The Competition Heats Up…
The OS competition definitely seems to be heating up since recent CES 2013 announcements with some big contenders coming in to try and compete with the BIG 2 (Android and IOS).
In terms of open source operating systems these are very exciting times with of course Jolla’s own Sailfish OS, Ubuntu Mobile OS, Firefox OS and Tizen finally showing some movement.
Sailfish OS
Jolla’s Sailfish OS is one of the newest of the pack and based on the popularity of predecessor MeeGo arguably the one with the most to prove. Jolla has in a very quick time indeed garnered support from many partners, communities and people across the globe. Can Jolla turn Sailfish into a top selling OS in such a short turnaround ? Based on this poll here: http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/poll-phone-ubuntu-firefox-linu-103325#ViewPollResults there sure seems to be many who would agree they can and will. Sailfish = the peoples favourite = UNLIKE.
Ubuntu Mobile OS
Like many of the other competition, Ubuntu Mobile OS has been in development for sometime and so has the edge when it comes to sheer man hours. The OS itself is built in keeping with the full Ubuntu PC OS which will appeal to the few million Ubuntu PC users out there but whether it will attract attention from the rest of the worlds MAC/Windows users remains to be seen.
Firefox OS
The Firefox internet browser is now ranked as one of the favourite browsers out there which instigated Mozilla to look at developing a mobile OS (originally called boot to Gecko). The new Firefox OS which has also been in development for some time looks slick but will rely heavily on HTML web based apps which might put people off : ‘If you imagine a smartphone-sized computer that automatically loads Firefox after boot-up, and the only apps you can run are web apps, then that’s a fairly good analogy of Firefox OS.’ source
Tizen OS
After INTEL split from Nokia on their MeeGo partnership, they partnered with Samsung to start working on a new OS called TIZEN which was to follow on from MeeGo. For well over a year there has been very little going on with the project until recently Samsung announced new TIZEN handsets are due for 2013. Source With the Korean giant Samsung behind the project, there is a good chance of success but personally TIZEN doesn’t fill me with any excitement whatsoever.
The two other (non opensource) contenders are of course Windows Phone which seems to have been gathering more traction recently with the Nokia Lumia series and also Blackberry with their long awaited BB10 to be officially announced at the end of January.
WP8 OS
It seems Windows Phone may finally be getting some respect in the techworld largely due to the success of the new innovative Nokia Lumia series which have been gathering rave reviews and great customer feedback all round. Windows Phone has been around the longest of the competition and only now after many years of financial lifelines and false starts is starting to show a few signs that it may be coming of age. Could Windows Phone be the next competitor to rank close to IOS/Android ?
BB10 OS
Blackberry’s BB10 has been in development for some time and has been getting many people excited with anticipation for an official announcement at the end of the month. As can be seen from the image above, the BB10 OS seems to take many leafs out of the MeeGo Harmattan book with very similar integrated notifications, multitasking panels and the apps screen all navigated by SWIPE (this is virtually identical to the N9 running MeeGo). Where they are trying to differentiate is a ‘work’ and ‘home’ section which may appeal to corporate customers who are looking to replace their old QWERTY blackberries (that is if they haven’t already moved to iPhone a long time ago). BB10 is a good contender but will rely heavily on early adoption to rescue the flailing Canadian company.
Other new kids on the block who recently came to the fore at CES 2013 are the Russian based Yotaphone who have designed their own swipe-based (no buttons) interface into their own design Android-Jellybean-driven handset which unusually has a second e-ink display on the reverse side. They plan on releasing their handset by 2013 Q3 and feel this new take on a smartphone will really stand out from the crowd what do you think?
Yotaphone coming in Q3 2013
So with the competition really at a high point just now, how will Jolla fare and what will they have to do to keep one step ahead?
It seems like the perfect time for Jolla to combine forces with a big manufacturer (like Nokia/Sony/HTC etc) and push out a unique handset in record time maybe? Or perhaps all the open source guys (inc. Mer/Nemo/Hildon) could combine forces and work together to come up with a super open source platform and handset to rival them all: UbuNemoMerSailFox ?
