Mobile operating systems from the stable of the top three global brands — Apple’s iOS 5, Windows Mango and Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich — vie for smartphone users.
With mobile OS becoming the new battleground for Google, Apple and Microsoft, it is the smartphone users who stand to benefit the most. And, for those who are on the look out for a new phone and not committed to a particular operating system, make an informed choice based on the new OS updates.
Last week, the Windows Phone 7.5 (codenamed Mango) was launched a day before Apple iOS 5. An ardent Apple user, Ellias Qureshi who runs a chain of internet cafes in Rohtak says: “I have an iPhone 4 and an iPod Touch. Apple released the iOS 5 update at about 11 p m on October 12 and I sat up till 3 a m in morning to update my devices.” Qureshi also owns an Android tablet PC and is looking forward to download Android’s next update, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich.
| MANGO: WINDOWS’ FRUIT OF LABOUR |
| * The WP 7.5 Mango update is meant for tablets and smartphones |
| * The mobile browser brings Internet Explorer 9 to the small screen. The new IE version definitely has some incredible web browsing features and capabilities |
| * It sports an advanced tile-based home screen |
| * It supports ‘People Hub’ & offers Windows Live messaging and Twitter integration through the apps. For instance, if you want to send a text message, the phone will automatically search to see if your contact is logged on to his/her Windows live and, if so, the message will be send in the Live chatroom |
| * SMS messages can be dictated using a new ‘speak’ button inside the Windows Phone messaging client. |
| * A new search service using the Win 7.5 phones camera, called Bing Vision, will support scanning of barcodes, QR codes, books, CDs, DVDs and text to locate them for the user (using the web) |
| * As far as email goes, the biggest change is linked inboxes that allow joining together a number of email accounts into one tile. Handy for those who have more than one accounts on the phone |
Qureshi claims he had to constantly unlock the device and open apps to see if there were any new messages on his email, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. “That used to frustrate me, but now with the iOS 5 life’s better. There are a number of notification types and a number of ways notifications are displayed. When my iPhone is locked and an application triggers a notification it will be displayed on the locked screen. I can also select the applications displayed on the lock screen and how those notifications are displayed.”
| OS5: THE APPLE OF THE I |
| * Apple iOS 5 is compatible only with Apple devices like iPads, iPhones and iPod Touch (4th generation) |
| * Apple packs in a punch in its latest mobile Safari (web browser) version. New features, including tabbed surfing around make browsing a breeze. It also features a Firefox reader that allows user to save stories. |
| * Apple has integrated Twitter straight into iOS 5. You can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube or Maps |
| * Apple now gives users iCloud service that syncs user content and pushes it to various devices via the cloud. Contacts, calendar and mail are now free and cloud-centric, with Apple’s servers pushing messages and updates to iPhones and iPads. With iCloud, users can also sync and access their iTunes music via the cloud |
| * A new notification centre combines messages, missed calls, app updates, tweets and so on in a single place |
| * Three new in-built apps, Messages, Reminders, and Newsstand. Messages allows sending unlimited texts (photos, videos, location information, and contacts information) between iPads, iPhones & iPod Touch (4th gen). |
| * Reminders is a to-do app that combines due dates and location information (alerts are sent based on the time set or your location) |
| * International magazines and newspapers can be subscribed on Newsstand, which organises all purchases in an iBooks-like app |
| * Email gets formatting features like bold, italicise or underline fonts. You do this by highlighting a word or text block, which opens the formatting menu |
The iOS 5, which powers Apple’s iPad and iPhone devices, promises more than 200 new features, but a number of features are very similar to the ones used in Android and Windows Phone 7. For instance, iOS 5 brings a new camera shortcut, accessible via the lock screen, reminiscent of a similar function in Microsoft’s Windows Phone. Joe Belfiore, corporate vice-president of Windows Phone program management, tweeted: “Feeling flattered today. Lots of great [Windows Phone] ideas headed to iOS.”
