Now, the next question is, which one ? The engine behind a smartphone is its Operating System (OS). This article will explain you with 4 great choices.
Please note that we are only considering the operating systems for touch screens (which form a majority of the smartphones these days) – in fact, operating systems such as iOS (iPhone OS) and Android are designed only for touch screens.
Now, lets look at each OS in detail.If you are interested in only the final scores, skip to the bottom of this article.
1.Symbian
The oldest smartphone operating system. If you have owned a Nokia smartphone, you are probably familiar with this OS.Nokia is now alone in making Symbian smartphones, but there are couple of variants to be aware of mass-market devices features Symbian S60.Symbian was earlier a separate company but was acquired by Nokia in 2008. Today virtually all Nokia smartphones as well as some of the smartphones from the likes of Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG are based on this OS.Lets rank it on the important parameters.
User Interface (for Symbian S60)
How do we put this ? As far as touchscreen phones are concerned, Symbian is robust and reliable, but its not really quite as intuitive as Android or iPhone OS.
Things which would require a 1-2 taps on Android tend to require 3-4 on Symbian with its often redundant sub menus. Still, its pretty solid, and doesn’t take much time to get used to.
Here is a look at the Nokia X6, based on the Symbian S60 Fifth Edition.
User Interface (for Symbian 3)
The new version of Symbian – Symbian 3 – available in the newer Nokia smartphones including N8 – revamps the ageing OS a bit, and improves the user interface, bringing in multiple personalized home-screens, pinch to zoom functionality etc, but still falls short of the more modern operating systems like Android in terms of intuitiveness.
Here is a look at Nokia N8, based on Symbian 3.
Application Availability
Being the oldest among the big smartphone platforms (and the most popular), there is a decent variety of applications available for Symbian. The new Ovi Store makes it easy to browse and download apps straight on your Nokia smartphone. And a renewed push to the developer ecosystem (including introduction of carrier billing in several countries) indicates that Nokia is prepared to give a good fight in the face of hard competition.
However, the variety of applications, currently available, still falls way short when compared to Android or iPhone OS.
2.Android (Google)
Android phones now out-sell any other platform and it’s not difficult to see why. Its obvious popularity with users aside, far more mobile manufacturers including HTC, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung an LG – use Android than any other OS. It features a rapidly expanding catalogue of apps and software update are famously given sweet-toothed code names such as cupcake, Eclair dan Gingerbread.
Moreover,Anything from the house of Google is bound to generate hype and interest, so in a sense Android was always destined to be successful. But it would be this successful, not many imagined. With great overall performance, and simple, sensible functionality that is the hallmark of virtually all Google products, Android has caught on the imagination of mobile manufacturers like no other OS.
User Interface (for Android 4.0)
User Interface has been totally redefined to have a much more powerful, useful and a better look. Better accessibility of apps and comfortable use of the Android has been made sure by this new UI. This UI is flexible according to screen size, for example, when it runs on a big screen, the notifications and other buttons appear in the System Bar located at the bottom of the screen, while in smaller screens, the traditional but better drop down bar hangs from the top of the screen, giving you better management of apps and notifications.
Better Data Usage Management
Have an eye on your data usages with ease on your Android 4.0, using the Data Usage tool that comes inbuilt with the OS. With the Data Usage tool, you can view detailed usage of Mobile Data as well as Wi-Fi Data represented by numbers as well as graphs. You can also set a limit for Mobile Data usage so that it doesn’t exceed that limit, and you may not incur any extra charges for data.
Application Availability
So far the only platform to come even remotely close to challenging the number and variety of apps on iPhone OS, the Android application market has grown by leaps and bounds ever since its release. In fact it gets a leg up on the iPhone app store in terms of the ratio of free applications to paid applications.
In fact some of the really good apps for Android are those already on the phone and created by Google itself – the troika of Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps, are brilliantly designed and sync flawlessly with your online accounts.
3.Windows OS 8
Last week, Microsoft had big news for us - it unveiled the first major redefinition of its Windows Phone platform, bumping up the version number up from 7 to Windows Phone 8. The update came with plenty of new features both on the user interface side of things with a brand new start panel, but also on the core side of the platform itself which now runs on the same kernel Windows 8 runs on, the Windows NT core.This means that you get support for multi-core chips and you'd get faster ports of apps and easier overall development across platforms.
Overall, it brought better customization by allowing small icons tiles, getting rid of the unnecessary black strip on the side and filling your whole screen with those modernistic colorful tiles. The new version of Windows Phone also makes it easier for developers to port their Android and iOS applications, and of course apps running on Windows Phone 7 should run with no tweaking on WP8.
User Interface
Windows 8 has the most innovative mobile UI. It has taken the concept of live tiles to a different level by adding interactivity.
Map Performance
The new Windows 8 Os does not use Bing Maps anymore .It has adopted Nokia's mapping system.This is a lot better than its previous map app.Not only does it allow users to access 3D street view,but it also comes with Nokia's Navtek Traffic service.
4.IPhone OS (iOS)
While Android welcomes all comers, iOS is about one company alone: Apple. the iPhone has changed the smartphone landscape forever and iOS is a large part of the reason why. The original App Store is still the most popular and iOS has played a leading role in the evolution of touchscreen innovations such as pinch-to-zoom and multitouch. The iPhone was that one revolutionary device that changed the way we looks at phones. Forever. Never had the simple phone been transformed into something so brilliant, and so beautiful.
User Interface (for iOS 6)
Apple iOS 6 is bound it tried and tested formula of keeping things simple.Every new iOS version has added better functionality to the user interface,making the UI intuitive and easy to operate.
Brand New Apple Maps
iOS 6 now has Apple Maps, a brand new feature which displays beautiful maps both in sketch style and in satellite view too, like Google Maps. One of the best things about this app is that, it offers 3D view of buildings from around the world, so that you can fly through the buildings like Superman. It also offers route by route navigation for easy traveling, and extremely high resolution views of cities from above, so that you can zoom in, without hurting the view.
The map elements are vector so that you can navigate, pan, or zoom in smoothly, like you are slipping on butter, without any distortion. You also get real-time traffic updates so that you can catch the best route. Maps is one of the most wanted features in the iOS 6.
Better Phone App
The new iOS features an all new and better Phone app for answering and rejecting calls smartly and easily. With this new Phone app, you can easily reject any calls by leaving a message that you will call later or any other such messages, with just a single touch. This app makes it easy for you to attend or calls, or can choose not to attend your calls, without having to go the Message app to type a separate message and let your caller know that you are busy.
In this app you can also choose to set a reminder for you, so that can you can call the one who was calling you, later on after you manage finish off with your work. This is a very handy app, and one of the most needed features in the iOS.
Enhanced and Selective Photo Sharing
Photo Stream app in iOS 6 lets you share the photos you capture with the people you want, with just some few easy taps on the screen. With this app, you can just select which photos to share, select with whom you want to share, and they will receive your photos on their Apple devices or on the web, and they can also put their comments on the photos
All this doesn’t affect your iCloud storage in anyway, so that you can freely share whatever photo you like without worrying about your storage space. This is a good feature that iOS 6 has in it, and is really helpful.
Market Share of all these OS
Worldwide Sales to End Users by OS Graph
Final Result
Symbian is solid operating system in their own right, and have large (and loyal) user bases. But in an objective analysis they tend to fall behind a little when compared to the best-in-class. They will need to ramp up their game a bit (which they do seem to be doing with their latest versions), to stay among the top contenders in the long term.
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