Mobile operating systems are updated from time to time. We regularly watch companies releasing updated products with added specifications. Where did all of this start? There seems to be no end to creating faster and adaptable operating systems, there is always new technology. A decade ago, all of these were still emerging slowly with each specification needing months or years of research. More than half of the population found carrying a mobile costly or burden to their budget. How did the developers drastically change the mobile operating system to the existing place where they are now? Now, we find every family putting their best efforts to give their child a decent mobile or tablet to use for their education. Being updated and utilizing technology became one of the mandatory tasks.
How did it start?
Around 1973 the mobile phones were running with embedded systems. These phones were bulky and mostly used by officials who would use them only in case of emergency. As time passed, by 1990, people who could afford an extra mobile phone had it. However, everyone kept it only for emergency calls because receiving a call would mean paying for the call.
Apple released its first mobile operator in 1993. The grand release excited everyone to go to the stores and grab the newton series portable computer. The running system was Newton OS. The glitch with Apple mobile phones was its high cost. GO corporation released PenPoint OS available to common people.
In the next year, companies released their products like Sony releasing Magic Cap OS by General Magic and IBM releasing the first smartphone with a touch screen. In 1994, IBM Simon released the touch screen phone which can send emails and had PDA features was a big hit. Within a few years, other companies come forward bringing tough competition for IBM.
In 1996, Nokia and Palm released their operating systems. They turned out to rule the mobile operating system for years to come. Palm consistently released its new versions almost every year from 1996 to 2004. Nokia hits the world with its wide options available.
Many companies released their own operating systems predicting high demand for such devices in the future. Due to many reasons within companies, some collided with each other and the rest collapsed within a decade. Some of these are Psion series 5 PDA renamed to Symbian OS, Ericsson, and Qualcomm. Qualcomm is operated by Palm OS. Nokia with Symbian combined in 2001 to form a new operating system that had an additional feature from an outside source. Qualcomm releases the wireless real-time communicator by 2001. Within a year later, Microsoft and BlackBerry release their first smartphones. These phones were adaptable to the corporates for better communication. The professional use marked the brand throughout the years. Alongside Apple and Palm also released their better versions within 2007. A new operating system emerged into the industry as The Danger Hiptop in the U.S. Most smartphones were being sold in the populated countries, selling different kinds of smartphones to people from various backgrounds.
The merging:
One major alliance was in 2007 by Google to merge 34 different companies. It included the merging of all the major firms like HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Intel. This is known as the Open Handset Alliance, now extended to 84 firms. These firms were all kinds of companies related to mobiles or smartphones from chipmakers to operating system companies. Usually, the license of a product is within the company, but in the operating systems industry, anyone can duplicate a software. Android is an open software available for everyone.
By 2009, intel emerged into the operating system, only to handover Moblin 2 to Linux. These were uniquely designed with Netbooks using Intel’s fast processor. 2009 was a fantastic year for people with new releases from Nokia, Danger, Apple, Microsoft, and Palm. The updating seemed unstoppable at this point. New features that amazed the audience and demand for owning the latest smartphones increased, making long queues before the release day. Apple specially created a trademark with its brand. The owners of mobile companies were driven to make their business the most successful one. Silicon Valley in the US was booming with techies who are filled with the excitement and motivation to create the impossible technology. It is one part of the history where technology was iconic as affordability, quality and the speed of the operating system were considered.
The merging happened between Linux, Nokia, and Intel for a better product result. Similarly, HP acquired Palm to release different products of mobile devices. The iPad from Apple and tablets from different companies became famous due to its large screens and usage similar to a computer. As a result, there are many combinations of devices now within many operating systems.
Current major operating systems:
Now mobile operating systems allow the use of so many different utilities and applications. Everything from mobile games to adult dating apps and bdsm escort apps. Really there is no limit to the apps and functions that these devices are now capable of. Some of the present operating systems are Android by Google, BlackBerry, Bada by Samsung, iPhone OS from Apple, MeeGo by Nokia and Intel, Symbian by Nokia and windows operating system. All of these have advanced software used for multiple purposes.