2:26PM

We have it on good authority that Google is well on its way to crafting a mobile operating system (yeah, for real), a brainchild of its Android acquisition in 2005. When we say "well on its way," we mean we're to the point now where they're officially -- on some level, anyway -- shopping it around to ODMs, looking for the right guys to go big with this thing. Read all about it on Engadget!

Softbank moving towards common mobile OS

by Brian White posted May 25th 2007 @ 5:59PM

Many global wireless carriers are trying on approaches to get the user experience on all those different handsets to be a common one for the customer. As such, some carriers have been toying with the common mobile operating system software that can be deployed on many handset models. Add Japanese carrier Softbank Mobile to this list, as the company wants to make it easier for manufacturers to make those newer multimedia-rich handsets for its network that operate in the customer's hands the same way. To facilitate this, Softbank's adoption of the Portable Open Platform Initiative (POP-i) will provide it access to the OpenKODE API. This adoption will lead Softbank handsets down a common path of standards for advanced graphics and media processing in its mobile phones.

[Via mocoNews.net]