OStatic

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.

Yesterday, we covered the announcement of HTC's Hero smartphone with its slick, customizable new HTC Sense interface. The phone runs the open source Android operating system, and is a thin touch phone with no physical keyboard. Now, Adobe has announced that it is working with HTC to make sure that the Hero can run Flash. That means that the many Flash elements and components on the web will run smoothly on the Hero, users will be able to watch YouTube and many other videos and video shows, and more.

As JKOnTheRun reports, HTC--the maker of the original T-Mobile G1 Android phone, has today unveiled the HTC Hero smartphone with its new HTC Sense interface. This phone runs Android, and is a thin touch phone with no physical keyboard. The HTC Hero's claim to fame is the HTC Sense interface. It's customizable, and looks very splashy. The Hero will be available in Europe in July and in Asia later this summer. A North American version will be out later this year. There isn't any word on pricing yet, but JKOnTheRun has more details.?

Intel is getting very serious about mobile phones and platforms, as evidenced by a far-reaching partnership with Nokia, announced today. The partnership comes on the heels of Intel's acquisition of Wind River Systems, which is a big player in the embedded Linux, and embedded mobile technology space. As part of the new partnership, Intel and Nokia announced their intent to collaborate on numerous open source software projects, and Intel will license Nokia's HSPA-capable 3G modem intellectual property for upcoming mobile products. The goal is to define a new mobile platform beyond today's smartphones, notebooks and netbooks, enabling the development of a variety of innovative hardware, software and mobile Internet services, according to Intel's announcement.

In a post back in March, I made the point that mobile phones and other mobile devices will increasingly function as medical monitoring devices, which could be a big opportunity for open source application development. The concept of the phone as doctor may still be questionable for some people, since there aren't many applications to point to (yet), but open source developers are often uniquely good at creating something where there is nothing. Here are some thoughts on how meaningful this kind of application development could really be, and who is working on the idea.

It was only back in March when I wrote this post, Why is Android Stalled? In it, I wondered why there weren't any new smartphones running on the Linux-based operating system, or any other notable news to speak of. It's amazing how quickly that has changed. There are approximately 30 new Android handsets coming from top manufacturers this year, several companies are putting Android on netbooks (a hot hardware category), and there are even new strains of Android appearing. Here are just a few of the notable Android developments from the past few days.

Yesterday we covered some of the promise that the Moblin mobile platform has on netbooks. As JKOnTheRun notes today, Intel is also focused on it and its Atom chips in the smartphone arena. You can find video of Inventec's Mediaphone device built on Moblin and running the Atom platform here. The Inventec device looks like a cross between a smartphone and a small tablet PC. With the Linux Foundation now functioning as the steward of Moblin, and with it showing up on multiple types of devices, it's looking like Moblin will move well beyond the automotive applications that it was aimed at to begin with. UPDATE: Acer has announced plans to put Moblin on all of its products, from netbooks, to laptops, to PCs.?