With the speed at which smartphones are being released, it's no surprise that some people are being left behind when it comes to the different operating systems that run on each different phone. The five major operating systems are; Symbian, Research in Motion, Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows Mobile.
iOS has recently been updated to its 4th version and with it came many new and exciting features. iOS4 was released to run on Apple's iPhone 4 and the newest iPod touches. If you're using any Apple portable device you're quite familiar with iOS4. Older iPhones can upgrade to the software as well. This update brought multitasking, unified inbox and threaded e-mail, and application organization by using folders.
Rumors have been circulating around the tech blogs related to Symbian's downfall. The rumor is that the newly released Nokia phones will stop using Symbian and will start running the Android operating system. If this happens, continuous updates of Symbian will cease and the operating system will fall out of use.
Android is Google's operating system and is the most open of all of the platforms. The newest version of Android is 2.2 or Froyo. Most of the versions of Android have a dessert as a name. Android is a modified version of the Linux operating system. With the release of the operating system came the creation of the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of some of the biggest companies in the cell phone business to help develop open standards for the mobile platform.
Next post will have some basic information on Research in Motion and Microsoft Windows Mobile.
