Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry 10 aren't the only smartphone operating systems
fighting for a place in your pocket.
There are other smartphone operating systems in the market and they're all Linux-based.
Google's Android operating system is also based on Linux, although it's very different
from typical Linux distributions.
Firefox OS Firefox OS is Mozilla's attempt to create
their own smartphone operating system.
It's based on the Firefox browser and Gecko rendering engine.
Meaning, each app uses web technologies like HTML5 to render itself on the phone.
Mozilla sees the web as the future application platform for every device.
Most computer users use a web browser for most things, but people tend to use native
applications on smartphones.
These applications are confined to a single operating system or even a single app store.
Mozilla wants to bring the open web to smartphones and replaced those native applications with
web applications.
Firefox OS is a bit like Chrome OS for smartphones.
Ubuntu Phone Now, Ubuntu wants to create a touch-optimized
interface that works on smartphones, tablets, and even TVs; making their OS to be everywhere.
The intention is to have a single version of the Ubuntu Linux distribution.
When installed on a smartphone, you'd see a touch-optimized interface designed for your
screen size.
When installed on a PC, you'd see a desktop interface optimized for a keyboard, mouse,
and large screen.
Ubuntu's vision is that the same Unity desktop and Linux software would be running on both
devices.
Unity would automatically resize and adapt to the screen size and device.
This means you could seamlessly dock an Ubuntu phone and gain access to a full Linux desktop
running on that device.
It's an impressive vision, one that tries to combine a full desktop operating system
with a mobile operating system.
It's a bit like Microsoft's vision for Windows Phone and Windows 8 — one operating system
that runs the same apps with different interfaces for different devices.
Samsung Tizen Tizen is an open-source platform generally
associated with Samsung.
Tizen is actually the umbrella of the Linux Foundation, and both Samsung and Intel are
on its steering committee.
Samsung's own Android "Galaxy" devices run the TouchWiz skin with Samsung's own look,
and Tizen looks very similar to TouchWiz.
This is clearly a backup operating system for Samsung.
If they wanted to leave Google Android and go in their own direction, they could start
pushing Tizen on the next Galaxy S phone — after all, Tizen is designed to look almost exactly
like those Galaxy phones do today.
Samsung is beginning to ship a handful of Tizen smartphones, and the Samsung Galaxy
Gear 2 smartwatch also runs Tizen.
There's one big problem for Samsung here — Tizen has basically no apps, as it isn't compatible
with Android apps.
Samsung would have to convince Android app developers to create apps for Tizen if they
wanted to leave Android behind and push their own platform.
They wouldn't have Google's apps, either.
For all we know, Samsung may just be keeping Tizen in the wings as a bargaining chip in
their negotiations with Google.