Posted on October 14, 2009, at 2:10 pm .
Gartner has released a slightly revised version of their outlook for the 2012 mobile operating system. The latest predictions put Symbian as the top OS, followed by Android, with BlackBerry in third and iPhone in fourth.
The interesting part of this research is the positioning of BlackBerry relative to the iPhone. The advantage of BlackBerry is that it will always have enough devices to cover the entire gamut of potential smartphone users. While you may not love every device that RIM ships, there will always be a device for you.
While Gartner believes that Open Source OS markets are the future, we aren’t seeing much proof of this. Developers aren’t making enough money on either platform for the devices to be of much of use. We have said this countless times on BlackBerry Cool, it’s the software that determines the winner and hardware is fast becoming secondary with regards to the competitiveness of a device.
Gartner has placed a large degree in confidence in Nokia after their partnership with Microsoft. The thought is that the partnership will allow Nokia to deliver Office Mobile, as well as full SharePoint integration, allowing Nokia to steal some of RIM’s enterprise market share. Perhaps this may look good to an analyst at Gartner, but it simply won’t happen. Unless Nokia comes out with a product that rivals BES, hosts an equally robust developer community as well as provides the security of a BlackBerry, the partnership is just talk. If SharePoint is the only advantage, you will have to prove that it is significantly better than what Wicksoft can offer.
Overall, the predictions are as follows:
1. Symbian
2. Android
3. BlackBerry
4. iPhone
5. Windows Mobile
While we may not know the final outcome until 2012, rest assured it’s the developers who will decide the final victor. So if you’re a developer looking to make that killer app, don’t let Gartner become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Go to the brand you trust and ultimately, go to the brand that’s making you money. I guarantee you it’s not Symbian, Android or Windows Mobile.
[Via]
Posted on September 3, 2009, at 11:16 am .
Skyfire has announced they have received $5 million in funding. The funds will top off their Series B from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Trinity Ventures. The company will use the funds to support new smartphone platforms beyond Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry, as well as utilizing their unique technology for solutions beyond the browser.
It’s not obvious yet how RIM’s acquisition of Torch Mobile and their plans to update the browser will affect third party browsers such as Opera Mini and Skyfire. It’s possible that once RIM updates their browser, there will no longer be a need for third party browsers, as the experience would be adequate for the general user. On the other hand, third party browsers have been innovating in the space and there is something to be said for being the first to market. There may always be a need for third party browsers to deliver a browsing experience better than that of the native browser.
Posted on March 25, 2009, at 8:42 am .
Rhomobile has launched a platform that many developers may find useful: an open source porting solution. The open source product is called Rhodes and it allows developers to write once and have their native app run on iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian.
The open source smartphone framework allows developers to write once using HTML to simultaneously create native applications for all smartphones including iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android. Rhodes creates full featured native apps (not web apps) with advanced capabilities and access to functions including GPS, camera and PIM.
The Rhodes framework is now available at RhoMobile.com/download
Posted on January 24, 2008, at 11:44 am .
Josep recently posted some screenshots of the upcoming DataViz Documents to Go announced at Lotusphere. Documents to Go has been letting Palm, Windows Mobile and Symbian users edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files for awhile now – about time it comes to BlackBerry, eh? After this first step, maybe we can look forward to wireless syncing to desktop documents sometime soon. Still, we can look forward to Documents to Go being bundled in with OS 4.5 due mid-’08.
Posted on August 20, 2007, at 7:50 am .
5o9, a company aiming to revolutionize mobile web browsing, has let us know that they’re working on support for BlackBerry now that Windows Mobile and Symbian platforms are just about done. Last week we got a comment from someone telling us how their software was bypassing data rates for LBS services, so we were obviously a little curious in what they had to offer. After having a lengthy chat with Peter from 5o9, he laid out how their server-side module did a lot more than just LBS. The idea is that owners put a little something called Mod_Mobile on their servers and put some code in the header of their page. (Techies might remember the name… 5o9 are the same guys that made mod_gzip). Users with the browser plug-in MobileMe installed then have site navigation shunted over to their browser menus.
But the real exciting thing is how MobileMe remembers who you are and changes your browsing experience…
Posted on June 18, 2007, at 12:12 pm .
For anyone using this great little meta-chat client, BeeJive is working on a file transfer system, available for preview over here. Right now, it’s only supporting microSD-installed 8100, 8300 and 8800 BlackBerrys, but “JiveTalk also has plans to release their popular software to other devices like Windows Mobile, Symbian UIQ, and have whispered that they’re actively looking at supporting the Apple iPhone.” BGR has some screens of the new software, so go take a look.
