Mobile Operating Systems

 Like a computer operating system, a mobile operating system is the software platform on top of which other programs run. When you purchase a mobile device, the manufacturer will have chosen the operating system for that specific device. The operating system is responsible for determining the functions and features available on your device, such as thumb wheel, keyboards, WAP, synchronization with applications, e-mail, text messaging and more. The mobile operating system will also determine which third-party applications can be used on your device. Some of the more common and well-known Mobile operating systems include the following:

Symbian OS
Symbian is an operating system (OS) designed for mobile devices and smartphones, with associated libraries, user interface, frameworks and reference implementations of common tools, originally developed by Symbian Ltd. It was a descendant of Psion's EPOC and runs exclusively on ARM processors .
Symbian OS has become a standard operating system for smartphones, and is licensed by more than 85 percent of the world's handset manufacturers. The Symbian OS is designed for the specific requirements of 2.5G and 3G mobile phones. Symbian features pre-emptive multitasking and memory protection, like other operating systems (especially those created for use on desktop computers).
Symbian OS was created with three systems design principles in mind:

• the integrity and security of user data is paramount,
• user time must not be wasted, and
• all resources are scarce.

Some Symbian Versions:
4.3 Symbian OS 6.0 and 6.1
4.4 Symbian OS 7.0 and 7.0s 
4.5 Symbian OS 8.0  
4.5.1 Symbian OS 8.1
4.6 Symbian OS 9
4.6.1 Symbian OS 9.1
4.6.2 Symbian OS 9.2
4.6.3 Symbian OS 9.3
4.6.4 Symbian OS 9.4
4.6.5 Symbian OS 9.5


All the major companies produce phones using Symbian Os

Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a compact mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and designed for use in smartphones and mobile devices.It is designed to be somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows, feature-wise and aesthetically. Additionally, third-party software development is available for Windows Mobile.The Windows Mobile platform is available on a variety of devices from a variety of wireless operators. You will find Windows Mobile software on Dell, HP, Motorola, Palm and i-mate products. Windows Mobile powered devices are available on GSM or CDMA networks. 


 Versions :
3.1 Pocket PC 2000
3.2 Pocket PC 2002
3.3 Windows Mobile 2003
3.4 Windows Mobile 2003 SE
3.5 Windows Mobile 5
3.6 Windows Mobile 6
3.7 Windows Mobile 6.1
3.8 Windows Mobile 6.5
  Future versions :
4.1 Windows Mobile 6.5.1
4.2 Windows Mobile 6.5.3
4.3 Windows Mobile 7
4.4 Project Pink

 


Palm OS
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc. for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management. Later versions of the OS have been extended to support smartphones. The Palm OS platform has provided mobile devices with essential business tools, as well as capability to access the Internet or a central corporate database via a wireless connection.
The key features of the current Palm OS Garnet are:

• Simple, single-tasking environment to allow launching of full screen applications with a basic, common GUI set
• Monochrome or color screens with resolutions up to 480x320 pixel
• Handwriting recognition input system called Graffiti 2
• HotSync technology for data synchronization with desktop computers
• Sound playback and record capabilities
• Simple security model: Device can be locked by password, arbitrary application records can be made private
• TCP/IP network access
• Serial port/USB, Infrared, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections
• Expansion memory card support
• Defined standard data format for personal information management applications to store calendar, address, task and note entries, accessible by third-party applications.

Versions:
3.1 Palm OS 1.0
3.2 Palm OS 2.0
3.3 Palm OS 3.0
3.4 Palm OS 4.0
3.5 Palm OS 5
3.6 Palm OS Cobalt

Mobile Linux:
Embedded Linux is the use of a Linux operating system in embedded computer systems such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, media players, set-top boxes, and other consumer electronics devices, networking equipment, machine control, industrial automation, navigation equipment and medical instruments.
The first company to launch phones with Linux as its OS was Motorola in 2003. Linux is seen as a suitable option for higher-end phones with powerful processors and larger amounts of memory.
Unlike desktop and server versions of Linux, embedded versions of Linux are designed for devices with relatively limited resources, such as cell phones and set-top boxes. Due to concerns such as cost and size, embedded devices usually have much less RAM and secondary storage than desktop computers, and are likely to use flash memory instead of a hard drive. Since embedded devices serve specific rather than general purposes, developers optimize their embedded Linux distributions to target specific hardware configurations and usage situations.

MXI
MXI(Motion eXperience Interface ) is a universal mobile operating system that allows existing full-fledged desktop and mobile applications written for Windows, Linux, Java, Palm be enabled immediately on mobile devices without any redevelopment. MXI allows for interoperability between various platforms, networks, software and hardware components.While existing operating systems offer a stripped-down architecture where users can only access compromised mobile content, MXI's core strength provides instant desktop computing experiences and applications on mobile devices without any redevelopment. MXI also allows interoperability between various platforms, networks, software and hardware components.

iPhone OS:

It is the operating system developed by Apple for the iPhone and iPod touch. Like Mac OS X, from which it was derived, it uses the Darwin foundation. iPhone OS has four abstraction layers: the Core OS layer, the Core Services layer, the Media layer, and the Cocoa Touch layer. The operating system takes less than 500 Megabytes of the device's total memory storage.iPhone OS' user interface is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. The response to user input is supposed to be immediate to provide a fluid interface. Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching.

Google Android

Android is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel. It was initially developed by Android Inc., a firm later purchased by Google, and lately by the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

Features:

• Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components
• Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices
• Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine
• Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)
• SQLite for structured data storage
• Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)
• GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
• Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)
• Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)
• Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE