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Google and Apple are the two companies that provide the dominant operating systems in the mobile industry. Microsoft and BlackBerry (formerly RIM) are struggling to regain some relevance, while companies new to the game, such as Amazon, Ubuntu, and Mozilla are also aiming to take a bite of this ever growing pie.

In this context, we look at the benefits and drawbacks that a third strong mobile platform would bring to the average Android user.

Meet the Challengers

By now, it’s clear that Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are the only two major players in the mobile platform game. Recent reports indicate that nine out of ten smartphones sold globally are running one of these two operating systems.

In the tablet market, after a long period of almost complete Apple iPad domination, Android made some great progress, mostly thanks to the excellent Nexus 7.

We should note that Amazon’s Kindle Fire line-up, which is especially successful in the United States, is running a forked version of Android. Technically speaking, Amazon has created a new platform, although its roots are still with Android.

BlackBerry has recently launched the BlackBerry 10 platform, probably the last chance the Canadian company has to regain its lost relevance. However, it remains to be seen if the new features introduced with BB10 are enough to draw customers in.

One company that you can never rule out in the mobile sector is Microsoft. No matter how many times it fails, Steve Ballmer’s team will still have enough resources to go at it again. With all the resources and money the Redmond-based company has been splurging, there’s a chance Microsoft will gain some relevance in the mobile industry at some point.

One new competitor in the mobile platform wars is Ubuntu for phones (not to be confused with Ubuntu for Android). The Linux-based operating system promises to bring all the things people love about the Ubuntu desktop OS on your smartphone.

And just when you thought that the mobile platform market couldn’t become any more crowded, the Mozilla Foundation announced that they’ve already signed partnerships with hardware manufacturers that should soon materialize in the first batch of budget-friendly Firefox smartphones.

Analyzing the chances that each of these platforms has to gain real traction would require an inordinate amount of time. For the time being, we’re more interested in answering a different, but related question: will the rise of a third powerful player benefit Android users?

More Competition

The first thing that comes to mind when discussing the possibility of a third powerful platform is increased competition. Just as with any other markets and products, quality is driven by the number and competence of the big players in that market.

This could translate to more features and content being added to each one of the platforms, as the parent company needs to find more ways of topping its competitors. In addition, adding a third player would automatically motivate both Apple and Google to focus on being more creative and innovative.

Unfortunately, I believe that an enhanced competition would also mean that exclusive content availability will become a major focus point for the platform owners. From an end-user perspective, this could mean that an increasing percentage of movies, shows and music tracks will be available on one platform and one platform only, contrary to the principles of an ideal world where all the content is available on all platforms.

The App Factor

Currently, a mobile app developer really needs to focus on developing for iOS and Android only, but if a third popular platform would bite off the combined market share of the dominant players we have at the present, app developers would have to develop a native app for the third platform as well.

So you see, the rise of a third major mobile platform would mean that companies that specialize in mobile app development will have to invest more time, effort and money into their apps. Users will experience this phenomenon working against them in one of several ways: an increasing number of apps of paid apps will arise, the average price for paid apps will increase, while the average quality will decrease.

This whole app problem could be avoided by focusing more on cross-platform HTML5 apps instead of native apps, but although the new standard will surely gain traction amongst app developers who want to keep their costs down, I believe that it will take a few years before HTML5-based apps will start yielding a quality level justly comparable to that of native apps.

When it comes to app availability and quality, users of both Android and iOS will have to lose once a third platform eventually appears with a double-digit market share.

A Premature Conclusion

Unfortunately, I find that it is yet too early to draw the line and say for sure that the rise of a third major platform would be profitable for the Android platform and for end-users. I’m sure many will disagree, but there’s a voice in the back of my head screaming “app quality” when analyzing this scenario. Sure, with increased competition, new and cooler features will surely be rolled out by Google. But the reality is that the most important component of a mobile platform is comprised by the apps that are available and properly optimized for the respective platform.

