Will the OHA create a cohesive Linux mobile OS?
Rating: Too many players with no real expererience
By Tony Dennis
I’ve been doing a bit of analysis on who
actually makes up the membership of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)– backers of
Google’s Android initiative. And frankly it’s not looking good. I’m tending to
side with Symbian on this one and am increasingly convinced that the Linux
community is too fragmented to make this whole project work.
Let’s start with the good news – no fewer than seven major operators are
backing this initiative. When that list includes China Mobile, KDDI and NTT
DoCoMo, you have to sit up and take note.
Admittedly there’s 13 software companies in the alliance, too. Or 15 if you
count Google and eBay. Out of those, Wind River
- for example – looks to have experience in creating what is wanted for the
Android handset to work.
But the trouble is that three out of the
six founders of the rival Linux mobile OS group, the LiMo Foundation are also
members of the Open Handset Alliance. And LiMo says we should start seeing
handsets based on its efforts in Q1 2008 – three months before Android handsets
are due.
How is that going to work, then? Who is going prioritise what? Plus – where the
OHA is weak is amongst handset vendors – of whom it can only claim four.
Then there’s NTT DoCoMo. It has already decided to standardise on two OS
platforms – Linux and Symbian. Which shows that the two can co-exist nicely.
Even though seven out of ten smartphones made globally use Symbian. Or so
Symbian claims.
Then there’s the fact that Open Source code – even though it is free – still has
to be tested. And there’s the rub. The mobile phone world isn’t like the PC
world where – in effect – you only have to test against two suppliers’ products
– Intel’s and AMD’s. There’s far more variation amongst the chips found inside
mobile phones – even though six chip suppliers are in the OHA.
Finally we come to that great stumbling block – battery life. This is the key
to any decent mobile OS. It takes years to get this right or you have to make
compromises.
Compromises? Now where have we heard of that
recent? Ah. That would be from Apple. When asked why there was no 3G inside the
iPhone, it claimed you couldn’t do voice and a decent media player AND have
enough power left to run 3G. So sacrifices had to be made.
Which is what I predict will happen with Android. Great software features but
you’ll need to carry a spare battery.
Another great link: http://www.mobileinsight.net/OHA.htm
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