Browsers
Let’s clear
this up first: nope, there is still no Flash support in iOS. What’s more, Adobe
itself has announced that it’s no longer developing mobile Flash, so pretty
soon (i.e. when HTML5 is standard) the whole Flash argument will be moot.
There have
been superficial improvements to Safari in iOS such as the long awaited tabs,
the ‘reader’ feature that pops out text into a nice readable format, and
Reading List, a cross iOS platform offline reader. However, it seems the
upgrade has also made Safari a little less reliable, with more sudden exits,
especially with some forums. Sadly, it’s also one of Apple’s primary apps, so
it’s Safari or minor variations thereof, and nothing else. Boo.
iOS 5’s longs awaited
notification
Windows
Phone version 7 was never the best web experience, only having an address bar
in portrait being a major bugbear, plus it had a rough default typeface for web
pages for some strange reason. Mango has thankfully improved things, and yes,
it finally adds an address bar in landscape. Sadly, it doesn’t disappear,
though, it’s omnipresence taking up precious screen estate, but it’s a start.
The strange text is there still, though, and despite the browser getting 95 out
of 100 in Acid test, it still has trouble with login boxes and drop-down
security screens (so much so that I could not log into may bank’s website).
It’s not bad or slow, but IE9 still has some way to go, and like Safari, it’s
all you get anyway, so like it or lump it.
Like
Safari, Android’s browser is Webkit-based, so has always offered a pretty good
facsimile of the web on the move, especially as it’s the only one of the three
with Flash. This continues in ICS, with improved tabbed browsing, the ability
to request desktop versions of pages, offline browsing and more. Coupled with
the excellent new font, browsing on ICS is pretty impressive and quick. You
can, of course, swap out the browser for any other on the Market, such as the
excellent Opera, or even Google’s beta of a mobile version of it’s Chrome
desktop browser. Chrome is still a bit flakey, but it’s a very good alternative
and may well soon become the default Android browser.
Most improved
‘If
there’s an award for the most improved, then Mango easily gets it.’
Nokia’s Lumia 710
budget WP7.5 smartphone
So who
comes out on top? Well, if there’s an award for the most improved, then Mango
easily gets it. The original WP7 showed promise but had the feel of a beta.
Mango, however, brings together a lot of the promise of Windows Phone and
really makes it a genuinely interesting OS. It’s not perfect by a long chalk.
There’s still no option for a permanent notification bar, only the time, and it
still disconnects from wi-fi on sleep, so forget about updates happening for
apps by themselves. Mango seems like WP7’s logical end, and hopefully WP8 could
well let the OS realize its potential.
‘ICS
continues Android’s evolution into the world’s biggest mobile OS.’
HTC’s Titan is the
biggest WP7.5 device there is
ICS
continues Android’s evolution into the world’s biggest mobile OS. It’s
attractive, slick and above all it’s good to use. Some have said it’s becoming
a little power hungry like Windows can be, pointing to optimised operating
systems like Windows Phone running well on less powerful devices, and while ICS
is a unified OS for both phone and tablet, sadly Google still hasn’t tackled
fragmentation or the huge delay in updates coming from manufacturers and
operators.
For iOS,
the changes haven’t been as notable, and in many cases Apple has, finally added
features that people have long been requesting (we’re looking at you,
notification centre). One major improvement so far not mentioned is the cutting
of the computer umbilical cord, with iOS5 devices not requiring computers for
activation or updates. Like Mango and Windows 8, iOS 5’s changes make more
sense when coupled with OS X Lion, and it’s this synergy between desktop and
mobile that Android can’t compete with beyond Google apps and Chrome. It’s here
the improvements shine.
iOS 6
As sure as
The Brit Awards will be a line-up of the best in dull, there will certainly be
an iOS 6. So what do we know about it? Well, what do we know about any
unreleased Apple product? Nothing, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying
or foolishly breaching a non-disclosure agreement. What should it have? Loads
of things, and most people could name five things off the tops of their heads.
What will it have? Some of those things, all shiny and all Apple’s idea, no one
else…
Jelly Bean
Popping up
in rumours recently has been the next revision of Android – J. The name, as
well as pretty much everything else, isn’t confirmed, though Jelly Bean has
been mentioned a great deal. But Google, in honour of both the London Olympics
and HRH’s 60 years in the big chair, why not name it after a classis British
pud: Jam Roly Poly? Go on, Liz would love it…
WP8 Apollo
The only
next revision to have some concrete evidence is WP8, codenames Apollo. Details
leaked recently in an MS internal video bound for Nokia, wherein a (possibly
ex) company executive ran through many of the forthcoming features. Biggest
news of all is the kernel will no longer be based on Windows CE, but like iOS
is to OS X, it’ll be based on Windows 8’s kernel. What’s more, 90% of the code
will work on both, increasing the number of WP8 developers exponentially in the
process.
Also-rans
There are
still other mobile operating systems out there, some evolving, some gradually
dying off. Samsung’s Bada is up to version 2, and has evolved to a pretty good
OS, though it’s a little similar to Android. While not big in the UK or USA,
it’s still popular in Korea, India and some of Europe. The biggest news,
though, is HP’s webOS being given a second lease of life by going open source.
It’s an interesting turn of events that could theoretically lead to the under
appreciated OS being improved and ported to many phones by the modding
community.