What could this scenario bring about? If, for instance, BlackBerry 10 would take off, will Android users have more to benefit from this than they will have to lose?

The post Will a third major platform benefit Android users? appeared first on Android Authority.

With Android and iOS unlikely to surrender their dominant grasp over the mobile world anytime soon, the only thing the “competition” has to battle for is bronze. There is quite a brawl currently going on for that last spot on the podium between Windows Phone and BlackBerry, with a couple of extra players set to get in the game very soon.

We have on one hand Samsung’s Tizen OS and on the other Mozilla’s Firefox. MWC has seen a lot of movement in that latter camp, with several phones built on the new open-source platform unveiled and ready to roll out in emerging markets by the end of 2013.

Alcatel, ZTE, Huawei and LG have been announced as the first Mozilla partners, with a fifth name confirmed earlier today – Sony. However, the Xperia makers are not that keen on being included in the first wave of launches and will most likely wait until 2014 to bring a product to market.

There’s a number of ways we can interpret Sony’s “wait and see” strategy, but it’s unlikely for the company to back out before trying its hand with Firefox phones. After all, US is not included in the first phase of the rollout, so there will only be a handful of users by 2014.

Meanwhile, one name that’s certainly not to get involved in the project is Samsung. The Koreans have no interest in the mobile OS, according to official claims, and will continue to focus primarily on Android. The company’s Tizen plans are still going forward, but the first phone or phones powered by it are not coming as soon as suspected. Instead, the new ETAs are July – August at the earliest.

It’s also pretty much set in stone that Sammy will use Tizen only for low-end devices for starters (just like Mozilla will do with Firefox OS), so hardcore Android fans needn’t worry they’ll lose their king. What’s unclear is where Windows Phone will fit in these future plans, as it’s probably going to become pretty difficult to juggle with three platforms at the same time.

Anyone scared of Tizen or Firefox? Excited about the increased competition? Or just bored by how the two OSs look?

Firefox for Android has finally received a hefty update from the folks at Mozilla today, bringing massive improvements like a built-in PDF viewer to the third-party browser. The new build, version 19, also brings native support for themes, allowing Android users to customize a large portion of their browsing experience.

While most enhancements have been made to the mobile version, desktop users will also notice a few improvements like speed improvements and lower hardware requirements. Be sure to hit the download link after the break to get in on the action.

Play Store Download Link

Sources: Mozilla

Come comment on this article: Mozilla releases Firefox 19, adds built-in PDF viewer

You read the title right. Chrome OS has its roots in Mozilla Firefox, according to former Google employee Jeff Nelson. He has recently blogged about how the operating system came to be and shared some interesting facts, the first of which is that the then new operating system was not exactly built from scratch but was actually a barebones Linux distro.

When Jeff Nelson was still working as an engineer for the search giant, the Chrome OS used to be developed under the code name, “Google OS.”  That changed after the product’s public release in 2009 when it was marketed under different names: Chromebook, Chromebox, Chrome OS. He first pitched this idea of a “network-based operating system across devices” around 2006, but a Google higher-up initially rejected the notion because it apparently was useless during air travel, even though, as a basic Linux distro, it could actually run programs made for the open source OS.

By the time Nelson finished writing the first version of his OS, it was all powered by Firefox architecture. At that time, Google didn’t have a web browser project of its own, let alone a full operating system. The brand “Chrome” was not even yet affiliated with company until 2007.

Nelson also defended that his baby wasn’t just for pure web consumption just as how the media portrayed the early Samsung Chromebook models. He noted that the first versions were quite capable of code development, among other tasks, that a typical Google engineer performs.

But perhaps the most critical part of Nelson’s blog post is his reason for creating Chrome Os. It wasn’t initially created as an OS that runs web apps but an answer to the slow loading times of computers running Windows and Linux. Nelson solved this problem by moving the entire OS into RAM. Data loss, limited storage, and limited Linux support were the prominent issues for this solution, but Nelson addressed them accordingly.

