OStatic

Earlier this month, when Google announced its Chrome OS and made clear that it is headed for netbooks, the news curbed many of the predictions people were making about the Android operating system's prospects on netbooks. Google officials made clear that they were steering Android toward smartphones. That hasn't stalled all of the efforts to bring Android to platforms other than smartphones, though. As PC World points out, device maker Touch Revolution is working on several types of touch-screen devices based on Android, including a line of cutting-edge remote controls for homes. Meanwhile, Japan's OESF (Open Embedded Software Foundation) continues to push forward with plans to deliver devices running Android as an embedded operating system.

Today, JKOnTheRun notes that HTC--the first hardware maker to back the open source Android operating system--may be putting Android on over 50 percent of its future phones. If true this is a big blow to Windows Mobile, the platform on the major portion of HTC?s lineup for some time, they conclude. I have to agree, and this is yet another example of Android's pronounced momentum in the smartphone market, where we're going to see large waves of Android handsets arrive this year and next. Android is shaping up to be a hugely influential open source platform.? For Android phones to really get competitive with the iPhone, though, the cool factor matters. This is much more important than it may seem at first glance.

According to a report from Reuters, Nokia has denied recent reports that it plans to release a phone running the Android operating system. The Guardian had posted a puzzling story on how Nokia would do a strategic U-turn from its focus on Symbian-based phones to Android. Absolutely no truth to this whatsoever, a Nokia spokesman told Reuters. The spokesman also emphasized that Symbian remains Nokia's preferred platform, and, as we reported last week, Symbian will soon begin beta testing of its Symbian 2 open source operating system.

Yesterday, we covered Juniper Research's findings on the prospects for open source operating systems on smartphones, which it deems to be rosy. Juniper is predicting that open source smartphone shipments will double from 106 million this year to 223 million by 2014. In our post yesterday, though, I made the point that the Android operating system isn't even mentioned in Juniper's announcement, while Symbian, LiMo and others are.?

When it comes to Symbian, many observers have noted that ever since June 2008, when Nokia announced that the Symbian platform would be open sourced, very little seems to have happened. Symbian owns about 50 percent of the global handheld market. So where is the open source push that everyone was expecting? There are some answers to that question emerging, and Symbian's impact on smartphones could be much bigger than many are predicting.

Despite the lagging economy, smartphones remain a hot market, and open source phones are in the spotlight. According to research from Juniper Research telecom consultants, the number of smartphones shipped with open source operating systems will increase from 106 million this year to 223 million by 2014. Juniper's study found that open source operating systems and applications are playing an increasingly important role in the differentiation of new smartphones and are a key factor in the choice of which handset to choose from by users. Juniper's findings are being echoed by other researchers.