Types of Mobile Operating Systems in Latest Smart Phones

Smart phones, Smart Operating System or perfect combination of both? Now, choosing a smart phone is not the only hectic job you have, but choosing the right OS too is a difficult choice. Over the last couple of months we’ve looked smart phones, a few times but haven’t really spent much time in looking at the different mobile operating systems (m-os). Here’s a quick tour of the main players in this segment which will help you to get a brief idea on various operating systems including windows, blackberry, Google’s android, Apple’s iOS, Symbian and also Palm …

Windows Mobile or Windows Phone
These handsets run a mobile operating system designed by Microsoft. The bundled software with these units lets you open, create and edit Microsoft Office files as well as run thousands of third party applications. Their connectivity with Microsoft Exchange servers is excellent but web browsing still has room for improvement. A 2009 survey by CFI Group showcased that the Windows Mobile users had the lowest level of customer satisfaction when compared to users of other smartphones. Out of a possible 100 points, Windows Mobile was only rated with a mere 66, compared with BlackBerry’s (73), Palm Pre’s (77), Google’s Android (77), and iPhone’s (83). And also a bottom line, with Microsoft not many things come for free! J. With its latest operating system of series 7 in place, time will only tell that how popular it will be in comparison with other mobile operating systems.

BlackBerry

Blackberry started all from its messenger service and now it’s a full fledge mobile phone maker. If you expect to receive lots of e-mails and SMS then BlackBerry is still the best messaging platform for mobile workers. Web browsing works but can be a little frustrating as BlackBerry reformats websites to reduce the bandwidth they use. However, the future versions of the BlackBerry OS will ship with a Web kit-based browser so that part of user experience (UE) should be greatly enhanced. One of the BlackBerry’s big advantages is that the service is very data efficient. Everything is compressed and encrypted so it works well even when connectivity is limited to a 2G network. Research In Motion (RIM) appears to be on the verge of making a strategic about-face by making a transitional change in its Black Berry devices from its in-house mobile operating system to the QNX OS that’s powering its new Play Book tablet PC.

But at this critical environment, when Apple’s i-Pads and i-Phones are flying off the shelves like hot cakes and Google’s Android-based smartphones are selling even faster, any move from Research in Motion (RIM) can make to jumpstart demand and encourage developers to start writing new media-rich apps would be a good first step toward restoring some popularity to the BlackBerry brand. But still with Blackberry specific data/internet plans it still only rules office guys and not college going youngsters due to high data charges.

Android

Here comes the latest album thriller these days. As the new kid on the block, Google’s Android operating system has made a huge splash in the mobile OS segment; after all it’s from a Google’s family. Already embraced by developers, there are many third party apps to cover almost every user’s needs. Google’s android is a differentially new, so it managed to attract huge fans but as time goes by it will surely be a stable kid. But for now, among all the Mobile O.S, Android is a rock star, but please be ware, kids are always attractive, so the bottom line is BEFORE GOING FOR ANDROID, DON’T FORGET to try it. Like it, Own it is the only one liner comes in my mind. No doubt, this has become the darling of the masses.

Apple iOS

Ahh. Apple! The iPhone probably offers the best overall package of mobile functions although it’s not necessarily the best at anything. While BlackBerry has the best messaging and Windows Mobile and Android offer superior business support for Office files, the iPhone is easy to use and its web browser is still the best for mobile browsing although the lack of Flash support is a real problem. Many of the features taken for granted on other platforms like a unified Inbox for multiple email accounts and multitasking are coming in the soon to be release iPhone OS 4.If you are a person who wants to experience touch at its best and love the pinching of pictures then iPhone is for you.

Symbian

This is operating system used by Nokia and Sony Ericsson. While Symbian is very common, there are many different versions of it so applications that work on one handset may not work on another. However, it is purpose-built for phones and is reasonably easy to use. The flop show of Symbian is only due to its lack of fight back in terms of improvements; it seems that Symbian has lost all imagination and invention. Going for Symbian now at this stage is like choosing a second hand car J as Symbian continuously failed to rope in interesting and innovative changes in its user interface. Be it a 10k priced phone or 50k phone all the interface remains the same.

Palm

Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) is a mobile operating system which was initially developed by Palm.Inc, for personal digital assistant (PDAs) in 1996. From then it is with the glint of a tear in our eyes that look back at Palm. For a long time, the Palm OS was the standard when compared with other mobile operating systems. The software was fast, reliable and there was an incredibly active developer environment which was praised by everyone. At some point, the fire of innovation dimmed and eventually went out with Palm’s hardware ending up running Windows Mobile phones instead. In my view, that was the beginning of the end for Palm operating system. Hopefully, Hewlett Packard will take over Palm and we’ll see some great new hardware and kick-ass software innovations sooner than later.