Inventing Chromebook, as written by Nelson, is no doubt a quite interesting tale. Some current Google employees, however, have caught attention of the November 2012 blog post and are questioning Nelson’s credibility. In a Google+ post, senior software engineer Peter Kasting has this to say:

I’m somewhat skeptical of this.  I was one of the Chrome team founders, and I was in the team meeting where the project that would become Chrome OS was first announced, and I’ve never heard of Jeff or any of the work he describes here.  Certainly Chrome-team management didn’t mention or demonstrate any of it to the team at large.

Kasting’s post has generated quite a number of comments. The discussion has become so lively, and lengthy, that even Jeff Nelson joined in to defend his claims on starting Chrome OS.  You can check them out by clicking the source link below.

In trying to name off all the operating systems for mobile devices, it feels a bit like Christmas. It seems as though we’re naming reindeer rather than platforms. As we consider each of them, and then the mobile OS landscape in its entirety, we’re left to wonder if we need all this? More importantly, does this damage or threaten Android in any way? Some old OSs are dying out, and some new ones are scrambling to fill their place. A few of the new crop are interesting and may pose a threat to Android, but that’s nothing new.

The Players

We already have a very tight bunch of operating systems for mobile. There is of course Android and iOS, but there is also Blackberry. Windows is finally taking mobile seriously, and Symbian is still out there. That’s five mobile operating systems! We also must wonder if each Android skin is an OS unto itself. There is the Amazon OS, which is technically Android, but severely altered. Do TouchWiz or Sense count as an OS? They have their own spin on Android, and TouchWiz has a lot of functionality that only pertains to Samsung smartphones and tablets.

As an entire new batch of OS contenders are readying themselves for entrance into the market, we wonder: who are they, and what do they have going for them? There are a few real players, and a few pretenders. Some we may never see, and some may rise up to challenge Android.

Sailfish

Sailfish is a very customizable OS that seems to be geared toward helping a manufacturer or vendor build from the ground up. While that sounds a bit scary, as it encourages those who have skins or bloatware for Android to jump ship, there’s not much to be concerned about. Sailfish requires someone to dedicate quite a bit of time and resources into building their own OS. It’s failing where Android succeeds! Android gives the OS away for free, then has a very respectable ecosystem to boot. Sailfish has a website with some slightly pedantic tech-speak that a normal consumer won’t understand, and a vendor with any sense will ignore.

Firefox OS

Had Mozilla jumped on this six years ago, we may be called “Firefox Authority”. Firefox and Chrome are very similar in nature, but while Chrome is a service offered by as larger company, Firefox is Mozilla. You have a company with a dedicated idea and focus, but maybe not the muscle to be a big player in the mobile market.

It seems as though Mozilla is missing the point with Firefox OS, but not the mark. Firefox OS promises to allow users “freedom from proprietary mobile platforms”, meaning it doesn’t matter which OS an app is written for, you’ll be able to use it on Firefox OS. Sounds great, right? We, as Android fans, can get our hands on all those cool iOS apps and games we hear so much about! Think again.

Firefox is proposing to run web apps, not necessarily mobile apps. Essentially, Firefox OS is a result of the Boot to Gecko project, or B2G. This takes a slightly modified version of Gecko (which runs Firefox) and utilizes it for the mobile landscape. That means it will essentially use the web as the OS. Think of it like a Chromebook for mobile: just about anything you do on this platform happens in Firefox.

Interesting, but not a winner. This is too far a reach for the average consumer. It will interest some tech geeks looking for something new to feign interest at, but I can’t see this catching on widely. Essentially, it’s like using a Chrome browser, and all those Chrome apps, rather than Android. It just plain doesn’t appeal to me. Mobile apps make web apps optimal for mobile, so in a way… Firefox OS is a step backwards. It’s easier for developers, sure, but consumers will dismiss it. Some mobile apps may be HTML5-friendly, but those require porting. Developers are taxed enough without having to port an app to another platform.

