According to data from the research firm IDC, the world market for smartphone operating systems, in the second quarter of 2013, was literally dominated by Android (developed by Google), with a share very close to 80 per cent. Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),, with its iOS, has to settle for a distinctive 13 percent, while Microsoft e BlackBerry they are stuck at 3,7 and 2,9 respectively. In short, in addition to these names, it would seem that there really isn't the space or fertile ground for any new initiative.
Yet many telecommunications engineers have not lacked courage. This is demonstrated by the various projects of embedded systems for smartphones which have as a common denominator, precisely that of open source which has brought so much success to the same Android. After years of work, the projects have become reality and today almost all of them are presented at the starting line in their final version. There is Firefox OS from Mozilla, the developer of the well-known Internet browser; Then Sailfish OS di Jolla, the Finnish “ex-Nokia” company; Tizen, which involves Samsung, Intel and the Linux foundation; Therefore Ubuntu of Canonical Ltd, the British company of South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth.
Among all, perhaps it is Firefox OS that is in its most mature market phase, so much so that it is already possible to buy, at least in our country, a mobile phone equipped with this operating system. It is about theAlcatel One Touch Fire, on sale on the TIM.it website. More or less at the same point Sailfish OS has arrived, as Jolla allows you to order the only device (for now) with its operating system on board directly online. Ubuntu for phones is still in the testing phase, but developers can already download and install it on the "Galaxy Nexus" and "Nexus 4/7/10" terminals (at the moment it is only guaranteed to work on these models). As for Tizen, it cannot be said that it is ready yet, but anyone who is able to contribute to the development of the software can certainly peek into the intricacies of how the platform works.
In this scenario there are some strategic positions to note: that of Samsung and that ofHTML5. Samsung has its feet in more brackets and its business is positively affected thanks to diversification. Just look again at the IDC data, which see it at the top of the ranking of smartphones sold in the world: Samsung in fact produces both terminals that support Android, both Tizen, both Ubuntu and Windows Phone. Not to mention the hardware components supplied to competitors. Already by itself, this situation guarantees the Korean company a considerable advantage in terms of the possibility of choosing marketing strategies. Furthermore, its presence within the consortia and alliances that develop the same operating systems (LiMo/Tizen), facilitates any type of short- and long-term forecast on future scenarios. Consideration that pushes the most mischievous to see a conflict of interest that is certainly not negligible.
A completely different matter, from the point of view of the end user, must be done for HTML5. Its adoption by all the operating systems mentioned bodes well in view of the process of streamlining and simplifying the language of web pages, also to the advantage of speed of navigation via mobile devices. Unpredictable epilogue of a dispute born a few years ago between W3C (World Wide Web Consortium, the consortium that standardizes the languages of web pages) and the group that worked on HTML5. The affirmation of this language also represents a real step forward for the convergence between computers, cell phones, tablets and other devices (Ubuntu focuses practically everything on this last aspect).
Microsoft and BlackBerry, in this field, have already been overtaken by a reality born from open source, Android, which now dominates the market, so it is likely that they already have adequate measures in mind to counter the repetition of this phenomenon. Windows has tied in hand with Nokia which is perhaps the company that boasts the most experience in the sector, BlackBerry instead has focused on the key roles of its organizational chart. Even among the newborns, however, the winning move is being studied: Jolla, for example, by supporting Android applications on her terminal, has understood that the best strategy is to lasso the bull and, at least, have the road opened for as long as she can walk on his legs.
The battle is on, may the best man win!
