Mobile operating system
A mobile operating system (or mobile OS) is an
operating system for smartphones, tablets, PDAs, or other mobile devices. While
computers such as the typical laptop are mobile, the operating systems usually
used on them are not considered mobile ones as they were originally designed
for bigger stationary desktop computers that historically did not have or need
specific "mobile" features. This distinction is getting blurred in
some newer operating systems that are hybrids made for both uses.
Mobile operating systems combine features of a
personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or
handheld use; usually including, and most of the following considered essential
in modern mobile systems; a touchscreen, cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS mobile
navigation, camera, video camera, speech recognition, voice recorder, music
player, near field communication and infrared blaster.
Mobile devices with mobile communications
capabilities (e.g. smartphones) contain two mobile operating systems – the main
user-facing software platform is supplemented by a second low-level proprietary
real-time operating system which operates the radio and other hardware.
Research has shown that these low-level systems may contain a range of security
vulnerabilities permitting malicious base stations to gain high levels of
control over the mobile device.
Android
Android (based on the Linux Kernel) is from Google
Inc.It has the largest installed base worldwide on smartphones. In fact it is
the most popular operating system for general purpose computers (a category
that includes, say, "desktop" Windows and "mobile"), while
Android is currently not popular regular ("desktop") PCs. Android is
free and open-source software, while most commonly in actual devices, a large
amount of proprietary software is bundled with it (such as Play Store, Google
Search, Google Play Services, Google Music, and so on) are proprietary,
licensed proprietary, closed source applications and contract (join the Open
Handset Alliance) not to manufacture cellulars that replace Google applications
or services.
Android's releases prior to 2.0 (1.0, 1.5, 1.6)
were used exclusively on mobile phones. Android 2.x releases were mostly used
for mobile phones but also some tablets. Android 3.0 was a tablet-oriented
release and does not officially run on mobile phones. The current Android
version is 5.0.
CyanogenMod
CyanogenMod is based on the open source Android
Open Source Project(AOSP), it is custom ROM that co-develop by CyanogenMod
community, therefore the OS does not include any proprietary apps unless the
user install it. Due to it open source nature, CyanogenMod allow Android users
which their device no longer gain update support from their manufacturer to
continue update their OS version to the latest one based on official release
from Google AOSP and heavy theme customization. The current version of the OS
is CyanogenMod 12 which is based on Android Lollipop.
Cyanogen OS
Same as it predecessor which is based on Google's
Android Open Source Project(AOSP), however it included proprietary apps and it
is only available for commercial uses. The current version of the OS is
Cyanogen OS 12 which is based on Android Lollipop.
Fire OS
Fire OS is an operating system launched by Amazon
which based on Google's Android Open Source
Project(AOSP). Currently only few devices are installed
with Fire OS, which is Fire Phone, Kindle Fire series and Amazon's Fire TV.
Although the OS was built on top on Google's AOSP, however it does not
pre-install Google apps and ship with custom Amazon services.
MIUI
MIUI has been developed by a Chinese electronic
company Xiaomi Tech, a partially closed source OS based on Google Android Open
Source Project(AOSP). MIUI is found in Xiaomi Smartphone such as the Mi and
Redmi Series, however it also has official support ROM for few Android devices.
Flyme OS
Flyme OS is develop by Meizu, an open source OS
based on Google Android Open Source Project(AOSP). Mostly, Flyme OS is
installed on Meizu Smartphones such as the MX's series, however it also has
official support ROM for few Android devices.
iOS
iOS (previously known as iPhone OS) is from Apple
Inc. It has the second largest installed base worldwide on smartphones, but the
largest profits, due to aggressive price competition between Android-based
manufacturers. It is closed source and proprietary and built on open source
Darwin core OS. The Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and second-generation Apple
TV all use iOS, which is derived from OS X.
Native third party applications were not
officially supported until the release of iOS 2.0 on July 11, 2008. Before
this, "jailbreaking" allowed third party applications to be
installed, and this method is still available.
Currently all iOS devices are developed by Apple
and manufactured by Foxconn or another of Apple's partners.
Windows Phone
Windows Phone is from Microsoft. It is closed
source and proprietary. It has third largest installed base on smartphones
behind Android and iOS.
On February 15, 2010, Microsoft unveiled its
next-generation mobile OS, Windows Phone. The new mobile OS includes a
completely new over-hauled UI inspired by Microsoft's "Metro Design
Language". It includes full integration of Microsoft services such as
OneDrive and Office, Xbox Music, Xbox Video, Xbox Live games and Bing, but also
integrates with many other non-Microsoft services such as Facebook and Google
accounts. Windows Phone devices are made primarily by Nokia, along with HTC,
Samsung.
As of 21 January 2015, Microsoft has announced
that the Windows Phone brand will be phased out and replaced with Windows 10
Mobile. It will primarily aim to bring tighter integration and unification with
its PC counterpart Windows 10, and provide a platform for both smartphones, and
small tablets under 8 inches in screen size.
By the end of 2014, Windows Phone global market
share was 2.7%.
BlackBerry
BlackBerry 10 (based on the QNX OS) is from
BlackBerry. As a smart phone OS, it is closed source and proprietary.
It is used mostly by government employees.
BlackBerry 10 is the next generation platform for BlackBerry smartphones and
tablets. All phones and tablets are manufactured by Blackberry itself.
