What is Nokia Symbian?

Symbian is an operating system (OS) and software platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Nokia.  Symbian OS has been used by a number of companies (totaling 400 million units and still making up 40% of the smart phone market) among which Sony, Ericsson (and later Sony-Ericsson), Siemens, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Samsung, Nokia and a few more.
as opposed to Maemo/MeeGo and, to a lesser extent Android which are rather new software w/ still a few "baby illnesses", Symbian is a very mature platform with a proven usability and functionality record.

History

• Psion founded by David Potter inn 1980 launched the Psion Organizer, the world's first volume-produced handheld computer in 1984.
• In 1991, Psion introduces the EPOC OS (Electronic Piece Of Cheese, according to the legend).
• In 1997, Psion Series 5 - the first EPOC32 (32-bit) palmtop.
• June 1998 - Symbian is established as a private independent company and is owned by Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Psion. From this point onwards has EPOC OS been called Symbian OS.
• 2000
• September - Symbian ships Version 6 of its software platform to licensees.
• November - The world's first Symbian OS phone, the Ericsson R380 Smartphone, ships.
• 2001
• June - The world's first open Symbian OS phone became available - the Nokia 9210 Communicator.
• November
• Nokia introduces the Series 60 - a licensable UI for Symbian.
• The first 2.5G Symbian OS phone, the Nokia 7650, is announced. The 7650 is the first mass-market Symbian phone and it is based on the Nokia series 60 reference design.
• 2002
• February - Symbian announces UIQ user interface application for Symbian OS.
• October - Samsung licenses Symbian OS for smartphones. World’s top five mobile phone manufacturers now Symbian OS licensees.
• December - Fujitsu has completed development of a Symbian OS smartphone for NTT DoCoMo's FOMA 3G network - The F2051.
• 2003
• April - Symbian launches Symbian OS v7.0s at Exposium03.
• October - Nokia announces the first "Media" phone, the TV-enabled 7700, based on the new "Series 90".
• 2004
• February - Symbian OS v8.0 is announced.
• March - Symbian leads smartphone market.
• February 2005 - Symbian OS v9 is announced.
• 2006
• May - 100th commercial phone model ships.
• November - 100 million Symbian smartphones shipped.

Advantages

1.   Greater range of applications.
2.   High quality games.
3.   Better inbuit wap browser.
4.   You can have pdf reader for your phone.
5.   Connectivity is lot more easier and faster.
6.   Real Player, Smart movie player etc sort of application are not available with java phones.
7.   You can download big files through your phone easily with 3G around.
8.   Unlike java phones they are prone to virus attack.

Disadvantages

1.   Not suitable for phones with low RAM and slow processor (minimum requirements for good performance: 369 MHz processor, 70 MB RAM).
2.   More chances of viruses (but anti-virus applications are available).

What is Samsung BADA?

Samsung bada is a smartphone platform , which is created for wide range of device, unveiled in 2010. “bada” is a Korean word that means “ocean” and “seashore”. “bada” in itself embodies the open possibilities of the ocean: it can accommodate the various applications created by developers and it provides an interesting new space that offers unprecedented enjoyment to its users. 

History

Samsung announced the Bada platform on 10 November 2009.

After the announcement, the Wave S8500 was first shown at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelonain February 2010. At that time, applications running on the first Bada phone were demonstrated, including Gameloft's Asphalt 5.

After the launch, companies such as Twitter, EA, Capcom, Gameloft and Blockbuster showed their support for the Bada platform.

In May 2010 Samsung released a beta of their software development kit (SDK) for Bada to attract developers. In addition, Samsung started the Bada Developer Challenge with a total prize of $2,700,000 (USD). In August 2010 Samsung released version 1.0 of the SDK.

The first Bada-based phone was the Samsung Wave S8500, released on June 1, 2010, which sold one million handsets in its first 4 weeks on the market.

Bada Versions

The Samsung S8500 Wave was launched with version 1.0 of the Bada operating system. Soon after the launch, Samsung released version 1.0.2, which included minor fixes for European users. It will be available for the rest of the world in the near future.  The latest version 1.2 was released with the Samsung S8530 Wave II phone.  The alpha-version of Bada 2.0 was introduced on February 15, 2011. Bada development is done using C++ with the Bada SDK and associated Eclipse-based IDE, both of which can be downloaded from the Bada Developers' site.

