Smart-Phone Operating Systems Control More Costumer Electronics

The heart of a mobile device is its operating systems, which governs its build-in computing power as well as applications, services like e-mail, and cellular-network features such as visual voice mail. Competition among operating systems will thus shape the future of mobile technology. And because those systems can also allow control of laptops, Web TV devices, and more, they may well become the brains controlling most costumer electronics.

The main OS technology battle pits Apple's proprietary operating system, IOS, against Google's mostly open-source Android system. But smaller competitors are growing quickly, including Hewlett-Parkard's WebOS, the Blackberry OS, and Windows Phone 7, now to be used by Nokia under a new partnership arrangement with Microsoft.