From that perspective, it helps to think of Chrome (the browser) as the platform and the OS as a way of delivering the purest expression of what that platform can do.
Each has struggled recently, Sony breaking up from the SonyEricsson partnership, Blackberry (ex RIM) with its failed tablet launch and delays to its BB10 OS platform, LG with the disastrous flirtation with Windows OS, and HTC.
FORBES: Apple Will Revert To Niche Status As Chinese Advance, Expert Says
On the mobile front, Google has bets both on its Android platform and the new Firefox OS, assuring an Apple-beating global share of users consuming its services on their devices.
Information which a user wants to protect is stored in a folder which is not on the Android platform but on the Linux OS, and the folder is disclosed to Android platform under a certified condition only.
ENGADGET: Panasonic and Red Bend Software announce Android security partnership at MWC
By utilizing Red Bend's mobile virtualization software, vLogix MobileTM, it is possible to enable the coexistence of multiple OSes running on a single CPU. In this cooperation, Panasonic and Red Bend have introduced an environment in which a Linux-based OS and the Android platform coexist.
ENGADGET: Panasonic and Red Bend Software announce Android security partnership at MWC
As Apple stalls, Samsung is pushing Tizen as an alternative to Android, which means the mobile OS and cross-platform advertising could shape up very differently by the end of 2013 than it did at the end of 2012, all of which means the time is now right for a supercharged ads platform.
Also, allowing iOS clones or licensees would fragment the platform, lessening the quality of the OS and third party software significantly.
FORBES: Why Apple's Amazing Siri May Herald the End of the iPhone
They are writing a new playbook around content, device, and connectivity and that in turn places more and more importance on the interface and OS. But these elements are really about the broader development of a platform and ecosystem business model that Nick Vitalari and I describe in The Elastic Enterprise.
FORBES: Microsoft, Welcome Back, You're Doing Better Than They Think
Even if we all stopped writing new code for Windows (as, to some extent is true, we have done, much writing is now being done in Python and so on which is not platform or OS specific) right now then there are vast numbers of legacy systems out there that will continue to require Windows licenses for decades to come.
Adobe AIR 2.5 for BlackBerry Tablet OS and the Samsung Smart TV platform is expected to be available early 2011.
To be fair, Apple too is quick with its own spec comparisons, but because Cupertino controls the entire platform from hardware to OS to APIs to cloud and other services, they have a much greater playing field on which to innovate.
FORBES: Galaxy S4 Launch Reveals Samsung's New Market Position
But it has turned out to be an important milestone in the platform's development, and the first version of the OS that is suitable for anyone other than Apple's base of early adopters.
The newspaper pointed out that Google has faced similar struggles in other consumer electronics introductions, as with its Chrome OS software for laptops and the Android platform for smartphones, meant to rival Apple's products.
To reach true OS agnosticism 6Wunderkinder, however, relied on HTML5 -- which makes porting an app easy, but comes with its own drawbacks, including lackluster performance. (Just ask Mark Zuckerberg.) With the revamp, Wunderlist 2, the task management platform now has truly native apps for Android, iOS, OS X and Windows to compliment its web site.
ENGADGET: Wunderlist 2 debuts, ditches HTML5 for native apps on Android, Windows, iOS and Mac
Windows 7, Android, MeeGo and Google's upcoming OS will all work on the Intel platform.
It is the most widely used Linux on the top 1000 websites by traffic, the reference platform for OpenStack deployments, the most popular guest OS on public clouds, and ships on PCs from Dell, Lenovo, HP and other brands.
ENGADGET: Touch-based Ubuntu preview coming February 21st, will work on Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4
Microsoft, knowing that Nokia has no alternative OS available as a platform, will lead Nokia by the nose, and certainly Microsoft will attempt to bear-hug Nokia so that Microsoft gets significant cut of the revenue as Nokia recovers.
Jobs apparently reconsidered after he returned to Apple's helm, but Mac OS X brought forward most of the core UI conventions of the original Mac OS, partly in order to allow longtime Mac and cross-platform developers a way to bring their wares to it.
The initial reviews of the platform have been positive (RIM has offered sneak peeks at its new OS) and the company is looking to launch six new BB10 devices at various price points in order to get the best shot at capturing customer as well as developer interest this year.
As it stands, the BlackBerry 10 platform has all the right building blocks you would expect as part of the core OS and firmware.
As Storage Options' latest tablets to run on the new Android 4.0 platform, the Scroll Engage and Scroll Elite offer a wide array of new and improved Android OS features.
ENGADGET: Storage Options pads out its budget ICS slate lineup by two
Enter Spark, a seven-inch slate that comes running the Plasma Active UX, an open-source OS based on Linux kernel, KDE's multi-platform Plasma environment and a dash of Qt for good measure.
ENGADGET: Meet Spark, the 200 euro slate packing Linux-based Plasma Active UX
The Microsoft-owned messaging platform has started testing what amounts to a video voicemail feature on OS X, Android and iOS, something that had already been hinted at in its updated TOS. Why those operating systems at first, without any word about Windows or Windows Phone, we're unsure.
In addition, its flexible Android OS platform sets the stage for a nearly unlimited set of rich-media features and functions in the future.
ENGADGET: Aircell announces world's first 'airborne smartphone'
The new OS is designed specifically for the tablet size computer and will avoid the difficulties that come from adjusting a smartphone OS to the tablet platform.
Mind you, the transition won't be instantaneous as anyone with an N900 (and a clear mind) can attest -- the OS, services, and apps just can't compare to the mature S60 platform regardless of Maemo 5's superior user experience.
ENGADGET: Nokia abandoning S60 for Maemo on future N-Series devices?
It makes sense that a company like BlackBerry would want to focus primarily on the core OS and features first and tackle smaller things like extra settings and options iteratively as the platform grows and progresses.
ENGADGET: Back to BlackBerry: a power user's perspective Mobile
But despite that OS' infancy, several OEMs still went on record showcasing convertible tablet builds running the full platform and its RT version.
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