Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to launch cloud-based mobile OS

Alibaba Group, the Chinese Internet firm best known for its online commerce initiatives, is reportedly developing its own smartphone operating system for release in the third quarter of 2011. Citing sources close to the project, The Wall Street Journal reports the cloud-based Alibaba mobile OS will enable consumers to access applications stored on remote servers, eschewing the app download model popularized by Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform.

The Wall Street Journal report speculates Alibaba will leverage the mobile operating system to promote its affiliated services, which include the Alipay online payment platform and web portal China Yahoo. Additional details on the Alibaba OS are scarce, and it is unknown which handset makers plan to build devices powered by the software. Although Alibaba will initially target the Chinese market, a source said there is "nothing that prevents it from being used elsewhere eventually."

Symbian is presently the 500-pound gorilla of the Chinese smartphone segment, controlling 59.8 percent of the market in the first quarter according to Beijing research firm Analysys International. Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Mobile is next at 11.8 percent, with Android at 11.1 percent and iPhone at 6.1 percent. Chinese search firm Baidu has hinted it may develop its own mobile OS as well.

For more:
- read this Wall Street Journal article

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