Android the Only Smartphone OS Gaining Market Share?

In the U.S. market, at least, Android devices seem to be the only class of devices, sorted by operating system, that has gained market share over the last six months, Nielsen reports.

Eee, gOS Rocket, Linux, Computing in the Cloud

Things are looking up for Linux PCs (even though its share in the OS market still is small) and "computing in the cloud." Good OS, the open source startup that introduced gOS, a Linux operating system with Google and Web applications, on a $199 Wal-Mart PC last November, now says announced that gOS Rocket will be introduced January 7. Think of gOS Rocket as a low-cost Linux-powered notebook that is optimized as a Web device.

Note also that the Asustek Eee PC--also a Linux machine-- was among the top-ten notebook PCs sold by Amazon over the Christmas season, and was ranked at the top of wish lists compiled by Web site CNet. Asustek executives say demand was so strong forthis Christmas season that virtually all available units were bought just about as soon as they were put on the shelves.

“In the two weeks since its launch in the US, the Eee PC has already sold ten thousand sets,” says Sunny Han, ASUS director. Asustek fully expected to finish 2007 by meeting its sales goal of 350,000 units, and is planning for sales in 2008 of three to five million.

Rocket comes with Google Gears, the online-offline synchronization technology from Google that enables offline use of web apps.

gOS Rocket also features gBooth, a browser-based web cam application with special effects, integration with Facebook and other Web services; shortcuts to launch Google Reader, Talk, and Finance on the desktop; an online storage drive powered by Box.net; and Virtual Desktops, an intuitive feature to easily group and move applications across multiple desktop spaces.

At the center of Rocket's new desktop is a gorgeous Google search box, enabling users to perform Google searches directly from the desktop. This new feature launches Google search results in Firefox, the leading, open source web browser. Surrounding the Google search box is an attractive desktop environment comprised of new wallpaper, icons, digital clock, and other new desktop elements.

"Like most of our customers, we absolutely love the gorgeous design and simplified navigation that gOS provides," says Paul Kim, director of marketing for Everex. "With the release of Rocket, the gOS team has once again shown the industry how to make a great looking operating system intuitive and easy to use."

Rocket includes Google Gears to enable offline use of web apps. Google Reader, which allows you to read all your news and blogs in one place, is the only Google application to currently work offline with Google Gears and has been added to the gOS desktop. Launching Firefox will reveal a new custom gOS homepage that prominently features a continually updated list of web apps that work with Google Gears to allow offline access.

Separately, researchers at Informa predict that, by 2012, Linux will ship annually in 128 million mobile phones, or about 8.8 percent of all handsets sold. The report also forecasts a bright outlook for other open source mobile technologies, including Java, WebKit, and others.

According to the report, Linux in 2006 was the second most popular OS for smartphones sold worldwide. During that year it shipped in about 11.7 million handsets, the "vast majority" of which went to customers in Asia. Uptake in Europe and North America during 2007 is forecast to drive overall shipments close to 20 million, or about 17.3 percent of the smartphone market. From there, shipments are expected to nearly quadruple by 2010, reaching 27 percent of all smartphones by 2012.

Mac OS Gains in December

Though Windows remains the overwhelming leader in operating systems, December browser data shows a surge by Apple, iPod and Linux, says Net Applications.

The Mac OS was in use by 7.3 percent of users, up from 6.8 percent in November. The iPhone nudged up to 0.12 percent, up from .09 percent in November.

Microsoft’s Windows still dominates, with a 91.8 percent share.

Net Applications’ monthly surveys represent data from visitors to some 40,000 websites operated by the firm’s clients.

The Linux operating system also showed strong growth, up better than 10 percent to hit a .63 percent share.

If Operating Systems Were Airlines: Part 2

If Operating Systems Ran The Airlines...

UNIX Airways

Everyone brings one piece of the plane along when they come to the airport. They all go out on the runway and put the plane together piece by piece, arguing non-stop about what kind of plane they are supposed to be building.

Air DOS

Everybody pushes the airplane until it glides, then they jump on and let the plane coast until it hits the ground again. Then they push again, jump on again, and so on...

Mac Airlines

All the stewards, captains, baggage handlers, and ticket agents look and act exactly the same. Every time you ask questions about details, you are gently but firmly told that you don't need to know, don't want to know, and everything will be done for you without your ever having to know, so just shut up.

Windows Air

The terminal is pretty and colourful, with friendly stewards, easy baggage check and boarding, and a smooth take-off. After about 10 minutes in the air, the plane explodes with no warning whatsoever.

Windows NT Air

Just like Windows Air, but costs more, uses much bigger planes, and takes out all the other aircraft within a 40-mile radius when it explodes.

Windows XP Air

You turn up at the airport,which is under contract to only allow XP Air planes. All the aircraft are identical, brightly coloured and three times as big as they need to be. The signs are huge and all point the same way. Whichever way you go, someone pops up dressed in a cloak and pointed hat insisting you follow him. Your luggage and clothes are taken off you and replaced with an XP Air suit and suitcase identical to everyone around you as this is included in the exorbitant ticket cost. The aircraft will not take off until you have signed a contract. The inflight entertainment promised turns out to be the same Mickey Mouse cartoon repeated over and over again. You have to phone your travel agent before you can have a meal or drink. You are searched regularly throughout the flight. If you go to the toilet twice or more you get charged for a new ticket. No matter what destination you booked you will always end up crash landing at Whistler in Canada.
OSX Air:

You enter a white terminal, and all you can see is a woman sitting in the corner behind a white desk, you walk up to get your ticket. She smiles and says "Welcome to OS X Air, please allow us to take your picture", at which point a camera in the wall you didn't notice before takes your picture. "Thank you, here is your ticket" You are handed a minimalistic ticket with your picture at the top, it already has all of your information. A door opens to your right and you walk through. You enter a wide open space with one seat in the middle, you sit, listen to music and watch movies until the end of the flight. You never see any of the other passengers. You land, get off, and you say to yourself "wow, that was really nice, but I feel like something was missing"

Windows Vista Airlines:

You enter a good looking terminal with the largest planes you have ever seen. Every 10 feet a security officer appears and asks you if you are "sure" you want to continue walking to your plane and if you would like to cancel. Not sure what cancel would do, you continue walking and ask the agent at the desk why the planes are so big. After the security officer making sure you want to ask the question and you want to hear the answer, the agent replies that they are bigger because it makes customers feel better, but the planes are designed to fly twice as slow. Adding the size helped achieve the slow fly goal.

Once on the plane, every passenger has to be asked individually by the flight attendants if they are sure they want to take this flight. Then it is company policy that the captain asks the passengers collectively the same thing. After answering yes to so many questions, you are punched in the face by some stranger who when he asked "Are you sure you want me to punch you in the face? Cancel or Allow?" you instinctively say "Allow".

After takeoff, the pilots realize that the landing gear driver wasn't updated to work with the new plane. Therefore it is always stuck in the down position. This forces the plane to fly even slower, but the pilots are used to it and continue to fly the planes, hoping that soon the landing gear manufacturer will give out a landing gear driver update.

You arrive at your destination wishing you had used your reward miles with XP airlines rather than trying out this new carrier. A close friend, after hearing your story, mentions that Linux Air is a much better alternative and helps.

Linux Air

Disgruntled employees of all the other OS airlines decide to start their own airline. They build the planes, ticket counters, and pave the runways themselves. They charge a small fee to cover the cost of printing the ticket, but you can also download and print the ticket yourself.

When you board the plane, you are given a seat, four bolts, a wrench and a copy of the seat-HOWTO.html. Once settled, the fully adjustable seat is very comfortable, the plane leaves and arrives on time without a single problem, the in-flight meal is wonderful. You try to tell customers of the other airlines about the great trip, but all they can say is, "You had to do what with the seat?"

Android Creates Instant Developer Community

One of the big problems a communications service provider faces is how to leverage the creativity of the Web and apps community to drive service innovation which carriers frankly are ill equipped to undertake. Android basically solves that problem. Developers respond to big opportunities and that is what Android now represents: a chance to develop apps for mobile operators representing 40-some-odd percent of the U.S. mobile population, virtually all of China, one of the fastest-growing global markets, plus the two dominant providers in the trendy Japanese market plus Spain, Germany and Italy, just for starters.

That's an instant and massive developer community at a time when every major communications service provider needs such a developer community allied to it. Google may well disrupt. It also is going to help carriers move ahead on the innovation front in a way impossible on their own.

To the extent that most innovations and applications are going to come from the independent developer community--not from the carriers--this is a very big deal indeed.

That isn't to underplay the role played by developers working for Microsoft or Symbian, either. It's just that leveraging the Linux community adds even more intellectual capital, and capital that heretofore hadn't been deployed to enrich mobile Web apps.

Will Android Disrupt PCs?

Though most of the speculation about Android's impact concerns what might happen with mobile apps on mobile devices, mobile Web, mobile carriers and device manufacturers, there are other angles. Let's assume lots of apps start to get developed around Android. Then assume people really do start spending lots more time with Web apps of various types on their hand held devices, even if today that does not seem to be common.

Once those apps are written, will they start to port to PCs? After all, any app well-enough written to run on a mobile with severe display and input capabilities, compared to a PC, might be fun to use even on a PC that suffers from none of those limitations. Basically, anything Android runs can appear as a widget on a desktop or laptop. Widgets are fun. They are personal. They are customized. They are easy to add and delete. They don't require lots of thinking, processing or storage.

Of course, that might have really serious implications for PC operating systems. In a new way, we might see yet another iteration of the thin client approach to applications. In essence, that is what software as a service is all about. Android just might change the paradigm for PCs, since it essentially will assume services are in the cloud. It will take a while before we can determine whether this is realistic or not.

Google has argued Android and its ecosystem might lead to ad-supported devices. Might it also someday lead to a resurgence of interest in thin client PCs? Microsoft will hope not. But network-centric participants in the communications and entertainment industries might see new possibilities.

Photo by Andy Voss at the BroadSoft Connections conference. Can you figure out why I think thin client and mobile Web access seems promising, even when multiple mobile smart and feature phones are in the quiver? I have an office and a desk. I just don't use them, even when able to use the "office." A nice view of the animals and the vegetation is much better, so long as I have power and wireless access of one sort or another.

Google Launches Mobile Assault

Count Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile amongst its carrier partners. Count Samsung and Motorola among its handset partners. Don't look for Symbian or Nokia support, as Google will launch a rival operating system based on Linux, integrating Gmail, mapping and optimized search.

The phones are expected to come on the market around the middle of 2008 and will feature Google software as the anchor around which third party apps also will be added.

About 25 alliance partners already are working with Google.

at&t seems to have some barriers to working with Google as a result of its Apple deal, while Verizon might still be worried about facing Google as a rival network operator. Still, Google's new push will help create a new category of mobile devices not optimized around voice, email or music, but around Web applications.