Once one of the dominant platforms in the world,
its global market share has been reduced to 0.4% by the end of 2014.
Firefox OS
Firefox OS is from Mozilla. It is open source and
uses Mozilla Public License.
According to Ars Technica, "Mozilla says that
B2G is motivated by a desire to demonstrate that the standards-based open Web
has the potential to be a competitive alternative to the existing single-vendor
application development stacks offered by the dominant mobile operating
systems."
Sailfish OS
Sailfish OS is from Jolla. It is partly open
source and adopts GPL (core and middleware), however the user interface is
closed source.
After Nokia failed in 2011 with the MeeGo project
most of the MeeGo team have left Nokia, and established Jolla as a company to
use MeeGo and MER business opportunities. In 2012 Linux Sailfish OS based on
MeeGo and using MER core distribution has been launched for public use. The
first device, Jolla (mobile phone) was unveiled on 20 May 2013.
Tizen
Tizen is hosted by the Linux Foundation and
support from the Tizen Association, guided by a Technical Steering Group
composed of Intel and Samsung.
Tizen is an operating system for devices including
smartphones, tablets, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) devices, and smart TVs. It
is an open source system(However the SDK was closed source and proprietary)
that aims to offer a consistent user experience across devices. Tizen's main
components are the Linux kernel and the WebKit runtime. According to Intel,
Tizen “combines the best of LiMo and MeeGo." HTML5apps are emphasized,
with MeeGo encouraging its members to transition to Tizen, stating that the
"future belongs to HTML5-based applications, outside of a relatively small
percentage of apps, and we are firmly convinced that our investment needs to
shift toward HTML5." Tizen will be targeted at a variety of platforms such
as handsets, touch pc, smart TVs and in-vehicle entertainment. On May 17, 2013,
Tizen released version 2.1, code-named Nectarine.
Ubuntu Touch OS
Ubuntu Touch OS is from Canonical Ltd.. It is open
source and uses the GPL license.
Discontinued software platforms
Symbian
The Symbian platform was developed by Nokia for
certain models of smartphones. It is proprietary software. The operating system
was discontinued in 2012, although a slimmed-down version for basic phones was
still developed until July 2014. Microsoft officially shelved the platform in
favor of Windows Phone after the acquisition of Nokia.
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a discontinued operating system
from Microsoft that it replaced with Windows Phone. It is closed source and
proprietary.
The Windows CE operating system and Windows Mobile
middleware was widely spread in Asia (which mostly uses Android now). The two
improved variants of this operating system, Windows Mobile 6 Professional (for
touch screen devices) and Windows Mobile 6 Standard, were unveiled in February
2007. It was criticized for having a user interface which is not optimized for
touch input by fingers; instead, it is more usable with a stylus. However,
unlike iOS, it supports both touch screen and physical keyboard configurations.
Windows Mobile's market share sharply declined to
just 5% in Q2 of 2010. Microsoft phased out the Windows Mobile OS to focus on
Windows Phone.
Palm OS
Palm OS/Garnet OS was from Access Co. It is closed
source and proprietary. webOS was introduced by Palm in January 2009 as the
successor to Palm OS with Web 2.0 technologies, open architecture and
multitasking capabilities.
webOS
webOS was from LG, although some parts are open
source. webOS is a proprietary mobile operating system running on the Linux
kernel, initially developed by Palm, which launched with the Palm Pre. After
being acquired by HP, two phones (the Veer and the Pre 3) and a tablet (the
TouchPad) running webOS were introduced in 2011. On August 18, 2011, HP
announced that webOS hardware was to be discontinue but would continue to
support and update webOS software and develop the webOS ecosystem. HP released
webOS as open source under the name Open webOS, and plans to update it with
additional features. On February 25, 2013 HP announced the sale of WebOS to LG
Electronics, who planned to use the operating system for its "smart"
or Internet-connected TVs. However HP retained patents underlying WebOS as well
as cloud-based services such as the App Catalog.
Maemo
Maemo was a platform developed by Nokia for
smartphones and Internet tablets. It is open source and GPL, based on Debian
GNU/Linux and draws much of its GUI,frameworks and libraries from the GNOME
project. It uses the Matchbox window manager and the GTK-based Hildon as its
GUI and application framework.
MeeGo
MeeGo was from non-profit organization The Linux
Foundation. It is open source and GPL. At the 2010 Mobile World Congress in
Barcelona, Nokia and Intel both unveiled 'MeeGo', a mobile operating system
that combined Moblin and Maemo to create an open-sourced experience for users
across all devices. In 2011 Nokia announced that it would no longer pursue
MeeGo in favor of Windows Phone. Nokia announced the Nokia N9 on June 21, 2011
at the Nokia Connection event in Singapore. LG announced its support for the
platform.
LiMo
LiMo was from the LiMo Foundation. LiMo Foundation
launched LiMo 4 on February 14, 2011. LiMo 4 delivers middleware and
application functionality, including a flexible user interface, extended widget
libraries, 3D window effects, advanced multimedia, social networking and
location-based service frameworks, sensor frameworks, multi-tasking and
multi-touch capabilities. In addition, support for scalable screen resolution
and consistent APIs means that the platform can deliver a consistent user
experience across multiple device types and form factors.