The main thing is Jolla are going to have to start attracting some more serious partnerships in the next few months to get products out there but I’m verrry confident by the fact they have been unusually quiet recently. 
All I can say, with a Jolla phone to be announced this quarter and available later this year, 2013 is definitely going to be UNLIKE any year we’ve had before. 
What’s your view on all the latest OS developments and how do you feel Jolla will fare now that there are quite a few more players in the game ?
Ubuntu Mobile and BB10 OS look the best to my eye. And gosh what a mess WP8 is, when you see it in comparison with the others.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say but yes I agree Ubuntu and BB10 are also ones to watch for the future…we may even see Apple and Google knocked from the top of the OS charts in a year or so at this rate!
have u ever tried wp8 yet? it’s actually very gorgeous in reality and not as mess as u ever imagined. not saying that neither because of im a fan of wp8 nor meego hater, i own nokia N9 and lumia920 too =)
I’ve never used WP8 to this day but I must say the look of the UI has grown on me hugely – at least it is different to the standard IOS-like app grid which has become quite stale. For me it’s limitations in the hardware/software which put me off when considering the switch from eg. N900; N8.
I think the potential is at Jolla but they are playing with the dates.
jussi hurmola said that the device will come before holidays 2012 then hurmola replaced as ceo with Mark Dillon.
Now Dillon sad the jolla phone will come at consumers before the summer 2013
it meand q2.
I think this is the same mistake like nokia does with n8 or nokia with update belle anna schelude.
Bee strict to jolla and wish the best, if jolla comes at may i will buy it
Jolla always said that they’ll show the UI in Slush’2012 (which they did) announce their 1st device in Q1 2013 & release it in Mid 2013. There was no other official dates from them..
+1 Jolla have never changed the dates – these were always the dates they had suggested originally. It was always to show the ecosystem before holidays 2012 which they did @ SLUSH, announce the handset in Q1 2013 and release in Summer 2013 (Q2).
As long as everybody is supporting HTML5 and many of them are supporting Qt (Sailfish, Ubuntu, BBOS, soon iOS & Android) I’m happy. Competition is always good for the customer.
I see a chance for all of them, expect Tizen. Intel just doesn’t really know what they should do with all their money so they’re working on an mobiel OS and Samsung will probably push Tizen as much as Bada.
And I hope MS will fail. But with such a big budget it’s really hard to fail, even they’ve failed pretty good till now ;D
For me, it will be BB10 & Jolla for 2013!!
I was all about Jolla and Sailfish and then I saw Ubuntu Phone OS… Also really looking forward to BB10. Guess I better start saving up some money
Im looking forward to Jolla and Tizen personally.
Then again I may be wrong I did follow Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian (Still rocking a Nokia N97 Mini for my daily phone)
But I do think Tizen will have the upper hand, especially if Samsung contribute all that they learnt from Bada OS.
The main point being is that if Tizen would use the TouchWiz UI (as Bada, OldSkool Featurephones, and the latest Android Galaxies do) then Public migration will be a whole lot easier.
i think, jolla should partner with a reliable smartphone maker, like you said, (Nokia, Sony, HTC, etc.) but I prefer Sony.. They must have realized by now that android handsets are dominated by Samsung and well, HTC.. and now LG too.. They must take risk (like Nokia going with WP) and go with Sailfish OS..
Even if the OS/product is oh so great if the advertisement is poor, jolla/sailfish OS will not get the top spot..
Agreed.
I would go with Sony as well:
1. They have also other screen sizes (tvs, tablets, music player) where they could use a common platform and toolkit (qt).
2. They also have playstation. I dont know the tech behind it, but at some stage they might need to align all their products to one platform. This makes them direct competition to MS, hence, WP is not an option
3. They have strong media business. They could use their own media / app store to cash those investments. They compete both with Apple, MS and Google stores
Sony would definitely make a great partner, but I think Jolla would do well to attract a number of manufacturers as is their plan – for me – Nokia, Sony and maybe HTC would all be great considerations. I guess the more the merrier as they say! Nice to see you back – hope you had a good Christmas/New Year jiippee!
