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Alibaba launching English mobile OS this month, report says

Company is currently offering a mobile operating system in Chinese, but is looking to expand globally with its English option, Reuters reports.

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Alibaba Cloud Computing President Wang Jian unveiling Aliyun OS in July.
Alibaba Cloud Computing President Wang Jian unveiling Aliyun OS in July. Alibaba

China-based Alibaba Group is planning to launch an English version of its Aliyun mobile operating system, Reuters reports.

The English version of Aliyun will be available later this month, according to the news service, which was on-hand during an Alibaba press conference earlier today in Hangzhou, China. The company also told reporters that it's currently in negotiations with hardware vendors to bundle its operating system with their devices.

Alibaba launched its mobile operating system in China in July. The platform, which was developed by the company's Alibaba Cloud Computing group, relies heavily upon the cloud, offering cloud-based e-mail, Web search, weather updates, and GPS navigation tools. The operating system also synchronizes data, including text messages, call records, and photos in the cloud that can be accessed from other devices, including PCs.

So far, the operating system is only available in China. However, Alibaba has high hopes for its operating system elsewhere around the world, which is ostensibly prompting the firm to offer an English option.

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Alibaba has some serious work cut out for it in order to make a mark in the mobile OS space in China, let alone the world. China-based research firm Analysys reported earlier this year that Symbian currently controls 60 percent of the mobile-OS market in China. Android and iOS--two favorites in other parts of the world--are also competing in China.

Outside of its mobile operating system, Alibaba is also planning to launch a tablet computer. The company says, according to Reuters, that its slate will be available within the next couple months.