11.18.13

Android’s GNU/Linux-based Rivals Are Doing Pretty Well

Posted in GNU/Linux, Google at 8:53 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Tizen still a contender

Tizen screenshot

Summary: Mobile contenders such as Ubuntu, Firefox, and Tizen are still in the game, chasing Android and sometimes scoring hardware (preinstallation) deals

THE GROWTH of Android is almost inarguably fantastic (from zero percent to 80% in just a few years), but Android is not the only game in town as far as ‘small’ distributions of */Linux are concerned. Sailfish OS, which comes from Nokia (former staff), is looking increasingly mature [1] and smartphones running this operating system are expected to come out this month [2]. Pessimists don’t think that non-Android Linux tablets can do well [3], but when it comes to smartphones there are several challengers and they include Ubuntu, Firefox, and Tizen.

Samsung, a leading user of Android, actually uses Tizen for cameras [4-6] — not smartphones [7] — leaving the ‘alternative’ smartphones field (Linux-based but not Android) open for MeeGo refugee from Nokia/Jolla. It is worth noting that many of these systems are inter-connected in the code sense, and not just owing to Linux. Since they are abundantly free/libre, there is room for sharing. Modularity in smartphones [8] goes a long way in ensuring innovation. In a sense, this involves as much collaboration as competition. Apple can’t compete with that. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

[Exclusive Interview + Forum Opening] Sailfish OS Design Talk with Jaakko Roppola

…we have found out about the mapping system on Sailfish OS made by the Swedish company called Appello based on HERE maps material.
Jolla’s Android-aping Sailfish OS smartphones to land in November

Finnish startup Jolla has revealed when the first batch of its Sailfish OS–based smartphones will be available to customers, along with new information about what software will be on offer when the devices ship.

On Thursday, the company announced via Twitter that the handsets will go on sale in Finland first, thanks to Jolla’s partnership with local carrier DNA. The devices will hit retail shelves in Helsinki on November 27, with a price tag of €399.
Is All Hope Lost For Non-Android Linux Tablets?

Canonical with their Ubuntu Touch initiative isn’t the only project that’s failed to deliver as of yet with a successful non-Android Linux tablet.

While there’s arguably still hope left for Ubuntu Touch to become a commercial success, there’s been more Linux tablet projects that have faded away.
Tizen phone a no show as Samsung seeks more devs
Tizen camera debuted, Lite tipped, phone delayed

There was Tizen news aplenty at the Tizen Developer Summit including a Tizen 2.2.1 release, new details on Tizen 3.0, a Tizen-based Samsung NX300M camera, and an upcoming Tizen Mobile Lite version for low-end phones. Yet, there was no sign of the Tizen phone, and a Samsung executive was quoted as saying that the first Tizen phone would be delayed until 2014.
Samsung debuts its spanking new Tizen OS-for-mobes …. in a camera

While lawyers pettifog their patent arguments in the Apple-Samsung World Series, the South Korean has been quietly recruiting partners and developers to Tizen, and has launched its first Tizen-based product – a camera, not a phone.

While the South Korean company is acting as evangelist-in-chief for the Tizen operating system, the project itself has a couple of years of history behind it, having been established in 2011 by the Linux Foundation.

It’s been a bit of a slog: back in May, the project still expected its first smartphones to land by the end of this year, something that’s proved unachievable.
Chances for a Tizen Smartphone Entry

Tizen is a fresh new project, but it has roots in several pre-existing platforms including the distributions Moblin, MeeGo and LiMo. According to the Tizen Association, “The mobile marketplace has undergone extensive change over the past few years. New platforms have emerged, new revenue models have been enabled, and innovations continue to emerge rapidly from all corners of the industry. Tizen is an open-source solution that provides an innovative platform offering a high level of flexibility in service selection and deployment.”
Ode to Project Ara

Modularity in smartphones could “go a long way to overcoming whatever inflexibility is left in the system of small, cheap computers,” blogger Robert Pogson suggested. “Rather than just tweaking software, the end user or retailer can mix and match bits of the hardware, too.

Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Permalink Mail Send this to a friend

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

Pages that cross-reference this one

Android Has Real Competition Coming and It’s Linux Powered (Sailfish OS Phone Out Next Week)

What Else is New

Links 21/6/2018: Microsoft's 'Damage Control' Amid Role in ICE Scandals, 11-Hour Azure Downtime (Again), GNOME 3.29.3, and More GNU/Linux Wins

Links for the day
Battistelli and Topić Lose Their Bogus 'Case' Against Judge Corcoran After They Defamed Him and Ruined His Career/Life

The SLAPP action against Judge Patrick Corcoran, who has so far won all cases involving the EPO, is finally dismissed in Germany; what remains is an ugly legacy at the EPO, wherein everyone bold enough to say something about corruption at the top is having his or her life — not just career — destroyed
Even Media of the Patent Microcosm Mentions the Decline in Quality of Patents at the EPO, Based on Its Very Own Stakeholders, While IAM Ignores the News

The whole world basically accepts, based on patent examiners as well as those whom they interact with (patent agents), that patent quality at the EPO has sunk; but the EPO and IAM continue to vigorously deny that as it threatens some people's nefarious agenda
Links 20/6/2018: Qt 5.11.1, Oracle Solaris 11.3 SRU 33, HHVM 3.27.0, Microsoft Helping ICE

Links for the day
Patent Extremists Are Unable to Find Federal Circuit Cases That Help Them Mislead on Alice

Patent extremists prefer talking about Mayo but not Alice when it comes to 35 U.S.C. § 101; Broadcom is meanwhile going on a 'fishing expedition', looking to profit from patents by calling for embargo through the ITC
What Use Are 10 Million Patents That Are of Low Quality in a Patent Office Controlled by the Patent 'Industry'?

The patent maximalists are celebrating overgranting; the USPTO, failing to heed the warning from patent courts, continues issuing far too many patents and a new paper from Mark Lemley and Robin Feldman offers a dose of sobering reality
The Eastern District of Texas is Where Asian Companies/Patents/Trolls Still Go After TC Heartland

Proxies of Longhorn IP and KAIST (Katana Silicon Technologies LLC and KAIST IP US LLC, respectively) roam Texas in pursuit of money of out nothing but patents and aggressive litigation; there's also a Microsoft connection
EPO Insiders Correct the Record of Benoît Battistelli’s Tyranny and Abuse of Law: “Legal Harassment and Retaliation”

Battistelli’s record, as per EPO-FLIER 37, is a lot worse than the Office cares to tell stakeholders, who are already complaining about decline in patent quality
Articles About a Unitary Patent System Are Lies and Marketing From Law Firms With 'Lawsuits Lust'

Team UPC has grown louder with its lobbying efforts this past week; the same lies are being repeated without much of a challenge and press ownership plays a role in that
The Decline in Patent Quality at the EPO Causes Frivolous Lawsuits That Only Lawyers Profit From

The European Patent Office (EPO) will continue granting low-quality European Patents under the leadership of the Battistelli-'nominated' Frenchman, António Campinos; this is bad news for science and technology as that quite likely means a lot more lawsuits without merit (which only lawyers profit from)
What Battistelli's Workers Think of His Latest EPO Propaganda

"Modernising the EPO" is what Battistelli calls a plethora of human rights abuses and corruption
Links 19/6/2018: Total War: WARHAMMER II Confirmed for GNU/Linux, DragonFlyBSD 5.2.2 Released

Links for the day
More Media Reports About Decline in Quality of European Patents (Granted by the EPO)

What the media is saying about the letter from Grünecker, Hoffmann Eitle, Maiwald and Vossius & Partner whilst EPO communications shift attention to shallow puff pieces about how wonderful Benoît Battistelli is
Beware Team UPC's Biggest Two Lies About the Unitary Patent (UPC)

Claims that a Unified Patent Court (UPC) will commence next year are nothing but a fantasy of the Liar in Chief, Benoît Battistelli, who keeps telling lies to French media (some of which he passes EPO money to, just like he passes EPO money to his other employer)
Diversity at the EPO

Two decades of EPO with 16-17 years under the control of French Presidents (and nowadays predominantly French management in general with Inventor Award held in France almost half the time) is "diversity at the EPO"
Orrin Hatch, Sponsored the Most by the Pharmaceutical Industry, Tries to Make Its Patents Immune From Scrutiny (PTAB)

