Android vs LiMo.
Rating: Does there have to be a winner?
I mentioned LiMo’s expanding roster of companies involved in the development of the LiMo foundation the other day. When I saw Greg Kumparak’s interesting article over at Mobilecrunch in which he gives an relatively tech free explanation of the difference between the two Linux based platforms, I thought it would be worth covering some of the basics over here at GoMo. I will summarise with my own language here but for further reading check Greg’s article.
Programming Languages: Android supports applications in JAVA, is Full stack (i.e is everything the OS/middleware and key applications) where as LiMo is only a middleware, supports apps in C++ and is already available on handsets such as Motorola. Both have carrier support.
Development: LiMo’s API’s are available but their SDK will not be available until the second half of 2008 and has no fixed date for launch. Android’s SDK is available now and therefore applications by third parties are already being demoed.
Applications: LiMo’s applications can run natively on the handset as these are written in C++, the mobile OS core and therefore less CPU intensive allowing for a snappier performance. Androids are written in JAVA meaning that they need a Java virtual machine to run, think of Java sitting on top of Linux. The virtual machine takes CPU power and memory, meaning a potentially slower performance. Whether this is overtly noticeable depends on the integration, as so many other things can slow down application speeds on devices.
The question is who will come out on top? Actually, maybe it isn’t. What we have here are two Linux open source platforms, each with pluses and minuses. For all the hype of Google’s Android’s platform it will really come down to cost for the handset manufacturers to install/support and and the look, feel and functionality for the end user. Remember Betamax was far superior to VHS, look what happened there.
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