Tizen

Tizen is a bit of a wild card. It has a ton of muscle behind it in Samsung and Intel, but will be focussed on the Asian market. It has been shown to run Android apps with the help of OpenMobile, so it does what Firefox doesn’t in regard to apps and functionality. Out of the box, Tizen could be running Android apps, giving it an immediate ecosystem.

This bit of info presents a new wrinkle to the open source discussion. OpenMobile is taking something built for Android, and essentially porting it to another device. It seems wrong, but can you steal something that was free to begin with? Android, being open source, asked for this in a way. If it becomes an issue, look to Google to shut it down very quickly.

As a pure OS, Tizen is an Android copycat. It’s open source, developer-driven, and Linux-based. It has its own API and SDK, and can be operated across multiple platforms. Tizen is still in its infancy, so it’s pretty early to tell if it will be a true contender or not. It has some great HTML5 support, much like Firefox OS, so it could be a true cross-platform operating system.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu promises an across-the-board feel to all platforms, much like Tizen. The difference is that Ubuntu is established, giving it an important advantage. Many people use and enjoy Ubuntu, and the idea of having the interface and functionality across all their devices may be heaven.

Domestically, we’ve seen this before… in a big way. Ubuntu is essentially trying to accomplish what Windows is, and quite frankly failing at. The problem with Windows isn’t the interface, which is nice, it’s functionality and support. If Ubuntu can solve the interesting little twists and turns we find in Windows, it has a shot.

Ubuntu is also utilizing web apps, much like Firefox. Mobile apps exist because using a web app on a small screen often doesn’t work, so using anything but is a tricky proposition. The web page ends up cluttered on a small screen, essentially limiting its functionality. Again, many mobile apps are written in HTML, but it’s really up to each developer to port it over.

Fragmentation

Fragmentation is Android’s very own dirty little F-word. We don’t particularly like saying it, and we don’t like hearing it. It’s offensive, but sometimes necessary. If Android is fragmented when simply considering the iterations that are out there, what happens when we factor in all the skins and altered versions of Android? It’s a total cluster-fragmentation, that’s what.

Each version of Android brings this discussion to the surface, and while it’s getting better as smartphones get more powerful and can handle all the cool new stuff Android is capable of, it still exists. Android has about a 75% market share of the world OSs, and is fragmented pretty thoroughly. Now consider each new OS to that equation, and the market becomes cluttered.

Imagine walking into a mobile carrier store, and seeing the normal 20 or so phones lined up agianst the wall. Right now, we have 3-4 iPhones, 2-3 Windows phones, and 10-12 Android phones. A few dumb phones shoved into the corner to satisfy that market, and maybe a tablet or two. Consider that being 2-3 iPhones, 1-2 Windows phones, 6-8 Android phones, 2-3 Ubuntu phones, 1-2 Tizen devices, maybe a Firefox phone, and 1-2 dumb phones. Not only is that limiting your choices for a great device, it also confuses the landscape.

Manufacturers don’t need this

While Samsung is a clear winner in terms of device sales and popularity, many are struggling in this market. Much has been made of HTC’s failures, and LG wasn’t a major player until the Nexus 4 came. Nokia has hitched its wagon to Windows, but that’s not exclusive or lucrative. Sony is getting serious about mobile, and the variety of new manufacturers with good devices is staggering.

If the OS landscape is fragmented and convoluted, it doesn’t bode well for manufacturers. A single device being made for different OSs is rare, as they often have to be rebadged or altered slightly to avoid confusion or functionality. With carriers always wanting exclusives being factored in, the manufacturers have a near impossible job of keeping up as it stands today. Throw in the wrench of different OSs, and their workload just grew while profits stagnated or even dipped.

