The iPhone isn't the only spoon stirring the mobile handset pot these days. For more than a few reasons, open source mobile operating systems based on the Linux kernel may have a significant impact on future product development.

Mobile Linux is well poised to take on the surging smartphone market according to a report from the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies Service.

The open-source Linux operating system is seeing major growth in the mobile and embedded space, especially in the smartphone market. Handset makers and mobile carriers are adopting open-source software because it significantly reduces licensing and development costs and also provides higher flexibility.

One of China's largest handset and infrastructure vendors has reportedly adopted a Linux-based mobile phone software stack as part of its standard 3G mobile phone operating system. ZTE will incorporate Trolltech's Qtopia Phone Edition into its Linux-based "U980" platform for 3G TD-CDMA phones, according to Trolltech.

The developer of Linux mobile phones has open sourced the casing of its handset, releasing the CAD files so users can create their own versions to fit the OpenMoko electronics

Two just-published market research reports bode well for Linux's future in the market for higher-priced smartphones. J.D. Power reports that rising smartphone sales are driving handset prices higher, while ABI Research predicts Linux will take a 23 percent share of the smartphone segment by 2013.

The executive director of the LiMo Foundation discusses his group's efforts to create and establish an open handset platform built on Linux.

One of the major themes that emerged from this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was Linux, with new Linux-based handset platforms on show and various applications and services for mobile Linux. Could this mean that Linux is likely to be a major rival for other mobile operating systems such as Symbian?

Fourteen new companies including Sony Ericsson have joined the Open Handset Alliance, the group backing Google's Android mobile operating system. The total number of companies in the alliance now totals 47.