Linux, the mobile os of the future??
I came across this piece suggesting that Linux is going to be 31% of all smart devices on the market by 2012, growing by more than 75% a year. I don’t know how they come up with these numbers, maybe their right, maybe not, but with quotes like thesee:
In the cell phone market, consumers will pay for content, and corporations need to deliver secure content to applications in the palm of employees’ hands. These trends suggest products that are simultaneously more functional and less expensive than a Treo or BlackBerry and more secure than an iPhone.
I’m not really sure I trust the numbers. Presumably they’re playing the cost thing because it doesn’t cost anything to license Linux, but then they compare it to Treo and RIM? Um, they own their OS’s and don’t have to pay themselves licensing fees either. Well, ok… Treo only sorta owns it’s own os… But Treo’s are free with contract in the UK. Blackberries are cheap for smart phones and the RAZR2, which runs Linux on some carriers will cost $300 with contract - same as the Blackberry 8820.
And they’re still playing the iPhone security card. Why is this? Where are the exploits? Where are the virus’ plaguing these phones? This is going to be even less secure than MacOS! Oh wait…
“Serious initiatives from the likes of Intel and Access are gathering pace and momentum
Serious initiatives from Access? That’s the best Linux initiative they could find? ALP? It is no longer possible to read the analysis with a straight face.
I love Linux as much as the next guy, but that article was just plain dumb. I think there are all sorts of interesting things you can say about why Linux could make it in the mobile market. This chart, for one, showing it’s strength in Asian markets - yeah, it’s big in China and Japan. Or looking in and finding out who’s making linux based phones and what future projections they’re making. I mean, something, but the points in that piece just were not even a little convincing.
I don’t know where the future of handsets lie, but Apple has definitely raised the bar and others are working hard to provide alternatives. Apple proved that the market doesn’t want a checklist of advanced features, they want ease of use and a great interface. There’s a lot out there and I think it’s going to be a good time to be a consumer in the smartphone market, OSX, Linux, Symbian, WinMob, whatev.. let’s see some innovating.
