The Quest for a Third Mobile Platform

Some of the world's biggest handset makers and telecom carriers are embracing alternative mobile operating systems this year in a quest to become credible challengers to smartphones run by Apple and Google.

These companies are hoping they can outgun attempts by Microsoft and Research In Motion to emerge as a third alternative platform to the iPhone and Android devices, which have a virtual stranglehold on the market. Manufacturers such as Huawei Technologies Co., LG Electronics and ZTE are building phones for Mozilla's Firefox OS due out this year with the support of several major carriers. The first mobile phone using Tizen, a system co-developed by Samsung Electronics and Intel, is slated to be unveiled in the third quarter. London-based Canonical Ltd. is making a smartphone version of its Linux-based computer operating system called Ubuntu, with plans to ship the software on phones through mobile operators in the early part of 2014. And Jolla Ltd., a Finland startup, plans to launch a smartphone based on its own proprietary "Sailfish" platform later this year.