As the ICT industry shifts from single to multiple operating system platforms, it opens up new challenges as well as new opportunities.

ENGADGET: Acer's Jim Wong named Corporate President, will head new Touch Business Group

"We're going to be a multiple operating-system company, " Verizon's Mead said.

CNN: Android invasion arrives at CES

Still, that has not deterred other vendors from experimenting, or at least considering the open-source operating system, as multiple reports of Firefox, Sailfish, and Tizen plan to release new Linux-based experiences in the future.

ENGADGET: IDC: Android claims 75 percent of smartphone shipments in Q3, 136 million handsets sold

That operating system didn't support multiple processors, meaning most Mac users were unable to take advantage of the second chip if they spent the money for a two-chip system.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Samsung has combined a full-color Palm operating system device with a code division multiple access (CDMA) phone.

FORBES: Ten O'Clock Tech: More PDA Phones

Compaq, HP, and IBM have inked partnership agreements with all the major distributions, but managing multiple documentation sets, utilities, and installation packages for essentially the same operating system kernel may weed out some distributions over time.

CNN: The big business of Linux

The executive said the Android devices suffer in part because different elements come from multiple companies, whereas Apple is responsible for all its mobile hardware and as well as its iOS operating system.

WSJ: In Rare Move, Apple Goes on the Defensive Against Samsung

The device will work with multiple flavors of Microsoft 's (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people) Windows operating system, including Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000 and ME.

FORBES: Ten O'Clock Tech: Data Plumbing For The Home