Mobile Operating Systems

Following the battle of the desktop operating system between Windows and Mac - we are seeing a hotly contested race between the top three mobile desktop operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Mobile
• Research in Motion [RIM] - on Blackberry
• Symbian - mainly used by Nokia

Where RIM's BlackBerry platform was the hot contender at the start of the race for supremecy on the mobile PDA, Microsoft has ascended through the ranks to appear to take a strong lead. How long this will last, noone knows for sure, but for now - it's all about Microsoft Windows Mobile, and this is likely to be strengthened with the impending launch of Windows Mobile 6 later this year.

Other Java operating systems are not really in the race and will no doubt fall into specialised purpose categories.

A lot to do with the acceptance is the relationship between the owners of the OS and the hardware.

With Microsoft devices naturally using Windows Mobile, RIM has a strong relationship with Blackberry - albeit, only RIM is available on Blackberry devices, whereas most other hardware can choose Windows Mobile or Symbian [and vice versa].

To add to discontent - the BlackBerry Connect Program appears to be failing in managing OS upgrades, leading to many devices being sold with out of date software.

Whilst RIM still holds number one position in the USA for OS on smartphones and PDAs, it is losing ground elsewhere.

However, Blackberry is fighting back with a very strong Partner Program, attracting over 500 alliances with leading mobile application companies such as Atenna Software [field sales and service intelligence], Pyxis Mobile [financial services] and Wallace Wireless.

Many mobile application developers favors BlackBerry as a superior platform due to it's relative strengths in: push technology, end-to-end encryption, device-level network management and RIM's relationships.

The push technology seems to be the key - meaning pda users do not have to request key data and emails, they are instead proactively pushed to the device. BlackBerry is the only mobile platform that extends push capabilities to advanced applications. Microsofts pseudo push capability only extends to email; and even then it is not true push.

So are customers leaning to Microsoft just because it matches their desktop? - in may cases yes, but for those who are truely aiming for maximum return for their remote mobile applications, the view is - if the functionality is not there, they're not going to use a platform just to make a set.

Smart operators will ultimately choose the platform that offers the best functionality and the lowest cost of ownership.

Back To Top