Smartphones: Operating System.

Smart Phones: And Its Operating System. Copyright reserved © 2010

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 2

2 History 2

2.1 First Smart Phone ........................................................................................................... 3

2.2 Nokia Domination ......................................................................................................... 3

2.3 Ericsson GS88 ................................................................................................................ 4

2.4 Microsoft phone ............................................................................................................. 4

2.5 RIM Black Berry ............................................................................................................. 5

3 Apple and Android 5

3.1 Apple iPhone .................................................................................................................. 5

3.1.1 iPhone 3G .............................................................................................................. 6

3.1.2 IPhone 3GS ........................................................................................................... 7

3.1.3 iPhone 4 ................................................................................................................. 7

3.2 Andriod ............................................................................................................................ 8

4 Smartphone Review 8

4.1.1 iPhone 4 ................................................................................................................. 9

4.1.2 Samsung Galaxy S ................................................................................................. 9

4.1.3 Nokia N8 ............................................................................................................... 9

4.2 Comparison ................................................................................................................... 10

4.2.1 Samsung Galaxy S ............................................................................................... 11

4.2.2 iPhone 4 ............................................................................................................... 12

4.2.3 Nokia N8 ............................................................................................................. 12

5 Market Share 12

6 Conclusion 14

7 Bibliography Error! Bookmark not defined.


1 Introduction

A smartphone is a mobile phone/device that offers more advanced compu-ting ability and connectivity than a contemporary basic feature phone. Smartphones and feature phones may be thought of as handheld computers integrated within a mobile telephone, but while most feature phones are able to run applications based on platforms such as Java ME, a smartphone allows the user to install and run more advanced applications based on a specific plat-form. (Wikipedia).

In the past few years, there has been a revolution of smartphones in the mar-ket, while their markets continue to grow, the ordinary cell phone is in decline, and this is not a surprise.

2 History

The main source for this chapter is Wikipedia.


2.1 First Smart Phone

The first design of smartphones was made by IBM in 1992. It was called Si-mons [figure1]. But it was not released to the public until 1993 and it was sold by a company called BellSouth. It was not just a cell phone. It contained some interactive applications and programs which made it unique and different from an ordinary mobile phone at that time. Features such as touch-screen, capability to send and receive fax, games, virtual keyboards etc. It was meant to be a low-end product, but due to the features and capability of the phone it was incredibly an advance device.

[Figure 1: The first smart phone that was made by IBM in 1992 was

called Simons.] Wikipedia. 2.2 Nokia Domination

Three years after the Simons smartphone was released to the public, there comes a bold response from Nokia, the Finnish phone maker, who were al-ready dominating the mobile phone market; the release of the Nokia Commu-nicator line which includes different series. The first communicator series which was released by Nokia was the Nokia 9000. It was officially the first smartphone by the company it was released to the public in 1996. However the phone came in black and white color so in many regards was not really acknowledged as a true smartphone. Subsequently release of the communica-tor series were, Nokia 9210 contain the first colored screen, which was also the first open source operating system from Nokia. Followed by Nokia 9500 which had a first camera by a smartphone and also Wi-Fi capability. Nokia 9300 communicator reduced the size of a smartphone dramatically. Series also had Nokia E90 communicator with GPS capability. During those periods Nokia communicator accounted for 20% to 40% of most smartphones sold at that time, it also kept the title of the most expensive smartphone series ever sold during that time. The success of the Nokia communicator series was also credited to the suc-cessful collaboration with Personal digital assistant (PDA) which was owned by Hewlett Packard.


] [Figure2: The Nokia 9110 on [Figure 3: Nokia E90, when open] the left and 9000 on the right.]

2.3 Ericsson GS88

Sony Ericsson was known as Ericsson before their merger with Sony Inc. The first smartphone by the company was The GS88 [figure4] which was the first device that was officially labeled as a smartphone. It was released in 1997 one year after the introduction of the Nokia Communicator series but never to the public.

As I mentioned earlier, Ericsson never released its first smartphone to the public. It was only meant for trial purposes. But in the year 2000 to 2002 they came up with R380 and P800 respectively, the latter came with a camera and run on Symbian OS, Symbian was already dominating the OS Market by that time because Nokia's smartphones were also running on it, which was a boost for the OS maker.

