Consumers looking for an alternative to iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android will soon be spoilt for choice, with Samsung's bada, Windows Phone 7, and Nokia and Intel's MeeGo platform all set to make their respective marks in the coming months.
History dictates, however, that it's especially unlikely that the market will be able to sustain such a bevy of different platforms. One or more will likely fall.
MeeGo is an interesting prospect, both considering its unashamed similarities to Android and the existing allegiance Nokia has with Symbian - the latest version of which will launch on the forthcoming N8.
Those behind its development, however, are confident it will see out the coming years.
Double trouble
Indeed, its similarities to both Android and Symbian are being portrayed as strengths, not weaknesses.
"Both [Symbian and MeeGo] are different platforms, but we're both using...similar technologies as we go forward, and the APIs are based on the Qt developer toolkit and API, and the Qt SDK, so that provides a really broad basis of commonality between the two platforms," MeeGo director Valtteri Halla told Fierce Developer.
"So application developers can download the Qt SDK, create applications, and then have some of those running even as such on both platforms."
Halla states MeeGo will have more of a high-end appeal than Symbian, but firmly believes developers will be encouraged to work on both formats, thanks to Nokia's Qt development framework.
Selling on smartphones
But the ways in which studios will sell their apps to consumers will also come with a dual approach.
"MeeGo is providing choice there," Halla said of marketplace options on the OS.
"We have the Nokia Ovi Store for Nokia devices, and then we have the Intel Atom store that can generate solutions for any MeeGo device.
"We have technical interfaces and protocols that are the same for both stores, so if you have a MeeGo device you can use any of these stores.
"It's like having a product in K-Mart and Wal-Mart," he added.
"You have two stores but essentially the same product. For consumers there's choice, and for developers also there's the best way to publish and sell through both channels."
Ode to Android
However, even though Halla states such intricacies will aid MeeGo in its quest to topple Android, he also believes co-operation between the two parties will be likely as the market consolidates around three platforms iPhone, Android, and MeeGo.
"We have, of course, [the] Apple platform there with great share, but then Android and MeeGo are really driving the Linux effort and leading the high end," he concluded.
"There will be certain cooperation and convergence between MeeGo and Android going forward - there's an interesting opportunity to share that investment and commonalities and compliances there over time."
Fierce Developer
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With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
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