“Closed or Proprietary Operating Systems trade off flexibility for predictability and are ultimately designed for maximum efficiency with a very specific set of hardware in mind,” says Loubser. “Open Operating Systems on the other hand are generally designed to perform on a range of hardware, which allows for a lot more flexibility.”

 

According to Loubser trends over the past few years show a move toward Open Operating Systems.

 

“It is difficult to predict whether alternate, manufacturer specific Operating Systems will be brought to market, but one thing is clear and that is that smart phones are the future and they naturally require an open operating system,” he says. “I believe in time that all phones will be smart phones and that the Open Operating System will become the defacto standard.”

 

Overall open operating systems are beginning to have a major impact on the mobile environment. Google’s Android platform has seen significant growth since it was first released in 2008 and has now made its way onto a number of handsets developed by HTC, Samsung and Motorola.

 

In contrast other operating systems which are somewhat more limited, such as Apple’s iOS range for the iPhone have gathered criticism for exclusive and exclusionary characteristics.

Overall Loubser believes that the flexibility found in open source operating systems will pave the way forward for smartphone usage.

 

“The world we live in changes at such a pace these days that I would always recommend as flexible an offering as possible,” says Loubser. “Smartphones deliver one consistent feature to a customer – flexibility,” he concludes.