Mobile Platforms

A mobile operating system, also known as a mobile OS, a mobile platform, or a handheld operating system, is theoperating system that controls a mobile device or information appliance—similar in principle to an operating system such asWindows, Mac OS X, or Linux that controls a desktop computer or laptop. However, they are currently somewhat simpler, and deal more with the wireless versions of broadband and local connectivity, mobile multimedia formats, and different input methods.

Typical examples of devices running a mobile operating system are smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers and information appliances, or what are sometimes referred to as smart devices, which may also include embedded systems, or other mobile devices and wireless devices.

Common Platforms:

1.  Android from Google Inc.

2. iOS from Apple Inc.

3. Symbian OS from the Symbian Foundation

4. BlackBerry OS from RIM

5. Windows Mobile from Microsoft.

6. Brew from Qualcomm.

Open Source Mobile Platforms:

Android : With HTC Touch and HTC Hero being a huge success, the Google-promoted mobile stack Android, is touted as something to look forward to. With a Java-like programming interface, the Android SDK is easy to install and start developing apps on. Android Apps for these smart phones are increasing in number and soon can be a serious contender for the iPhone App Store.

Maemo : Nokia’s 770 Internet Tablet was one of the first commercially available MID running Linux. The Nokia N10 is the latest offering from Nokia running on the Maemo platform. Although Maemo does have VoIP apps, it is primarily being designed for Internet Tablets rather than Smart phones.

Moblin : Molin, asuumably short for Mobile Linux, was an initiative from Intel. After the release of their Atom family of processors, Moblin recieved further push from Intel in engaging the community. Moblin, like Maemo, is primarily targetted towards Netbooks, MIDs and Internet Tablets. It utilizes some of the modern embedded linux components like the Gnome-based Clutter toolkit which used OpenGL to create fast and visually rich GUIs.

OpenMoko : The OpenMoko project has dual objectives, to provide an open source stack for Mobile phones and also to pave the way for developing open hardware for running this stack. The first commercial devices running OpenMoko was the Neo 1973 and the Neo FreeRunner from FIC. It was an open source geek’s dream come true with both open hardware as well as software. The stack is based on theOpenEmbedded specifications.