Is Android killing Access Linux?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about Access Linux and the move into the Mobile Internet Device market. Nice move but It looks like AL may be on shakey ground in the mobile phone market.
Mobile operator Orange has decided to kill off the planned release of an Access Linux based handset. In part, this may well be due to the imminent release of Google’s Android although, to be fair, I haven’t seen much of a demand for Linux mobiles in Europe. The nature of Open Source has spawned a mass of competing OSes which presents manufacturers with a dilemma over which flavour to install - get it wrong and sales will plummet. Add in the swathe of different packaging mechanisms and you can see why many vendors ship Windows based devices. Ok, this is not so much of a problem in the Ultra Mobile sector as buyers tend to know exactly what they want but surely it’s time we had a some control over Open Source compatability? If something isn’t done soon, the Google backed Android is going to make Linux handsets a distant memory. Do you really want a world that’s totally dominated by Google?
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