Whatever the OS will be, I still believe and expect any of them to be way better than WP8. Can’t wait to see what the phone will look like.
The phone is set to be announced in Q1 2013 so that means either January, February or March = not so long to see it now!
I’m torn between Ubuntu and Sailfish. I have an N9 and I use Ubuntu daily. I think it would be cool to have a full desktop OS on a phone, but I love Sailfish’s look, the possibility of Android apps, and it will be the spiritual successor to the N9.
Not sure I’d need a full desktop OS on my phone personally, having said that the Ubuntu OS looks really well thought out and my favourite after Sailfish. Maybe us N9 users will get lucky with a community dual boot port of Ubuntu alongside the proposed Sailfish port one day soon?
Me too will be making a hard choice between sailfish and ubuntu.
Or, since ubuntu is only to be released in 2014, i’d first get a sailfish device (or maybe run it on my n9) and a year later a ubuntu one.
Anyway, the idea of having a phone that you can just dock to a desktop screen+keyboard+mouse to do some basic computing is something i’ve been thinking of since i got my n900.
Happy to see it actually happening in the ‘near’ future.
Whatever happens, i just hope to see a high-end device with qwerty slider.
Strange that none of the new phone os announcements demonstrate a landscape mode, so i’m beginning to fear that that isn’t even being considered anymore.
btw. the pictures of ubuntu phone above look nothing like the ubuntu for smartphones in the demonstration or hands-on video’s i’ve seen.
The Guy Fawkes mask and [Musl1m] tag bottom left don’t make it look legit either.
Your Ubuntu Phone OS pics are just a mockup. WP will grows through Nokia or not. I think BB10 (Hamattan inside) with his new features, apps and advert will succeed. The astonishing Ubuntu Phones OS will directly fight Android. With strong partnership in China, it will succeed in Asia, South america and a bit in Europe. But this may ruin Sailfish strategy in those areas. That’s why I think Jolla may just focus like BB on their ones devices, community assistance and tools to bring apps to their system. Jolla has a chance but needs to be excellent in every fields.
Thanks for pointing that out I thought it was a nice graphic for Ubuntu all the same. Also, the funny thing I noticed the other day was that the ‘Ubuntu phone’ in the graphic looks very similar to the N9! If you have a better graphic for Ubuntu post a link and I’ll get it updated.
Yeah is an old mockup when N9 impressed the tech world and was the hope off all the open community
. This probably inspired the actual Ubuntu Phone OS UX.
Ok lazy blogger
you can choose between this http://blog.linuxvideo.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ubuntu-phone-os.jpg or that http://www.googland.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ubuntu-phone-os.jpg
Oh yes I’ve seen those images when I was researching Ubuntu – I just thought the image shared in the article was a nice visual illustration showing the swiping ideas and other key features of Ubuntu. Thanks for following up on the links I’m sure other (lazy so and so’s j/k) will benefit.
If Firefox OS is really targeting emerging countries, I can’t understand how it could succeed with full webapps where internet still weak. There are too little news to make a statement on Tizen.
Actually, in third world countries the mobile phone networks are well developed by now.
Since they lack the infrastructure of landlines like we have historically built up, it’s a lot cheaper for internet providers to set up a 3g network to reach a lot of possible customers than to actually build up a phone-line network.
Mobile internet (3g modems) is most often the only internet people can get there, therefore cheap smartphones target exactly those regions.
Their mobile use is even a little ahead compared to us, for example micro-payments via mobile, comparable to what we are seeing here now with nfc phones (but without the nfc), is something they’ve been doing on their nokia’s for years already (maybe because nokia never provided that service in western countries).
It’s interesting, I heard that Sailfish and Ubuntu might share APIs, especially since they both use Qt5.
Here is the website for reference, I’m sorry I didn’t include it in the original reply:
http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/linux-ubuntu-sailfish-plasma-active-103978
Why all the negativity about tizen? From what I’ve seen the OS looks good, and Samsung clearly have the capability to create and push devices. I’d place tizen as my second favourite (after sailfish).
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