Developing Telecoms | Ophone designer to align OS with Android

23 May 2012

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Ophone designer to align OS with Android

Wednesday, 22 December 2010 11:00 | James Barton

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The designer of China Mobile’s Ophone operating system is reportedly planning on bringing future versions more closely in line with Google’s Android, the platform on which Ophone is based.

This admission from the design house Borgs casts significant doubt over Ophone’s future; the timing is particularly surprising as recent reports indicate that China Mobile is planning to bolster support for the OS through an industry wide alliance.

Although Ophone is based on Android, the two systems are for the most part incompatible with each other. Bringing Ophone’s core architecture closer to Android’s would allow the former to support applications coded for the latter; using this system as a basis, China Mobile’s modifications would then be added, rather than being integrated intrinsically into the OS.

The website Mobinode has claimed that “insiders” at China Mobile have dismissed Ophone as “dead”. It is asserted that the operator’s experience with the OS has soured its attitude towards the original Android.

However, if China Mobile were to increase compatibility between Ophone and Android, it would be able to reap the benefits of the large global base of Android developers. The operator has confirmed the importance of its app store to its VAS strategy, and stated that it aims to increase its portfolio through international cooperation.

It is however doubtful that China Mobile would scrap Ophone entirely. The system has proved popular among vendors, likely due to the operator’s high subscriber numbers, and there are reportedly two upgraded versions of the system releasing in 2011. The OS is seen as a key agent for boosting smartphone adoption in China.

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