Operating systems in Nokia phones

Introduction:

Operating system basically acts as interface between user and hardware. A mobile operating system also known as mobile OS or a handheld operating system controls the mobile device. It works on the same principle as the operating systems in windows which control the desktop computers. However the mobile operating systems are simpler than that of windows operating systems.

Various operating systems used in smart phones include:

• Symbian OS,
• Iphone OS,
• RIM’S Blackberry,
• Linux
• Palm webOS,
• Android
• Windows mobile operating system.

Various operating systems along with their detail are:

1) Symbian OS:Symbian operating system is designed for mobile devices with associated libraries, user interface, and framework.

It is used in various models of the phones around 100 models use this. It consists of kernel and middleware components of software stack. The upper layers are supplied by application platforms like S60, UIQ and MOAP.

This is NOKIA N92 with Symbian OS.

Reasons for designing Symbian OS:

• To ensure the integrity and security of data,
• Utilize the user time,
• All resources are scarce.

Designing of Symbian OS:

It uses a microkernel which has a request and call-back approach to services. It maintains the separation between user interface and design. Mobile view controller is the object oriented design used by the applications and the OS. This OS is optimised for low power battery based devices and for ROM based systems.

The Symbian kernel supports sufficiently-fast real time response to build a single-core phone around it—that is, a phone in which a single processor core executes both the user applications and the signaling stack.

Structure of Symbian model:

• UI Framework Layer
• Application services layer

• Java ME
• OS services layer
• Generic OS services
• Communication services
• Multimedia and graphics services
• Connectivity services
• Base services layer
• Kernel services and hardware interface layer.

• It uses microkernel architecture i.e., it includes only the necessary parts in order to maximize the robustness, responsiveness and availability. It contains scheduler, memory management and device drivers. Symbian is designed to emphasize compatibility with other devices, especially removable media file systems.

  There is a large networking and communication subsystem, which has three main servers called: ETEL i.e, EPOC telephony, ESOCK i.e, EPOC sockets and C32 which is responsible for serial communication. Each of these has a plug-in scheme. All native Symbian C++ applications are built up from three framework classes defined by the application architecture: an application class, a document class and an application user interface class. These classes create the fundamental application behaviour.

  Symbian includes a reference user-interface called “TechView”. It provides a basis for starting customization and is the environment in which much Symbian test and example code runs.

  Versions of Symbian OS:

  • Symbian OS v6.0 and 6.1
  • Symbian OS 7.0 and 7.0s
  • Symbian OS 8.0
  • Symbian OS 8.1
  • Symbian OS 9.0
  • Symbian OS 9.1
  • Symbian OS 9.2
  • Symbian OS 9.3
  • Symbian OS 9.4
  • Symbian OS 9.5

  2) Iphone OS:

  It is internet and multimedia mobile phone designed by apple Inc. The Iphone functions as a camera phone, a portable media player, and an internet client.

  Iphone OS is an operating system that runs on Iphone. It is based on the same DARWIN operating system used in MAC OS X. It is responsible for the interface’s motion graphics. The operating system takes up less than half a GB of the device’s total storage (4 to 32GB). It is capable of supporting bundled and future applications from Apple, as well as from third-party developers. Software applications cannot be copied directly from Mac OS X but must be written and compiled specifically for Iphone OS.

  Like the iPod, the Iphone is managed with iTunes. The earliest versions of Iphone OS required version 7.3 or later, which is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.4.10 Tiger or later, and 32-bit or 64-bit Windows XP or Vista. The release of iTunes 7.6 expanded this support to include 64-bit versions of XP and Vista, and a workaround has been discovered for previous 64-bit Windows operating systems. Apple provides free updates to Iphone OS through iTunes, and major updates have historically accompanied new models. Such updates often require a newer version of iTunes — for example, the 3.0 update requires iTunes 8.2 — but the iTunes system requirements have stayed the same. Updates include both security patches and new features. For example, Iphone 3G users initially experienced dropped calls until an update was issued.

  3) Android OS:

  Android is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

  The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 47 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.

  4) Palm webOS:

  It is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel with proprietary components developed by Palm.

  The Palm Pre Smartphone is the first device to launch with webOS, and both were introduced to the public at the Consumer Electronics Show. The Palm Pre and webOS were released on June 6, 2009. The second device to use the operating system, the Palm Pixi, was released on November 15, 2009. The webOS features significant online social network and Web 2.0 integration.

  Features:

  WebOS’s graphical user interface is designed for use on devices with touch screens. It includes a suite of applications for personal information management and makes use of a number of web technologies such as HTML 5, JavaScript, and CSS. Palm claims that the design around these existing technologies was intended to spare developers from learning a new programming language. The Palm Pre, released on June 6, 2009, is the first device to run this platform.

  5) Rim’s Blackberry OS:

  A proprietary multi-tasking operating system (OS) for the BlackBerry is provided by RIM which makes heavy use of the device’s specialized input devices, particularly the scroll wheel or more recently the trackball and track pad. The OS provides support for Java MIDP 1.0 and WAP 1.2. Previous versions allowed wireless synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Server’s e-mail and calendar. The current OS 4 provides a subset of MIDP 2.0, and allows complete wireless activation and synchronization with Exchange’s e-mail, calendar, tasks, notes and contacts.

  Third-party developers can write software using these APIs, proprietary BlackBerry APIs as well, but any application that makes use of certain restricted functionality must be digitally signed so that it can be associated to a developer account at RIM. There is only the guarantee of authorship of an application but not of the quality or security of the code.

  This is blackberry 7250 displaying the icons provided to it by the use of a proprietary multi-tasking operating system (OS).

  6) Windows mobile operating systems:

  Windows Mobile is a compact operating system developed by Microsoft, and designed for use in smartphones and mobile devices.

  It is based on Windows CE, and features a suite of basic applications developed using the Microsoft Windows API. It is designed to be somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows, feature-wise and aesthetically. Additionally, third-party software development is available for Windows Mobile, and software can be purchased via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

  Originally appearing as the Pocket PC 2000 operating system, Windows Mobile has been updated multiple times, with the current version being Windows Mobile 6.5. Most Windows Mobile phones come with a stylus pen, which is used to enter commands by tapping it on the screen.

  Windows Mobile’s share of the Smartphone market has fallen year-on-year, decreasing 20% in Q3 2009. It is the 4th most popular Smartphone operating system, with a 7.9% share of the worldwide Smartphone market.

  The figure showing windows operating system used in smartphones.