MABELYN SORIANO BSCS 3A

TASK 1
Over the past decade, smartphones have altered our lives in ways that go far beyond
how we communicate. In addition to calling, texting, and emailing, more than two billion
people use these devices to navigate, book cab rides, compare product reviews and prices,
keep up with the news, watch movies, listen to music, play video games, memorialize vacations,
and, last but not least, participate in social media.
It is undeniable that mobile technology has provided numerous benefits to society, and this is
possible not only due to the hardware, but also the specialized software and, most significantly,
the Mobile Operating System (OS) that these devices run. Most smartphones run on several
Mobile Operating Systems, which is the backbone of the entire working of the mobile device,
just like a PC can run on numerous OS's or different versions of the same OS.
In a study entitled “A Study on Mobile Operating Systems and their Recent Advances”,
Subrahmanyam & Swathi (2011) discussed what is Mobile Operating System, the characteristics
of mobile OS, their evolution, numerous categories, market share around the world, and a
comparative examination of various mobile OS features.

Subrahmanyam and Swathi (2011) defined mobile operating system or Mobile OS as a

set of data and programs that operates on a computer or mobile device, and manages all of the
hardware and maximizes the device's application software's efficacy. It was also added that in a
mobile device, a mobile OS controls multimedia functions, mobile and Internet connectivity,
and other features.
A similar definition is also stated in the work of Arora et.al (2014), as they defined mobile OS as
a software that allows phones, tablet PC’s and other devices to run applications and programs.
Additionally, mobile OS also manages cellular and wireless network connectivity, as well as
phone access.
The operating systems found on smartphones include Symbian OS, iPhone OS, RIM's
BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm WebOS, Android, and Maemo. Android, Bada, webOS, and
Maemo are all based on Linux, whereas iOS is developed from the BSD and NeXTSTEP operating
systems, which are all UNIX-based.
According to Subramanyam and Swathi, the smartphone sector has special qualities that set it
apart from the PC and other mobile phone markets. They claimed that the characteristics that
build Smartphone markets is unique and calls for a comprehensively designed OS. Some of the
characteristics of Mobile OS for Smartphones they listed includes small and handy, multiple,
frequent and continuous connectivity, products diversity, open platform and limited memory.
EVOLUTION OF MOBILE OS
Smartphones, like everything else, are constantly evolving, innovating, and wonderful. From
Palm OS to Android Honeycomb, there are now more than a half-dozen Smartphone operating
systems available on the market.
Subrahmanyam and Swathi (2011) provided a table that shows the timeline view of the
evolution of Mobile OS
Name of the Mobile O/S Year of New Features
launch
Palm OS 1.0 1996 RIM applications Address, Datebook, Memo pad, To-do list
Palm OS 2.0 1997 Mail and Expense are added
Palm OS 3.0 1998 HotSync Support, Web Clipping Support, native 8-bit color
support
Pocket PC 2000 2000
Pocket PC 2002 2001 MSN Messenger, Media Player 8 Enhanced UI
Palm OS 4.0 2001 External File Systems, 16-bit color screens
Palm OS 5.0 2002 PACE Emulator, Bluetooth Emulator
Windows Mobile 2003 2003 Bluetooth Integration, Pocket Internet Explorer, Windows
Media Player 9.0
Windows Mobile 2003 SE 2004 SE Potrait and Landscape switching for Pocket PCs and WPA
Palm OS Cobalt 2004 Telecommunication, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Connectivity
Windows Mobile 5 2005 Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, Global Positioning System
(GPS) Management Interface, Introduction to Office Mobile
Blackberry OS 4.1 2005
iPhone OS 1.0 2007
Windows Mobile 6 2007 .NET Compact Framework v2 SP2 Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Compact Edition Windows Live
Blackberry OS 4.2 2007 Voice Notes Option,
Email and SMS in separate folders
iPhone OS 2.0 2008 Third Party Application support, Sync Google contacts
Blackberry OS 4.5 2008 HTML emails, faster performance and improved multi-tasking,
Microsoft Office Documents ToGO
Windows Mobile 6.1 2008 Threaded SMS full page, zooming in Internet Explorer and
Domain Enroll
Android 1.0 2008
Symbian OS 2008 Desktop Interactive Widgets, FaceBook IM chat
Android 1.1 2009 Support for saving attachments from MMS, Marque in layouts,
API changes
Blackberry OS 5 2009 Wireless Sync, Blackberry Enterprise Server 5, almost
revamped web browser
Windows 6.5 2009 Internet Explorer Mobile 6 and Multi touch support
Samsung Bada 1.0 2009
iPhone OS 3.0 2009 Push Notifications, cut, copy and paste, Turn-by-Turn
Navigation, Voice memos
 HP Web OS
Android 1.5 (Cup cake)
Android 1.6 (Donut)
Android 2.0/2.1 (Éclair)
iPhone iOS 4.0
Blackberry OS 6
Windows Phone 7
Android 2.2 (Froyo)
Android 2.3 (GingerBread)
Symbian^2 OS
Symbian^3 OS
Android 3.0 (HoneyComb)
2009 Synergy app, multi-touch gestures and multi-tasking
2009 Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP support, Uploading videos to
YouTube and pictures to Picasa
2009 WVGA screen resolution support Google free turn-by turn
navigation
2009 HTML5 support, Microsoft Exchange Server, Bluetooth 2.1
2010 Multitasking, Folders
2010 New media interface, stronger social media integration,
Multiple Contact Lists, track pad support for swipe gestures
2010 Tiled UI, Loud-based services support, Multitasking
2010 USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot functionality, Adobe Flash
10.1support
2010 Multi-touch software keyboard, Support for extra large screen
sizes and resolutions
2010 Royalty-free version
2010 Native Webkit browser, 2D and 3D graphics architecture, UI
improvements and support for external displays through HDMI
2011

