Type of Smart phone

Now that we know what smartphones are, let’s discuss the major operating systems available in the market। They are: Symbian, Microsoft and Palm। Some companies like Motorola use a customized version of Linux for their smartphones.

Symbian-

This is the most common smartphone OS in the market. Many major phone manufacturers like Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Samsung, Panasonic, etc are shareholders of Symbian. Nokia is the biggest shareholder of Symbian. Not surprisingly, most of the Symbian phones in the market are those of Nokia. The latest version of Symbian is 9.3
Symbian can further be sub-divided into three categories
Symbian Series 60-

Some screenshot of Series 60

Most Nokia smartphones are Series 60. E.g. All Nseries and Eseries phones, 3250, 6600, etc. Series 60 is also the most user friendly and versatile OS on the market. These phones are made with considering single hand usage and hence don’t require a stylus. S60 devices include built-in features varying from messaging, calendar, multimedia, office applications to a wide variety of personalization options and advanced web browsing It also has a wide variety of third party applications available for it. However one downside is that since there are minor revisions in the versions, some applications made for an earlier version may not work for the next. The latest version of Series 60 is the 3rd edition.

Symbian UIQ-

UIQ was a wholly owned subsidiary of Symbian until recently. Sony-Ericsson has now bought it from them. UIQ phones are touch screen phones and require stylus usage. However the latest version of UIQ allows single handed usage too. All SE smartphones like M600i, P990i, and W950i use Symbian UIQ. The only Nokia phone to use UIQ is 6708. The latest version of UIQ is 3.0.

Symbian Series 80-

Series 80 is used in Nokia’s communicator line – 9300i, 9500 and 9300. It implements a two-hand operation, with full QWERTY keyboard and widescreen view. It has been optimized for enterprise productivity applications like email, calendar, contacts, printing and Microsoft Office™ compatible applications
The disadvantage is that these phones are bulky and lack the “vibration” alert.

Windows Mobile -

If we talk about operating systems then how can we forget Microsoft.
Windows Mobile phones feature a distinctive Today screen, Pocket Word/Excel/PowerPoint to view and edit Office documents, Pocket Internet Explorer to browse the net, Good synchronization abilities with Outlook and Windows Media Player 10 Mobile to play multimedia files
This OS is feature packed and also has a large number of third party applications. The downside is that it is not as user-friendly as Symbian and requires some time to adjust to. The latest Windows OS is 5.0.
The two categories of Windows OS in the market are:
Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition
This OS is for phones that are not touch screen based.

Windows Mobile PocketPC Edition
This OS is for phones that are touch screen based.

Palm OS
Although not very popular in India, Palm OS is used in the well known Treo line of smartphones. Interestingly Palm OS has the largest number of software available for it. It is fairly intuitive and easy to use but the main factor weighing it down is the limited multitasking ability.