Aliyun, a new mobile OS by Alibaba Group, should be available in English later this year. Image: Penn Olson

Android, iOS …. they’re so mainstream now. And Windows Phone 7, webOS and Symbian could use another competitor on the market, right?

Of course, I’m being a bit (OK, more than a bit) sarcastic, but there is a new player entering the mobile OS battlefield: Aliyun, from e-commerce and cloud computing group Alibaba.

In a press release Thursday, Alibaba Cloud Computing announced the development of a cloud-based mobile OS dubbed “Aliyun OS.” It’ll debut later this month in China on a new smartphone, the K-Touch Cloud-Smart Phone W700. (Hopefully that’s less of a mouthful in Chinese.)

Aliyun is Linux-based, so it will be able to handle both Android apps and web apps — a combination Alibaba is calling “cloud apps,” meant to provide a more “internet-like” experience on the handset.

“Introducing cloud apps to mobile devices not only brings a whole new user experience, but also greater ease for third-party mobile software developers who will be able to use Internet technology such as HTML5 and JavaScript to reduce the complexity in the app development process,” Wang Jian, president of Alibaba Cloud Computing, says in the release.

A cloud-based OS would be very convenient for users who own multiple mobile and computing devices. Apple iOS users remain tethered and limited with their syncing options, but iCloud aims to start remedying that, allowing users to sync music, apps, files, messages and photos (among others) across multiple Apple devices. HP’s webOS cleverly allows users to flick information back and forth between HP devices, like their smartphones and tablet. Android conveniently offers over-the-air updates for users of its mobile devices, so they don’t need to plug in to get the latest version of the operating system.

The Aliyun operating system will include a number of cloud-based features including e-mail, GPS and navigational tools, internet search and weather updates. Aliyun OS users won’t need to download or install apps on their mobile devices, as it will sync and store back-up data with Alibaba Cloud Computing’s remote servers; their information and software will also be accessible and updatable across all their mobile devices and computers.

The idea of Alibaba’s cloud-based OS seems very user friendly in concept. Not needing to download apps? Automatic syncing across multiple devices? Users get 100 GB of storage initially as well, “with plans to expand according to user needs.” With something like this, you could simplify your life and ditch the Dropboxes of the world.

I don’t know how I feel about a more internet-like experience on a mobile device (isn’t everything shifting to a more native-app-based user experience? There’s a reason companies and websites are investing in apps, rather than in simply developing their mobile websites), but from the screen shot above, Alibaba’s home screen at least doesn’t look too different in design from its more established mobile OS competitors.

The company plans to integrate the OS with larger-screen phones and (not surprisingly) tablets over the next few months, and hopes to have an English-language version of Aliyun available by the end of the year.

Image Credit: Penn Olson