Take HTC, which has enough trouble selling devices for Android. HTC makes stellar devices, but it spreads itself too thin. On top of multiple devices per carrier, it has also involved itself in Windows. It would be ideal for HTC to have the ability to take a device like the One S and simply “port” it to different OSs, but that’s just not what people want. People want the coolest device available on their carrier, with their OS. Sure, some OSs need different functionality and thus different specs, but not with today’s phones. This is about exclusivity, and it hurts manufacturers.

The golden age

For all of you Android fans out there, you’re smack dab in the middle of the golden age. Android is afforded every luxury there is, from an open source platform widely adopted by developers to a line of devices that pace the market. Google even has its own manufacturer now, which really solidifies the future. Android, it seems, is an unstoppable force.

We once assumed the same of Apple in the mobile space we occupy, but Android doesn’t have the same issues. Android started where Apple was lacking, and built from there. Android is now a leader, where once they were dismissed as a passing interest for Google. We’re wise to keep this in mind, as a lesson can be learned when these new OSs come to pass. Will they be able to beat Android at its own game, a game that now defines the industry?

The deciding factor

If you think of all the new OS contenders entering the ring, you’ll notice a lot of similarities. The same tools across all platforms, utilizing web apps and HTML5. A different and “better” API, an open source environment. Scary, right? Sounds so much like Android it’s frightening. If we think of these attributes, we wonder what stops them from toppling the mighty green robot.

Functionality is great, but to what end? Android and iOS are great not because of their interface or cross platform presence, but because of their ecosystem. If I get a Firefox phone, and want to play my new favorite game Dark Meadow, then what? If developers don’t have the time or desire to port their HTML5 apps to a new platform, we’re just out of luck. The OpenMobile function on Tizen is promising, but could raise the ire of Google.

Do you have anything to worry about? Only if you switch. We waited a long time to get where we are with Android. We went wanting for quite some time to get to this point, and there is no reason to start all over again. Don’t like your interface? Root and flash a new ROM. There is no need to switch to an entirely new OS. Android offers more than all of these new contenders could muster collectively, and there is no reason to believe a few pebbles in the road will cause the steamroller to go off track.

Related Posts

• Samsung moves forward with Tizen operating system
• Tizen OS shown running Android apps on video
• Ubuntu smartphone to launch without app store, won’t support Android apps

Today the folks at Mozilla have finally removed the wrapping paper off a few of their developer phones running the new Firefox OS. The plan here being these mid-range at best developer friendly phones called “Geeksphone” will be the starting point for developers to start coding for the new mobile OS. Loving Android, as well as watching the competition, we figured a quick post to show you what’s brewing was in order.

The Firefox mobile OS has been in development for some time, although many probably aren’t too familiar with it. It’s based on the underlying Linux kernel modified for Android, so we share a few traits. They’ve been coding away in their dark caves and today are ready to finally let eager developers switch from Android for a moment and try coding on Mozilla’s Firefox. Don’t be gone for too long though guys, we love you here at Android Community.

Mozilla’s new mobile OS – at least for now – isn’t aimed at taking over Android or iOS. Instead they want an easy and intuitive operating system that will work wonders with budget friendly entry-level handsets. Both of their developer phones today are average at best, but remember they are only developer phones and the first of better things to come.

The “Peak” phone runs with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor at 1.2 GHz, 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM, gets a 4.3-inch qHD display and an 8 megapixel camera with flash. Not too shabby but certainly not top tier for today’s standards. Then you’ll get WiFi N, Bluetooth, GPS, sensors and micro-SD support as expected. Then their “Keon” phone is more of a cheap unit for the poor college coder. It has a single core 1.0 GHz Snapdragon S1, 512MB of RAM, and only a 3.5-inch display and a 3 megapixel camera.

These phones fit in perfectly with Mozilla’s ambitions to dominate the entry-level market, if they can get the project up and running and to the state which we all expect our phones to be at. Coding can take place at Firefox OS App Days, or with the OS Simulator. These phones will begin shipping to developers in February although we have no pricing at this time. Learn more about Firefox OS here. Does our beloved green Android need to worry, or is it too early to tell?

