Phone + separate OS in the future?

[Schadenfreude]

Just a thought here:

• Smartphones are miniature PCs
• Most smartphones use the same components from 3~4 vendors (Qualcomm, Samsung, and the like) with fairly uniform specs.
• (With Android phones) you can unlock the bootloader, mess around with installing different OS' like Firsefox OS, Ubuntu, custom ROMs, etc.

Do you see an as-yet unestablished vendor releasing a blank slate phone and selling separate licenses for the phone? I would see like the enthusiast PC market - it would be a very limited population with the majority of the population opting for the pre-built option:

• It would lower the cost of development if a singular platform was released for multiple OS'
• It would lower the barrier of trying out different OS for the consumer
• It would offer new revenue markets to companies like Firefox OS, iOS, Android ROMs etc.

It's there in a sense, with amateur custom ROMs for Android; I'm just wondering if it will turn "pro" anytime in the future.

 

[thedosbox]

I don't see the market for such a device being worth the added support cost to manufacturers.

 

[pantsaregood]

This would kill Android due to the patent issues tied in with Microsoft.

 

[Crono]

See the Ubuntu Edge.

I see the possibility of smaller companies using multiple linux-based operating systems for the same model of phone. Just no official support from the Apple or Microsoft's mobile operating systems, or course. But for Firefox OS, Ubuntu, Tizen, Sailfish, etc and Android it's a strong possibility.

 

[Deeko]

The HD2 ran every mobile os ever made. That was cool.

 

[champion-7891]

Would it technically be possible to install windows 8.1 on a dual core silvermont phone with 32 GB storage (if such a thing ever gets out of the gate)?

 

[Schadenfreude]

Would it technically be possible to install windows 8.1 on a dual core silvermont phone with 32 GB storage (if such a thing ever gets out of the gate)?

Nope.

It would be nifty if Microsoft were to (somehow) sell licenses to install WP8 on "unlocked" Android phones, but it's not there and WP8 is a pretty hard nut to crack, I gather.

 

[shabby]

The HD2 ran every mobile os ever made. That was cool.

Why was that anyway? What could dev's do to it that they cant on any other phone?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Do you see an as-yet unestablished vendor releasing a blank slate phone and selling separate licenses for the phone?

Nope. Mobile devices are a reboot of the computer industry for the hardware companies, and they are going to avoid moves like this that eat margin.