2.4 Microsoft phone

In 2001 Microsoft created their version of a smartphone but didn’t release it to the public until mid in 2002. That was originally called Window CE pocket PC, but was later changed to Microsoft Window Powered Smartphone, the phone lacked a touchscreen and it also had a low level resolution. Microsoft lunched its new operating system the Windows Phone7[figure11]. operating system. It is the direct successor to the previous OS (Window Mo-bile) by Microsoft was launched in October 2010. Some of the hardware mak-ers that will be making phones that run on the OS are :Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC, HP , LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm; mobile network operators included AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telephonic, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, Voda-fone and SingTel.


[Figure 11: Window 7 start menu]

2.5 RIM Black Berry

Research in Motion released its first smartphone in 2002 which was called Blackberry [figure4]. The device was so successful that it dominated the smartphone market until now, it prods 32 million subscribers by the end of 2009(Wikipedia).

[Figure 4: first Blackberry] 3 Apple and Android 3.1 Apple iPhone


Back in Mid 2007 Apple was famous for its iPod Mp3 player and its Mac op-erating system and hardware. But in late 2007 all that changed when Apple in-troduced its first smartphone, iPhone [figure 5].

The initial cost for the smartphone was $500 which was an expensive bargain for customers. All the functionalities and controls of the phone were done via the touch screen except for the main menu button. Its multi-touch interface was the first of its kind. It had a unique and technologically advance browser which was far superior to that of its rivals.

Apple had a super strict regulation of its iPhone in other to prevent a third party installation of applications on its OS. But soon a software or process called Jail-break emerged. It allows users to install a third party application on their iPhone without limitations.

Steve Jobs publicly stated that the iPhone lacked 3G support due to the immaturity, power usage, and physical size requirements of 3G chipsets at the time. However, it has been ru-mored that the CDMA2000 Network Providers (Verizon, Sprint) refused to allow the iPhone on their network because Jobs wanted total control of the application store associated with the iPhone(Wikipedia: The Rise of iPhone and Android).

[Figure 5: first iPhone ] 3.1.1 iPhone 3G

This was the direct successor of the first iPhone, though going by the name you would think it’s a third generation Smartphone but contrary to that it’s ac-tually a second generation phone. Its operating system was the same as its predecessor which ran the apple iOS operating system. It came in two models; the 8GB and 16GB models and a black or white option. The most significant changes made from the previous iPhone that affected the customers directly was that the price of the IPhone 3G was cut almost into half and sold for $99 with contact of course.


The iPhone 3G cover was made entirely from a hard plastic material unlike its predecessor which was made of aluminum and plastic.

3.1.2 IPhone 3GS

The iPhone 3GS [figure 6] was the first Third Generation iPhone made by Ap-ple Inc., it succeeded the iPhone 3G. Its primary feature consisted mainly on its high resolution camera, faster performance; it also had voice control and video recording. And just like the previous iPhone its restricted a third party application but could be compromised with and update Jail-breaking software. The phone also has a metallic cover that seals the hardware inside the iPhone.

[Figure 6: iPhone 3GS]

3.1.3 iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 [figure7] is the latest and the most advanced of the iPhone series. It is also the most successful iPhone ever made by Apple. It was released on June 2010. It has the same operating system as the previous models. The structure of the phone is identical to the previous ones but different design. Its comes with stainless steel frame which also act as an antenna and a glass like panel on both sides of the phone.

iPhone 4 was and is a huge success, it sold more than five million in its first three months but there was also a setback in the process, customers com-plained of signal reduction or issues when a the iPhone is held in a certain po-sition. The company quickly offered customers free case for their iPhone 4. This was able to solve the problem. It also comes with two camera, one at the back and the in front, it was first of its kind for the iPhone series.


[Figure 7: iPhone4 ] 3.2 Andriod

Android is an open source platform that is owned by Google Inc. It is a cross platform operating system for mainly smartphones and iPads, it was intro-duced in mid-2008. The Android is back by OHA (open Software Alliance).

HTC was the first hardware maker to introduce a smartphone that runs on the Android platform, The HTC Dream [figure8]; was seen as bold move by Google and others to see how intent they are in challenging the smartphone market that is already being dominated by iPhone.

The most significant difference between the Apple phones and the Android run phones is that the latter is an open source platform, users can install a third party apps and with the option of free or paid apps on the Android un-like the Apple iPhones. The Android platform now has a handful of Smartphones that run on its platform such as: Samsung, HTC, Motorola ARM etc.

[Figure 8: iPhone 3GS 4 Smartphone Review

The main source for this chapter is www.tech2.in.com

http://www.tech2.in.com/


There are so many smartphones out there in the market to review from, but I have decided to review iPhone4, Samsung Galaxy S and Nokia N8. This is not to say that they are the top three smartphones in the market today consid-ering the fact that more and more improved smartphones are being intro-duced almost every day in the market. And of course people have a different opinion about each smartphone. I will be as fair as possible in my review. The idea of this review is not to determine which of the phones is better than the other, but it is to give a clear technical functionality of each of the phones and then let the reader decides which is best in their opinion. My reason for pick-ing this three are as follow:

4.1.1 iPhone 4

Seem to be the most popular smartphone out there in the market and maybe the most successful. Most smartphone makers out there will like to pitch there battle against the iPhone 4. I also chose the iPhone because it has its own unique operating system. That’s is made by Apple for Apple, no other smartphone runs on iOS except the iPhones

4.1.2 Samsung Galaxy S

The Galaxy S seem to be the smartphone that really challenged the iPhone market base, it’s not only the most successful Android phone ever sold, but for the fact that its user are growing at a very fast pace. Not to be biased or anything, it also gives me the personal satisfaction to say am a proud Galaxy S user, I must say it worth every penny I paid for it.

4.1.3 Nokia N8

Considering the fact Nokia sells more mobile phones that another. It’s a shame that only until now that they are introducing their own first unique modern day smartphone. It’s a good idea to add a Nokia due to the fact that I live in Finland and also having in mind that Nokia is an iconic figure in Fin-land.


4.2 Comparison

The phones are compared with their functionalities and technicalities


4.2.1 Samsung Galaxy S

The Galaxy S[figure8]; as you know it is a very competitive Android phone, In fact if you are looking for a direct clone of the IPhone4, then the Galaxy S would be the ideal choice. The biggest asset of the Galaxy S is it super amoled touchscreen. It shows an accurate crystal clear colors.


[Figure 9: Galaxy S] 4.2.2 iPhone 4

The iPhone4[figure7] is no doubt the most popular smartphone in the market today. Apple of course is very good when it comes to branding. One of the features that make the iPhone 4 unique is its supports Face Time, an embed-ded video calling application that is able to use either the front or back camera over a Wi-Fi connection to communicate with another iPhone 4. It got a rat-ing of 8.6/10 from CNET.

4.2.3 Nokia N8 The Nokia N8 [figure7] runs on a Symbian 3 operating system. It is said that the N8 will be the Smartphone that will challenge the IPhone or Android. It comes with an Anodized aluminum unibody, size of 113.5 × 59 × 12.9 mm. Weighs 135g.It is the first device by Nokia to run on the new Symbian 3 OS.

[Figure 10: Galaxy S ] 5 Market Share

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNET


The market share was be based on the Operating system a smartphone is run-ning on and on the users by operating system , there are so many smartphone makers out in the market so it is a bit difficult to categorize each by its market share.

Share of 2010 Q3 smartphones sales to end users by operating system,. [Source: Gartner]

Share of 2009 Q3 smartphone sales to end users by operating system,. [Source: Gartner]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner


6 Conclusion

I have come to a conclusion of “No Victor No Vanquish” i.e. it comes down to the users taste and the purchasing power (price). Like I mentioned earlier the goal of this review is not to present a smartphone that is better than the other, but it is to show you the functionality of each other them and then let you decide which your choice is. It is also about making a good choice when buying a new smartphone.

Smartphones: Operating System.

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