Windows Mobile OS Running on an iPhone
We're not quite sure why anyone would want to do this, but a Norwegian programmer claims to have created an application that allows you to run the Windows Mobile operating system on your iPhone. The programmer, Erik Kristiansen, showed off his app in action at the recent myPhone2008 convention in Las Vegas.
Kristiansen's application operates similar to Apple's Bootcamp in that it allows you to load either the iPhone OS or the Windows Mobile OS when the iPhone boots up. Running Windows Mobile, the iPhone appears to have full functionality as a Windows smartphone, including (of course) making phone calls. Kristiansen's program is currently in beta, but he says it should be available as an open source application in January.
A number of comments have popped in various forums claiming that this is a fake. The claims are based on speculation and not necessarily on fact. It would be fairly simple to fake running Windows Mobile on the iPhone by first creating a video offline that goes through all the motions of loading the Windows Mobile OS and such, copying the video over to the iPhone, and then faking carefully-timed "button" presses. The (rhetorical) question, of course, is why would someone fake this? If someone was going to fake suck a hack, wouldn't running Google's Android be more exciting?
Assuming that this application is real (and our Spidey sense tells us that this is on the up-and-up), it will be interesting to see what Apple's response will be. Apple might embrace it or at least ignore it, as it should have no negative impact on iPhone sales. On the other hand, it could have a negative impact on iPhone app sales, as users might spend more time on the Windows Mobile OS side and with less available storage for the iPhone OS side, people will likely be purchasing and installing fewer iPhone apps. Also, if Apple does think this is a good idea, it could shut Kristiansen down, claiming that it already has such an app in development. We'll just have to wait and see when and if the app surfaces, and what Apple will do about it. In the meantime, with winter coming, Kristiansen should have plenty of time to perfect the app--he says that there is little else to do in Norway's long winters and unfortunately the girls are all busy programming too.
Kristiansen's application operates similar to Apple's Bootcamp in that it allows you to load either the iPhone OS or the Windows Mobile OS when the iPhone boots up. Running Windows Mobile, the iPhone appears to have full functionality as a Windows smartphone, including (of course) making phone calls. Kristiansen's program is currently in beta, but he says it should be available as an open source application in January.
| Source: myPhone2008 |
Assuming that this application is real (and our Spidey sense tells us that this is on the up-and-up), it will be interesting to see what Apple's response will be. Apple might embrace it or at least ignore it, as it should have no negative impact on iPhone sales. On the other hand, it could have a negative impact on iPhone app sales, as users might spend more time on the Windows Mobile OS side and with less available storage for the iPhone OS side, people will likely be purchasing and installing fewer iPhone apps. Also, if Apple does think this is a good idea, it could shut Kristiansen down, claiming that it already has such an app in development. We'll just have to wait and see when and if the app surfaces, and what Apple will do about it. In the meantime, with winter coming, Kristiansen should have plenty of time to perfect the app--he says that there is little else to do in Norway's long winters and unfortunately the girls are all busy programming too.
