BOSTON – Linux on your cellphone is closer than you may think.
According to the report, “Linux Ecosystem to Drive the Cell Phone Industry,” from the Strategy Analytics, Linux-based smart mobile phones are set for strong growth over the next few years.
“Linux has begun to open doors for handset manufacturers, developers and mobile operators. Strategy Analytics predicts that the development of a single standard will eventually position Linux to shape the mobile industry, expanding its global ecosystem of developers,” says Mehar Zulfikar, an analyst in the company’s handset component technologies division.
“Linux will provide opportunities for mobile operators to influence the handset market by giving them significant control on development.”
The number of Linux based mobile phones rose substantially during 2006. With Access’s acquisition of PalmSource, Symbian’s investigation into UNIX portability issues and the introduction of the mobile version of ‘Ubuntu’ to be released in October, the Linux market is looking very buoyant, the company said.
However, Stuart Robinson, director of the handset component technologies division also said that “although Linux may be in future, Symbian and Microsoft currently maintain the edge over Linux. The vision of a single standard Linux OS is still a long way off.”