Android launch: don't expect iPhone-like lines

mobile operating system. Symbian recently announced that it will open source the operating system and the LiMo Foundation has developed an open Linux-based mobile platform.

There is an "undeniable trend toward openness," said Andrew Shikiar, director of global marketing for the LiMo Foundation.

Perhaps, but it's unlikely that every platform, including those from Microsoft, Research In Motion and Apple, will open up. It's all relative anyway, said Hughes. "A cynic would say the open movement is more of a political slash marketing move than a profound shift," he said. "Probably, knowing the wireless industry in the U.S., it will end up more open than it was, but it's never going to live up to some people's ideals of what openness should be."