| HOW THEY STACK UP | ||||
| Apple iOS 5 | Android Ice Cream * | Windows Phone 7 Mango | BlackBerry OS 7 | |
| Notifications | Unified notification centre | Pulldown notifications | Live tile updates | Icons that show up on the home screen |
| Web browser | Safari, supports HTML 5; tabbed browsing | Integrated web browser, expected to have tabbed & better zoom experience | IE 9 & supports HTML 5 & Silverlight; tabbed experience | In-built, third party apps like Opera |
| Built-in messaging | iMessage | Gtalk, along with third-party messaging apps | Integrated Facebook, Twitter & Live Messenger | BlackBerry Messenger |
| Multimedia | iTunes for all music & app purchases; Newsstand for magazines | Will support Google Music, Google Movies and Google Books rental services | Built-in support for Skype; Bing Music allows recording a snippet of music and gives the option of downloading it from Zune marketplace | On-device purchase on the BlackBerry App Store |
| Built-in games platform | Games Centre | Promises an improved game platform | An integrated Xbox Live Plus Kinect | NA |
| Voice control | Siri | In-built voice action feature; third party apps | In-built voice-control feature; integrated with emails, web, messages and so on | Voice-control is limited to few functions on the phone; third party apps |
Another Apple fanboy, Makrand Dandekar, who runs a restaurant in Pune, gushes: “I love the fact that Apple iOS 5 allows users to move away from the need to connect the device to the computer to do anything.” But points out that this new feature comes with a massive caveat — the iPhone has to be plugged into a power source while updating as the battery drains out very fast in wireless sync.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5, also known as Mango, definitely presents itself as a more polished and potent contender for Apple and Android devices. New handsets from manufacturers. including HTC and Samsung, have started shipping Windows phone with Mango update.
A software engineering student and a part-time developer, Roshan K says: “Unlike Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and just about every other mobile-device operating system, a Windows phone doesn’t present you with rows of icons representing apps. Instead, the home screen consists of a number of colourful tiles that represent the phone’s key functions. These tiles can update themselves with new information, so that, for example, you can see your next appointment at a glance, or how many new e-mails you have received.” Roshan, who owns an HTC Windows phone, recently upgraded his device with the Mango update.
Apple also challenges the popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app with its new iMessenger app that blurs the distinction between phone, text, email and SMS and MMS allowing users of iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch the chance to share photo’s, videos and contacts as well as start a group messaging service. The technology will work over wireless (Wi-Fi) and 3G connections. “Research in Motion’s (RIM’s) BBM cannot compete with the ease and functionality that iMessage should provide, so it is actually quite a worrying new feature for RIM,” noted an analyst from research firm Jefferies. Additionally, the new iMessage also includes delivery & read receipts and secure end-to-end encryption just like BBM.
| CRÈME DE LA CRÈME |
| * Google Android 4 or Ice Cream Sandwich update is primarily for tablets and smartphones |
| * It will be loaded with a new holographic user interface that offers rich widgets and an enhanced application framework |
| * Reportedly, the new update will put Honeycomb’s features into smartphones such as facial detection with the camera, so video chat will automatically focus on the speaker who’s talking (if there are multiple ones) |
| * It will have more intuitive and integrated voice recognition |
| * It is expected to sport new Google Music and Gmail apps and mobile Google chrome functionalities |
| * Users can also look forward to a new multitasking tool that will include a system manager to manage device resources better |
| * The update would also allow devices to act as USB hub and hook up devices such as mice, keyboards and game controllers |
Jefferies’ analyst Peter Misek believes that Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich user interface (UI) will be broadly based on its existing Honeycomb UI. “Ice Cream Sandwich is expected to bring features like expanding and resizing widgets and apps, facial detection with the camera and will allow Android devices to be used as USB hosts so that one can plug-in keyboards or Xbox controllers. It will additionally feature voice-guided GPS feature and Adobe Flash support.”
