Recently I have been thinking the question above. Could it be that within 3 - 4 years, we can install operating system in our mobile phones ourselves? It is just like in the PC world. We can buy hardware from any vendor, let’s say Dell. Then we can do whatever we want with the operating system. We can use the pre-installed operating system, for example Windows XP. Alternatively we change to another operating system, such as Linux. For some geeks, they can even install many operating systems.

Can we have something like this in our mobile phones? We buy a phone from Nokia and then install Windows Mobile ourselves. I heard that it takes several months for mobile phones manufacturers integrating operating systems in their new phones. Why does it take so long? Why can’t we have similar concept to the PC world. Just take an operating system from the shelf and then install it. I don’t really know the answer. This is just a thought from a person who don’t understand how complicated to create mobile phones.

Mobile phones as multimedia computers will become reality very soon. Many of us are now already bringing phones that have the same power as our PCs 15 - 20 years ago. I still remember my first PC that I used in the high school. This is the specification of my first PC:

  • IBM PC compatible
  • Intel 80286 processor 12 MHz
  • 1 MB RAM
  • 80 MB hard disk
  • 256 color display

Now, let’s compare what I have in my pocket now:

  • Nokia 6680
  • ARM-9 processor 220 MHz
  • 10 MB RAM
  • 256 MB memory card
  • 252K color display

As you can see my phone in my pocket now is much more powerful than my first PC…. :)

Back to the question: when can we install OS in our mobile phones ourselves? There are some questions to be answered, for sure, like security. Some manufacturers also have been starting to offer upgrade feature to their phones’ operating system.