Orrin Hatch is the latest example of laws being up for sale, i.e. companies can 'buy' politicians to act as their 'couriers' and pass laws for them, including laws pertaining to patents
Links 17/6/2018: Linux 4.18 RC1 and Deepin 15.6 Released

Links for the day
To Keep the Patent System Alive and Going Practitioners Will Have to Accept Compromises on Scope Being Narrowed

35 U.S.C. § 101 still squashes a lot of software patents, reducing confidence in US patents; the only way to correct this is to reduce patent filings and file fewer lawsuits, judging their merit in advance based on precedents from higher courts
The Affairs of the USPTO Have Turned Into Somewhat of a Battle Against the Courts, Which Are Simply Applying the Law to Invalidate US Patents

The struggle between law, public interest, and the Cult of Patents (which only ever celebrates more patents and lawsuits) as observed in the midst of recent events in the United States
Patent Marketing Disguised as Patent 'Advice'

The meta-industry which profits from patents and lawsuits claims that it's guiding us and pursuing innovation, but in reality its sole goal is enriching itself, even if that means holding science back
Microsoft is Still 'Cybermobbing' Its Competition Using Patent Trolls Such as Finjan

In the "cybersecurity" space, a sub-domain where many software patents have been granted by the US patent office, the patent extortion by Microsoft-connected trolls (and Microsoft's 'protection' racket) seems to carry on; but Microsoft continues to insist that it has changed its ways
Links 16/6/2018: LiMux Story, Okta Openwashing and More

Links for the day
The EPO's Response to the Open Letter About Decline in Patent Quality as the Latest Example of Arrogance and Resistance to Facts, Truth

Sidestepping the existential crisis of the EPO (running out of work and issuing many questionable patents with expectation of impending layoffs), the PR people at the Office choose a facts-denying, face-saving 'damage control' strategy while staff speaks out, wholeheartedly agreeing with concerned stakeholders
In the United States the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Which Assures Patent Quality, is Still Being Smeared by Law Firms That Profit From Patent Maximalism, Lawsuits

Auditory roles which help ascertain high quality of patents (or invalidate low-quality patents, at least those pointed out by petitions) are being smeared, demonised as "death squads" and worked around using dirty tricks that are widely described as "scams"
The 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI) Hype, Propped Up by Events of the European Patent Office (EPO), is Infectious and It Threatens Patent Quality Worldwide

Having spread surrogate terms like “4IR” (somewhat of a 'mask' for software patents, by the EPO's own admission in the Gazette), the EPO continues with several more terms like “ICT” and now we’re grappling with terms like “AI”, which the media endlessly perpetuates these days (in relation to patents it de facto means little more than "clever algorithms")
Links 15/6/2018: HP Chromebook X2 With GNU/Linux Software, Apple Admits and Closes a Back Door ('Loophole')

Links for the day
The '4iP Council' is a Megaphone of Team UPC and Team Battistelli at the EPO

The EPO keeps demonstrating lack of interest in genuine patent quality (it uses buzzwords to compensate for deviation from the EPC and replaces humans with shoddy translators); it is being aided by law firms which work for patent trolls and think tanks that propel their interests
Grünecker, Hoffmann Eitle, Maiwald and Vossius & Partner Find the Courage to Express Concerns About Battistelli's Ugly Legacy and Low Patent Quality

The astounding levels of abuse at the EPO have caused some of the EPO's biggest stakeholders to speak out and lash out, condemning the Office for mismanagement amongst other things
IAM Concludes Its Latest Anti-§ 101 Think Tank, Featuring Crooked Benoît Battistelli

The attack on 35 U.S.C. § 101, which invalidates most if not all software patents, as seen through the lens of a Battistelli- and Iancu-led lobbying event (set up by IAM)
Google Gets Told Off -- Even by the Typically Supportive EFF and TechDirt -- Over Patenting of Software

The EFF's Daniel Nazer, as well as TechDirt's founder Mike Masnick, won't tolerate Google's misuse of Jarek Duda's work; the USPTO should generally reject all applications for software patents -- something which a former Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO seems to be accepting now (that such patents have no potency after Alice)