In their study, the initial version of Mobile OS was launched in 1996. However, there is an older
version based on (D, 2022). According to him, embedded systems were utilized to control the
operation of mobile phones from 1973 until 1993. An embedded system is a computer system
that performs a specific purpose within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It consists of a
computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices.
This timeline depicts the evolution of mobile operating systems (D, 2022).
 1993 - 1999
o 1993, April – PenPoint OS by GO Corporation becomes available on the AT&T EO
Personal Communicator.
o 1994, March – Magic Cap OS by General Magic was first introduced on the Sony Magic
Link PDA.
o 1996, August – Nokia releases the Nokia 9000 Communicator running an integrated
system based on the PEN/GEOS 3.0 OS from Geoworks.
o 1997 – EPOC32 first appeared on the Psion Series 5 PDA. Release 6 of EPOC32 will later
be renamed to Symbian OS.
o 1999, June – Qualcomm’s pdQ became the first smartphone with Palm OS.
 2001, June – Nokia’s Symbian Series 80 platform was first released on the Nokia 9210
Communicator. This is the first phone running an OS branded as Symbian, and the first
phone using that OS that allows user installation of additional software. September –
Qualcomm’s Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform on their REX real-
time operating system (RTOS) is first released on the Kyocera QCP-3035.
 2002, Java Platform, Micro Edition or Java ME is a computing platform for the development
and deployment of portable code for embedded and mobile devices used in blackberry.
 In June 2002, Nokia’s Symbian Series 60 (S60) platform is released with the Nokia 7650,
Nokia’s first phone with a camera and Multimedia Messaging Service on a mobile operating
system
 In 2003, Motorola introduced the first linux based cell phone Motorola A760 based on Linux
MontaVista distribution.
 2005, May – Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 5.0. November – Nokia introduces
Maemo OS
 2007, January – Apple’s iPhone with iOS was released, a real game-changer.
 2008 July - Apple releases iPhone OS 2
 In the same year that is 2008 October – OHA released Android (based on Linux kernel) 1.0
with the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) as the first Android phone, another game changer in the
mobile operating system Market.
 February 2010, Samsung introduced the Bada OS and showed the first Bada smartphone,
the Samsung S8500. It’s later released in May 2010.
 In April 2010, Apple released the iPad (first generation) with iPhone OS 3.2. This is the first
version of the mobile Operating System to support tablet computers.
 2013, January – BlackBerry releases their new operating system for smartphones,
BlackBerry 10, with their Q10 and Z10 smartphones. BlackBerry 10 is not backward
compatible with the BlackBerry OS used on their previous smartphones.
 In February 2018, Samsung released Samsung Experience 9.0 based on Android “Oreo” 8.0
globally to Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. In May Huawei released LiteOS version 2.1. In
November, Samsung announced the One UI as the latest version of the Samsung Experience
UI.

