Samsung's Tizen OS, Mozilla Firefox OS and Canonical's Ubuntu OS to launch by Q4 of 2013

“This week we are announcing our new Firefox OS developer preview phones because we believe that developers will help bring the power of the Web to mobile”

Director of Web sites and Developer Engagement at Mozilla, Stormy Peters in a blog post on Tuesday January 22^nd 2013

Now if my blog article entitled “Samsung's Tizen, Firefox OS and Ubuntu OS to unseat Google Android by 2015 - How Linux and HTML 5 are Oz the Great and Powerful for Open Source” on why Samsung is gung-ho about its latest smartphone OS aptly named Tizen is not convincing or compelling enough a proposition to get into the after sales market of Apps with their own OS, I’m not sure what to tell you.

Perhaps Samsung Manager David Eun announcing in an interview on Monday February 11^th 2013 with All Things Digital Reporter Kara Swisher that it’s their intention to completely replace Google Android with Tizen OS by the Fourth Quarter of 2013 on ALL its smartphones should convince you as noted in “Samsung ditching Android this year with new Tizen phone”, published 15 February 2013, 9:30am By Rich Trenholm, CNET News

And Samsung’s not alone in their vainglorious attempts to get rid of Google Android, albeit for other OS contenders, it’s mainly about survival in the so called “Post-PC era” as opposed to making money. This in a world going slowly towards Mobile Computing as opined in How the Apple iPad killed Ultrabooks, Printing and the Mouse as the World Rediscovers Tablets.

Already the smartphone OS field is already crowded, leading many to speculate that we may have too many smartphone OS as argued by CNET Editor Jessica Dolcourt in “No, we don't really need another smartphone OS”, published January 2, 2013 3:11 PM PST by Jessica Dolcourt, CNET News, despite this being good for smartphone Bio-Diversity, as can be seen from the list of Smartphone OS below:

1.      Android

2.      iOS

3.      Windows Phone 8

4.      Blackberry 10

5.      Firefox OS

6.      Ubuntu OS

7.      Tizen

8.      Web OS

The Mozilla Foundation also has plans for their own smartphone and Tablet OS called Firefox OS, named after their very popular browser as mentioned at the end of my Geezam blog article “How to reset the default Search Engine in Mozilla Firefox”.  The Mozilla Foundation is now getting serious, having now outed two (2) smartphones for Developers to play with, named the low-end Keon and the high-end Peak as announced in “GeeksPhone reveals Firefox OS phones for Developers”, published January 22, 2013 3:48 AM PST by Stephen Shankland, CNET News.

Made by 2009 start-up phone maker Geeksphone, based in Spain of all places, the two smartphones were designed by a ten (10) man team, they’ll also Debut in the Fourth Quarter of 2013. Already the Mozilla Foundation is off to a bad start, sorts, as the smartphones should have been given to Developers for free if they want them to port their Apps to the new OS. 

The specs tell the tale of the tape:

Keon smartphone specs:

1.   1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 processor

2.   3.5-inch screen

3.   1,580mAh battery

4.   3MP camera

5.   4GB of ROM

6.   512MB of RAM

7.   MicroSD slot

8.   802.11n wireless networking

9.   Light and proximity sensors

10.  GPS

11.  Accelerometer

12.  Camera flash

Peak smartphone specs:

1.      1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor

2.      4.3-inch screen

3.      1,800mAh battery

4.      8MP camera

5.      4GB of ROM

6.      512MB of RAM

7.      MicroSD slot

8.      802.11n wireless networking

9.      Light and proximity sensors

10.  GPS

11.  Accelerometer

12.  Camera flash

Also, their development cycles are a bit too long, compared to Apple and Google Android, who update their OS every few months or so with major updates done yearly. Still Telecom Providers Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, and Telenor have all committed support to this venture.

Intel, also a support of Samsung’s Tizen OS as Samsung’s new smartphones will be using their Chipsets, also supporting the new OS as noted in “Mozilla Unveils Firefox OS Developer Phones”, published January 22, 2013 11:12am EST By Chloe Albanesius, PCWorld.

Like Samsung’s efforts, this is also the Mozilla Foundation’s bid to be relevant and develop a Mobile Strategy as the whole world goes crazy over the cannibalistic trend towards Mobile Computing as predicted in my Geezam blog article “How the Apple iPad killed Ultrabooks, Printing and the Mouse as the World Rediscovers Tablets”.

Meanwhile Canonical, the developers behind the popular Linux based Desktop Operating System, Ubuntu, have also decided to toss their hat into the ring. Canonical’s bid to bring the power of Desktop and Laptop oriented Linux to smartphones is called – what else? -  Ubuntu OS as per the article “Ubuntu OS smartphones tapped for late 2013”, published January 2, 2013 10:57 AM PST by Jessica Dolcourt, CNET News. 

They’re slated to make their debut in the Third Quarter of 2013, specifically October of 2013 as stated in “Ubuntu OS smartphones to hit stores in October”, published February 6, 2013 6:15 PM PST by Dara Kerr, CNET News.  

Coincidence?

I think not, as Samsung’s Tizen OS, Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox OS and Canonical’s Ubuntu OS have one thing in common: a disdain for Java and support for more LiMo (Linux Mobile) which is true Open Source and porting web-friendly HTML5 based programs to run on their OS’s.

Canonical’s idea, according to Ubuntu’s founder, Mark Shuttleworth, is akin to the same philosophy used in the PC World; get persons to install the OS on the smartphone to try out the new OS as noted in “Ubuntu operating system comes to Android smartphones”, published 2 January 2013 Last updated at 18:17 GMT By Leo Kelion Technology reporter, BBC News.

Both of these noble attempts have shortcomings, as they may be hampered by recent regulations now in effect since Saturday January 26^th 2013 put in place by the Librarian of Congress as noted in “Unauthorized unlocking of smartphones becomes illegal Saturday”, published January 25, 2013 4:57 AM PST by Eric Mack, CNET News and “Unlocking your new smartphone is now illegal: What you need to know” published January 26, 2013 By Andrew Couts, DigitalTrends.

This is to prevent people modifying the phones in any way that may result in the phone’s firmware being tampered with and ending up being unlocked, a violation of DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). In addition, changing one’s OS is really the preserve of Geeks and Tech enthusiasts, rendering this strategy ineffective being proffered by Canonical as argued in “Ubuntu's Phone OS Is Nothing Without Hardware”, published January 2, 2013 05:30pm EST By Sascha Segan, PCWorld.

So they’re already off to a bad start behind the Korean heavyweight Samsung, who’s Tizen OS is looking more like a contender, albeit it’s yet early days and no clear winners can really be chosen. Samsung’s got the hardware, the Telecom Provider partnerships and the Developer partnerships with Intel. With Android having carried them thus Tizen OS will set them free of Google Android by 2015.

But one thing is for sure; the developments by Samsung, Mozilla Foundation and Canonical broadens the OS pool and sets the stage for Mobile Computing devices getting even smaller, if Intel can get their PC strength Chipsets into Mobile Computing market in which they’ve had no influence. These three (3) smartphone OS are basically David Guetta’s Titanium Robotic giants controlled by humans fighting a battle against the Google Android invader Pacific RIM (2013) Style.