Advantages

1. Open source
2. Dev has freedom to make apps in c++ , flash,web runtime widgets
3. flash support
4. Number of apps is increasing.
5. Bada Os Based Mobile are cheap
6. The sets having Bada has High end procc (Wave: 1Ghz)

7. Samsung touch UI
8. Support Of many Companies (Game loft etc )

Disadvantages

1. New OS Therefore more bugs (need some time for new OS to settle)

2. The external sensor API is not open-ended, preventing new types of sensors or unexpected technology developments from being added in the future.

3. Due to "performance and privacy issues", Bada applications cannot access the SMS/MMS inbox or receive incoming SMS/MMS notifications.

4. The Bada application framework only allows one Bada application to run at a time. Multitasking applications is possible between the native applications and one Bada application^.

^{Future Prospects
I say Samsung has taken a very good step in making a New OS.}

"Feel free to write or leave comments for me"

What is 2G (Second Generation) mobile Network?

2G refers to second generation wireless telecommunication technology. While its predecessor, 1G, made use of analog radio signals, 2G uses digital radio signals.
2G telecom networks were commercially launched in 1991 on the GSM standard in Finland. The 2G systems were found to be considerably more efficient on the spectrum, allowing far greater mobile phone penetration levels. Moreover, the phone conversations were digitally encrypted. Second generation technologies are either time division multiple access (TDMA) or code division multiple access (CDMA). TDMA allows for the division of signal into time slots. CDMA allocates each user a special code to communicate over a multiplex physical channel. Different TDMA technologies are GSM, PDC, iDEN, iS-136.CDMA technology is IS-95. GSM has its origin from the Group special Mobile, in Europe. GSM (Global system for mobile communication) is the most admired standard of all the mobile technologies. Although this technology originates from the Europe, but now it is used in more than 212 countries in the world. GSM technology was the first one to help establish international roaming. This enabled the mobile subscribers to use their mobile phone connections in many different countries of the world’s is based on digital signals ,unlike 1G technologies which were used to transfer analogue signals. GSM has enabled the users to make use of the short message services (SMS) to any mobile network at any time. SMS is a cheap and easy way to send a message to anyone, other than the voice call or conference. This technology is beneficial to both the network operators and the ultimate users at the same time.

Advantages

• Digital signals require consume less battery power, so it helps mobile batteries to last long
•  Digital coding improves the voice clarity and reduces noise in the line.
• Digital signals are considered environment friendly.
• The use of digital data service assists mobile network operators to introduce short message service over the cellular phones. Digital encryption has provided secrecy and safety to the data and voice calls.
•  The use of 2G technology requires strong digital signals to help mobile phones work. If there is no network coverage in any specific area, digital signals would be weak. 

Disadvantages

• Voice quality is not impressive if compare to Analog Signals
• Making Clone of numbers is not possible, just like Analog.
• Towers availability in the location is also a very important part of Digital Signals.
• If the network is not so good then user may face call drop problems.
• Data loss is also a major problem between the users because there is no dedicated path for data transfer.

First Generation Mobile Network (1st Generation)

The first generation of mobile telephony (written 1G) operated using analogue communications and portable devices that were relatively large. It used primarily the following standards. In the case of AMPS, the first 1G system to start operating in the USA (in July 1978), each channel was separated from the adjacent channels by a spacing of 30 kHz, which was not particularly efficient in terms of the available radio spectrum, and this placed a limitation on the number of calls that could be made at any one time. However, the system was a multiple access one, because a second caller could use the same channel, once the first caller had hung up. Such a system is called "frequency division multiple access" (FDMA).

The technological development that distinguished the First Generation mobile phones from the previous generation was the use of multiple cell sites, and the ability to transfer calls from one site to the next as the user travelled between cells during a conversation. The first commercially automated cellular network (the 1G generation) was launched in Japan by NTT in 1979. The initial launch network covered the full metropolitan area of Tokyo's over 20 million inhabitants with a cellular network of 23 base stations. Within five years, the NTT network had been expanded to cover the whole population of Japan and became the first nation-wide 1G network.