CATEGORIES OF MOBILE OS
According to Subrahmanyam and Swathi (2011), there are various categories of Mobile OS.
These are Manufacturer-built proprietary OS, Third party Proprietary OS, and Free and Open
Source OS.
Manufacturer-Built Proprietary OS
Subrahmanyam and Swathi (2011) stated that in this category, for mobile phones and tablets,
some manufacturers employ their own proprietary operating system. Apple is a good example,
with iOS serving as the operating system for their iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad devices. Other
examples are RIM's BlackBerry OS, which is used by all BlackBerry phones and tablets, and HP's
Palm Web OS, which is used by their Palm range of smartphones and tablets.

Third-Party Proprietary OS
The proprietary operating systems, on the other hand, are developed by companies that do not
manufacture devices but license their operating system to manufacturers for running it on
theirs. Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7, for example, are widely used on
smartphones from HTC, Samsung, Dell, and LG, among others. These operating systems also
have a consistent appearance and functionality across all devices, such as Windows 7, which
looks and operates the same regardless of the computer brand.

Free and Open Source OS

There are open source operating systems that have been developed by a corporation, a
collection of companies, or a community of developers and made accessible for anybody to
alter and install on their preferred devices. Android, Symbian, the impending MeeGo, and, most
crucially, Android are examples of these operating systems (Subrahmanyam and Swathi, 2011).
Heath (2019) stated that on a closed-source operating system like Windows, that code can only
be changed by Microsoft, and only a few select clients, such as large corporations, can see it.
Under the rules of open-source licenses such as MIT, GNU Public License, and Apache 2.0, the
code that underpins open-source operating systems is not only free to examine, but also to
edit, use, and share. He claimed that this way has many advantage as it allow anyone to see the
source code. Delving into the source code allows those with adequate technical understanding
to customize the OS and correct problems as they occur.

MARKET SHARE
The growing importance of mobile devices has sparked fierce competition among software
powerhouses such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, and other Open Source Communities, as well as
mobile industry leaders Nokia, Samsung, Research In Motion (RIM), and Palm, in an attempt to
gain a competitive advantage.
In the data provided by Gartner (as cited in Subrahmanyam and Swathi, 2011), Android had the
greatest market share with a 47% in the year 2011. It was followed by Symbian with 22%,
followed by iOS, RIM BlackBerry, and Other OSs, with a market share of 18%, 12% and 3%
respectively. Microsoft placed last with 2% market share.
Today, Android still tops as it maintained its position as the leading mobile operating system
worldwide in January 2022, controlling the mobile OS market with a close to 70 percent share,
while iOS accounted for around 25 percent of the mobile operating system market (Laricchia,
2022)

Today's smartphone manufacturers compete by selling smartphones with nearly identical

specifications at reduced prices. With the increasing competition among smartphone
manufacturers, a better mobile operating system will undoubtedly develop in the near future.
Multiple mobile operating systems create a range of challenges, despite minor differences in
features. Subrahmanyam and Swathi (2011) explore the common and fundamental concerns
and challenges of the Mobile OS in their work.
Here are some of the listed challenges which Subrahmanyam and Swathi discussed in their
study:
 Usability and interoperability issues plague mobile OS design. Due to the small physical
size of mobile phone form factors, usability issues are challenging to solve. The
fragmentation of mobile devices, mobile operating systems, and mobile browsers
causes interoperability challenges.
 Configuration management for hardware and software.
 It's difficult to offer content to diverse cellphones operated by various service providers.
 Possibilities of setup mistakes, defects (in both the OS and the programs it executes),
viruses, and other malware are introduced.
 System integrity
 Power management
 Continuous Connectivity

A mobile operating system, like a computer operating system, is the software platform on
which other programs run. When you buy a smartphone, the manufacturer will have chosen
the operating system for that device. The mobile operating system determines which
capabilities and features are available on your device, such as thumbwheels, keyboards, WAP,
synchronization with applications, e-mail, text messaging, and more. It also determines which
third-party programs can be utilized on your device.
In the study of Subrahmanyam and Swathi, it only focused on the evolution of mobile operating
systems, market share, comparative analysis, and concerns and challenges. They only had
limited discussions with these topic thus some information are provided in this paper.

References
Heath. (2019). What are open-source operating systems? Everything you need to know. Retrieved from ZDNet:
https://zd.net/3lf7eAd

Laricchia, F. (2022). Mobile operating systems' market share worldwide from January 2012 to January 2022.
Retrieved from Statista: https://bit.ly/3Me7X0t

Subrahmanyam, V., & Swathi, K. (2011). A Study on Mobile Operating Systems and their Recent Advances.

xcubelabs. (2012). The Evolution of Mobile Operating Systems. Retrieved from SlideShare: https://bit.ly/3weoax8