Ubuntu, Firefox line up to take on iOS, Android in 2013

January 03, 2013

Android and iOS may be at the top of the heap in the smartphone world, but that hasn't stopped competitors, new and old, from trying to grab a piece of the pie. Ubuntu-maker Canonical announced Wednesday that it would enter the smartphone fray with its own Ubuntu phone OS based loosely on its popular Linux distribution for PCs. Research in Motion at the end of January will announce availability for BlackBerry 10, widely acknowledged as the company's last chance to retain any competitive advantage in the smartphone wars. Meanwhile, Microsoft is pushing Windows Phone 8, hoping that it unseats BlackBerry to become the third most popular smartphone OS behind Android and iOS. And the Mozilla Foundation also hopes to crack the smartphone world with a Web-based smartphone. The year has barely started and 2013 is already promising to be the start of a second smartphone platform skirmish following the battles of late 2010 into mid-2011. At that time, Android and iOS still reigned supreme, while Nokia's Symbian essentially dropped by the wayside in favor of the Nokia-Microsoft Windows Phone partnership. A few months later Hewlett-Packard gave up on WebOS and has yet to get back in the smartphone game with an Android, Windows Phone, or Open WebOS alternative. In 2013, consumers are faced once again with the prospect of six smartphone platforms to choose from. Is there enough room for all six? Will some of these upstarts disappear in the next 12 months or will some of the smaller competitors settle into their own niches, appealing to those who don't want an Android or iOS device? Let's take a look at the field. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023648/ubuntu-firefox-line-up-to-take-on-ios-android-in-2013.html