[via SlashGear]

You’ve gotta luv how you can replace the default web browser on Android with one of your choice. Here are our 5 Best Web Browser apps for  apps. Some compress downloaded files saving you some green on your data bill, and all are hyper fast and loaded with features. Click the icons to read our reviews [...]

5 Best Web Browsers for Android is a post from: AndroidTapp.com

The folks from Amazon have continued to give users access to content on their Kindle devices in a quick and seamless manor, and today have announced one more additional to their “Send to” offering. It’s called Send to Kindle for Firefox and enables a one-click method to easily send your favorite pages and more right to your Kindle of choice.

Amazon already offers multiple Send to Kindle options, and today they’ve announced and released the official version for the Mozilla Firefox browser. This allows users to easily and quickly send content from the web right to their Kindle Fire tablets and more.

Everything from news blogs, details on Android right from Android Community, videos, and other web content to your Kindle to read anytime, everywhere on Kindle devices and reading apps. Not only that but you’ll be able to send the content to more than one Kindle branded device, and even archive it to re-download later if you’re on the go.

This is nothing new and is offered for multiple other options and as a Chrome extension and more, but for all the Firefox users this is the official first step. To get started yourself you’ll want to click here. Amazon also mentions support for Safari is coming soon, and Chrome is already available. This certainly isn’t a major feature or anything of that sort, but for those not using Chrome sync, this is the quickest way to share content and websites with your Kindle Fire tablet.

Long-time Firefox users who enjoy both the desktop and mobile versions will be pleased to know Mozilla is working to keep the mobile version’s updates consistent with the desktop version. Mozilla was not the fastest developer in bringing their web browser to Android devices, but now that they have it available, they certainly seem to be moving ahead at full speed in supporting it and trying to keep it up-to-date. Yesterday they released an update to bring it up to version 16, which puts it slightly ahead of the desktop version which saw version 16 released today and updates have not yet rolled out to all users.

Headlining the new features in this update is a new “Reader Mode” that promises to improve readability by transforming cluttered web pages to make them easier to read, a feature that sounds similar to Evernote’s Clearly add-on. A new “share” feature enables a simple click to be used to sync tabs between devices and the desktop version of Firefox for users who enable the “Firefox Sync” option. Mozilla indicates they have addressed a security hole involving tel: URLs that could wipe a user’s phone, included improvements related to JavaScript, and addressed some CSS3 issues.

Whether Firefox can catch up to some of the other popular mobile browsers remains to be seen, but improvements like this should help close the gap. The size of the app, at 19MB, will not help though, especially for users with memory strapped devices.

Use one of the download links below to check out the latest version of Firefox for Android.

Google Play Download Link

Firefox is keeping their word on offering rapid releases for both their desktop, and mobile browser client. Even though it seems like they released version 15 just last week, yesterday Firefox 16 for Android was released to the wild. They’ve added a few new features, enhanced performance, and even added tons of security features to protect mobile users from malicious activities.

Yup, Firefox 16 for Android is available right now in the Google Play Store. One of the nice new features is a Safari-like “Reader Mode” where users can simply tap the book icon next to any URL for distraction free, easy reading. This isn’t anything new, but is a nice addition to Firefox for Mobile.

Then they’ve improved their Share menu with enhanced options and usability. You can now send entire tabs to and from mobile devices using Firefox Sync. Then regarding security, Mozilla has also beefed up that area. There’s been a lot of discussion in the mobile world about malicious links and URLs that can potentially wipe out and erase your smartphone — but not with Firefox 16. They’ve added levels of protection for URLs crafted to maliciously wipe your phone, and they can no longer be opened.

As usual the update lists performance enhancements and tons of improvements around JavaScript’s garbage collection, which should really improve performance. Mozilla even fixed Kyocera Echo stability problems — as if anyone even uses that phone still. So, do you prefer the stock Android browser, Firefox, Chrome, or Dolphin? Let us know in the comments below.

[via SlashGear]