Ever wanted to design your own smartphone? The Nokia Design by Community initiative has been running for a month or so now, with each week letting you vote for a different set of criteria that you – the general public – would like to see in your perfect mobile. This week we’ve reached the operating system stage, which has got us thinking about what we’d like to see in the perfect operating system. Join us after the break to find out more…
The Design by Community initiative is a bid to find the perfect smartphone, letting the public vote for everything they’d like to see in a mobile phone – from the size of the screen, to the type of text entry, to the features on offer.
There are thousands of variables, so each feature is split into sections, with a different poll held at the beginning of each week. This week, Design by Community has reached the point where readers are voting on what they’d like to see in an operating system, which will govern the way the phone works, looks and feels.
The current options start with the development of the OS – whether it’s an Open Source system, restricted to partners, or totally closed. For us, the perfect OS has to be Open Source – we’ve seen the results offered from Open Source devices like the Nokia N900, and the amount of creativity on offer – from users installing their own custom-made software, to playing games developed for other platforms – makes it a much more exciting concept than a closed OS.
You’ll be able to vote on the multi-tasking abilities of the Design by Community phone – from unlimited multi-tasking, through limited, to no multi-tasking capabilities. Bare in mind that you’ll need a lot of power to carry out unlimited multi-tasking, which would drive up the cost.
Vote for your perfect smartphone with Design by Community
It’s the ability to vote on storage that interests us the most, however. Nokia Conversations – the site behind the initiative – has offered a choice of Device based, Cloud based or Cloud and Device based storage. For us, it’s too early to switch to cloud storage – the networks aren’t stable enough to offer always-on access to your data, and we’ve seen with applications such as Ovi Maps 3.03 that the ability to download and store files on your handset itself pays dividends when you lose your signal.
Nokia Conversations have also pushed the boat out when it comes to control of the OS, offering Thought control, Gesture control and Touch control as different options. We’ll be voting for gesture control, as it’s a relatively affordable technology, but can make the world of difference when it comes to usability.
We’re interested to hear what you’ll be voting for, however, so leave a comment and let us know what your perfect operating system needs.