Open sesame
A couple of otherwise unrelated stories today serve as a reminder that many of the freedoms we take for granted on our PCs are far from guaranteed in mobile devices.
It's no secret that a big part of Apple's business model involves controlling the hardware and software environment in which its OS resides. On one level this provides the coolness and ease of use that have contributed so strongly to the success of its products. However, it also allows Apple to control the commercial interactions on its devices, and ensure a piece of the action for itself.
The app store for the iPhone has been an unbridled success. There are thousands of apps that have been downloaded millions of times, but Apple is getting an increasing amount of grief over its approval process, which allows Apple to deny an app access to the app store if it sees fit.
Back in February, independent browser company Opera announced it was going to launch a version of its browser for the iPhone. It has been widely reported that Opera is submitting its browser to Apple for approval today. Most people think it will be denied for the reasons above, but as the rest of the tech industry catches up, you have to wonder if Apple's isolationist stance is sustainable in the long term.
Microsoft seems to think so. Sick of constantly being at a disadvantage by the need to accommodate every piece of hardware and software in the world, Microsoft has introduced tight parameters for any handset that hopes to use its Windows Phone 7 OS. This includes closing-off the development of native applications, according to Mozilla mobile team technical lead Stuart Parmenter.
In a blog post entitled "Stopping development for Windows Mobile", Parmenter explained that the underlying platform for WP7 is Windows CE 6, and that Mozilla has already developed its browser for it. "Microsoft has unfortunately decided to close off development to native applications," said Parmenter. "Because of this, we won't be able to provide Firefox for Windows Phone 7 at this time."
If Apple does approve Opera on the same day Mozilla pulls out of WP7, it will send a clear message of the two platforms moving in surprisingly opposite direction regarding third-party apps.
