Fragmentation of Linux

[The_Outlander]

Linux may provide a viable alternative to handset OEMs that are deterred by the dominance of Microsoft on one hand and Nokia on the other with the Symbian platform. Additionally, in countries like India and China where the markets are very price sensitive, Linux may prove to be a more affordable solution.
But fragmentation of Linux will continue to stagnate its growth.
ABI ranks Symbian first, followed by Microsoft Windows Software and then Linux, in the order of market share estimated in 2008. http://www.mobiletechnews.com/info/2...12/015103.html

The Symbian based Nokia E61 is probably the most fully featured Smartphone around. There are a few contenders but not with the features that the Nokia offers.
Now that may depend on your needs. For me, the versatility of the E61, except that it lacks GPS, although it is capable, makes it a very attractive proposition.
I am sure that a Linux based phone would be as capable of delivering the same, if that's your thing. Palm doesn't offer the features or reliability of Symbian, but I am sure that a Linux phone would be more than capable of competing in this market.
I have looked high and low for an equivalent product in Linux, but cannot find one. This is a huge market. I know there are Linux based phones, but they do not offer the same level of useability as the E61.
Trolltechs Green Phone, is as far as I can see still in development, but a fully featured Linux phone, with the capabilities of the Nokia Symbian phone would be a winner and I would certainly be in the market.
What does fragmentation imply. Is it just a biased marketing statement that promotes Symbian and Microsoft based technology or does it elude to other problems associated with Linux development and a level of direction and cohesion. Of which I know nothing!

[burntfuse]

IMO it just needs a company (or independent project) to take Linux and add a GUI and other stuff to make it into a full phone OS.

[The_Outlander]

The IMCOSYS phone is linux based, it has a 2.4.20 kernel, GPS, and many other features. It lacks, dare I say it, support for writing MS based documents, providing read only, whilst providing syncronisation for MS-Outlook (Sync with a linux desktop should not be too difficult).
One advantage I have enjoyed with my Palm Tungsten is this functionality and whether the purists like it or not, it is impossible to avoid MS products as others with whom we interact inevitably use them. Writing Excel and Word documents on the go is a huge advantage. I see that the OpenOffice plugin is functional for CE 3.0, but things have moved on somewhat since then.
I will be keeping an eye on IMCOSYS to see what eventuates in the future.
The E28 looks interesting also.