In a keynote address at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sarin said the 30-40 operating systems now available must be reduced to between three and five to promote innovation within the industry, although he did not say which ones these should be.
Convention out the Window
Google's Android, which is designed to encourage innovative new applications for mobile phones, is a fundamental challenger to the received wisdom of closed operating systems.
Sarin named Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), whose operating system is used by four of the five biggest handset makers, Symbian , Android and Linux in the line-up of systems available, but said the market should decide which ones would survive.
In order to effect this consolidation, he added, people buying mobile phones should select ones that operate on the big five platforms rather than the outliers.
Mobile Web Future
Sarin also broached the issue of faster wireless download speeds, which will ultimately enable services like HDTV on mobiles and other demanding services borne of mobile Internet.
He proposed the merger of the competing WiMax and LTE (long term evolution) technologies instead of developing them separately.
Divided We Fall
WiMax requires a new network to be built, while LTE works on the existing infrastructure which covers most of the world, and each technology has its backers.
But Sarin said if they are developed separately, they split the resources of the industry and ultimately dilute them.
