Operating Systems For Mobiles

An Operating System is a program which manages the hardware and software resources of any device. We are acquainted with the Operating System of our computer which is usually Windows or Linux, but how many of us know that the mobile which we use also has an operating system of its own. A few of the operating systems that are widely used in mobiles are the Symbian, PalmSource, Microsoft Windows, Linux, etc.

Symbian OS is an operating system designed for mobile devices with associated libraries, user interface frameworks and reference implementations of common tools, produced by Symbian Ltd. Several mobile companies like Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung use it. Its major advantage is the fact that it was built for handheld devices, with limited resources, that may be running for months or years. There is a strong emphasis on conserving memory, using Symbian specific programming idioms. They keep memory usage low and memory leaks rare. Further Symbian OS programming is event based, and the CPU is switched off when applications are not directly dealing with an event. Also they may also provide better battery life. Most of the Symbian OS programs can be programmed in OPL, Python, Visual Basic, Perl, JavaME, etc. This OS has been subject to a variety of viruses, the best known of which is Cabir, however anti-virus soft wares have been developed to overcome the effects of these viruses. Some of the devices that use this OS are the S60 series such as the N72, Nokia 6630 and many more.

Palm OS is a compact operating system developed and licensed by PalmSource, Inc. for personal digital assistants manufactured by various licensees. It is designed to be easy-to-use and similar to desktop operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. The Palm series and Treo 650 are a few of the famous models using this OS.

Further some of the operating systems used for computers like Windows and Linux are also used in mobiles. However they are not as popular as the others mentioned. The Samsung Black Jack, Motorola Q are few of the smart phones which use the Windows OS. Motorola first launched the Linux OS with its model E680.

Interesting Facts

1. Money isn't made out of paper; it is made out of cotton
2. The 57 on a Heinz ketchup bottle represent the variety of pickles the Company once had
3. Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself
4. The dot over the letter 'i' is called the title
5. A duck's quack doesn't echo, no one knows why
6. Forty percent of McDonalds profit comes from the sales of 'Happy Meals'
7. Every person has a unique tongue print
8. 315 entries in Websters 1996 dictionary were misspelled
9. On an average 12 newborns will be given to wrong parents daily
10. During the famous chariot scene in "Ben Hur", a small red car can be seen at a distance
11. Warren Beatty and Shirley Maclaine are brother and sister
12. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system. A few ounces will kill a small sized dog
13. Most lipsticks contain fish scales
14. Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants
15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as a medicine
16. Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time
17. There are no clocks in the Las Vegas gambling casinos
18. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and silver
19. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it go mad instantly and sting itself to death
20. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand
21. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class
22. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying
23. The glue on Israeli postage stamp is certified kosher (halal)
24. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries
25. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages them