Month of OS

Month of OS - February seems to be the OS month for portable devices. Along-side the launch of PalmOS version 5 earlier this month, there has been some action at the current 3GSM conference in Cannes. Microsoft has launched 2 new OS versions, Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition, adds mobile phone functionality to the existing Pocket PC OS. It is targeted at PDA's with added phone functionality, such as the Handspring Treo (Palm OS driven) and the Kyocera Smartphone. Microsofts other offering is Smartphone 2002, which marks their move away from the PDA platform, and onto the mobile phone platform. Targeted at mobile phones with added PDA functionality, such as the Nokia Communicator and the Motorola Accompli 008.

Not to be left out the last of the big 3 in the PDA OS market (not counting Linux at the moment), Symbian has also used the 3GSM conference to launch version 7.0 of their OS. This version adds mobile communications support to their offering as well, putting them in line with Microsoft and PalmOS. Amongst the impressive list of protocols supported natively by the new Symbian OS are HSCSD, GSM, Bluetooth, GPRS, UMTS, MMS and EMS. Symbian is roughly positioned in the market-segment that is also occupied by Microsoft Smartphone, but also runs successfully in a number of PDA implementations.