Open Source Symbian OS vs Android by Open Handset Alliance

There is a battle coming and the major winner in this battle of the brands will be the consumer thanks to Open Source, cheaper prices and better support. The new Open Source Symbian OS is being formed and will see the Symbian operating systems from NTT DoCoMo, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Nokia become one big powerhouse.

This is bad news for Google Android that was in a position to take over the world with the help of the Open Handset Alliance (a group of big companies). With the MOAP, UIQ and S60 operating systems becoming one, we could see Symbian gain a much bigger market share in the U.S.

The news that the above four are joining the Symbian Foundation is bad, but what makes things even worse for Google’s Android would be the fact that Vodafone, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are also joining this new Foundation. Google and Open Handset Alliance do have T-Mobile USA and Sprint backing them but then these do not even come close to Vodafone and AT&T’s market share.

HTC has also teamed up with the OHA, but when we look at the overall picture of the powerhouses behind the new Symbian Foundation, it looks like this could become the most powerful mobile operating system ever. It will not be simple to make this happen, the Symbian Foundation will need to take the best of each OS to create one that creates endless possibilities.

We have talked a lot about Open Source of late and How Microsoft and Apple need to start waking up to this form of software, with the news of the Symbian Foundation being completely open source, it looks like other big brands will fall behind if they do not change. The Symbian Foundation will have many goals and one of the biggest is the same with all open source platforms, it will be to encourage developers to build compelling applications to benefit the community.

What can Google and the Open Handset Alliance partners do with Android to take most of the market share?

Source: Read