In 1984, Bell Labs developed modern commercial cellular technology (based, to a large extent, on the Gladden, Parelman Patent), which employed multiple, centrally controlled base stations (cell sites), each providing service to a small cell area. The sites were set up so that cells partially overlapped and different base stations operated using the same frequencies with little or no interference.
Vodafone made the UK's first mobile call at a few minutes past midnight on 1 January 1985.
The technology in these early networks was pushed to the limit to accommodate increasing usage. The base stations and the mobile phones utilised variable transmission power, which allowed range and cell size to vary. As the system expanded and neared capacity, the ability to reduce transmission power allowed new cells to be added, resulting in more, smaller cells and thus more capacity. The evidence of this growth can still be seen in the many older, tall cell site towers with no antennae on the upper parts of their towers. These sites originally created large cells, and so had their antennae mounted atop high towers; the towers were designed so that as the system expanded—and cell sizes shrank—the antennae could be lowered on their original masts to reduce range.

What is 3G?

3G refers to the third generation of mobile telephony (that is, cellular) technology. It comes with enhancements over previous wireless technologies, like high-speed transmission, advanced multimedia access and global roaming. 3G is mostly used with mobile phones and handsets as a means to connect the phone to the Internet or other IP networks in order to make voice and video calls, to download and upload data and to surf the net.

Advantages of 3G 

High Bandwidth

High bandwith---the measure of transmission capacity---is one of the selling points of 3G. This allows you quick and easy access to all of your favorite online multimedia and Internet tools, just like you were at home on a computer. You can pay bills, book dinner reservations, update social networking pages and check emails, all on-the-go. While the maximum bandwidth for a stationary 3G device---according to Silicon Press---is 2.05 megabytes (MB), when you are moving slowly (such as walking), this drops to 384 kilobytes (KB). When you and your device are moving at high speeds (such as in a car), the maximum bandwidth drops to 128 KB. However, Silicon Press notes that this is still 10 times faster than the maximum bandwidth of moving 2G devices.

Greater Speed

Using 3G tech, you get to appreciate data transmission speed of up to 2 megabytes per second, as long as you have your device in a fixed position. It also provides you high level of connectivity and greater networking, plus noise resistance. The technology has raised the bit rate, allowing service providers to give high speed Internet facilities, higher call volumes and host of the multimedia applications that may be given to their customers. All of the services may be given to the consumers based upon the data amount sent and not upon the time utilized for the service, therefore the service given to customers are cheaper overall.

Getting information

Getting information is one of the best feature of 3G technology. You can also watch the latest news and headlines, getting data like the weather, sports and economic details. You get to acquire the latest scores in an ongoing Cricket match and other favorite sports. The 3G cellular phones with the very advanced feature can feature highlights of popular sports and shows. The improved quality of services and speed of 3G phones can allow you to watch music videos and movie clips with crisp and clear photos, compared to 2.5G technology phones.

Power Usages

·         In addition to being more expensive, 3G handsets also require more power than most 2G models. This extra power requirement can translate to larger batteries, shortage usage periods between recharging and more bulky handsets overall.

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What is Android?

Android is a Linux-based mobile phone operating system developed by Google. Android is unique because Google is actively developing the platform but giving it away for free to hardware manufacturers and phone carriers who want to use Android on their devices.

Features

·         Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components

·         Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices

·         Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine

·         Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)

·         SQLite for structured data storage

·         Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)

·         GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)

·         Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)

·         Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)

·         Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE

What can an Android phone do?

Android phones are highly customisable and as such can be altered to suit your tastes and needs. You can check your Facebook and Twitter profiles through a variety of apps making it ideal for social networking. Through the calendar you can set reminders from your desktop or your phone and on the latest version of Android you can send links to and from your computer and vice versa.

Another neat feature of Android is that it automatically backs up your contacts for you. When you set up an Android phone you’ll need to create a Google Account or sign in with an existing one. Every time you save a number to the address book of your Android phone it will be synced to your Google Account.

The benefit of this is if you lose your phone all of your numbers will be saved. The next time you get an Android phone and sign in with your Google Account, all of your contacts and friends numbers will be displayed in your new phone’s address book.