Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group is reported to be planning to develop its own mobile operating system, in order to drive mobile use of its various services. According to the Wall Street Journal, the platform is being developed by Alibaba Cloud Computing, and is set for release in the third quarter of 2011. In intention, it seems to be closer to Google’s Chrome platform than Android, providing access to cloud-based applications and content. While the Chinese market is the initial target, the report suggests that there is “nothing that prevents it from being used elsewhere eventually.”

Alibaba is not the only internet company eyeing the mobile space, with renewed speculation last week the search giant Baidu is planning its own “light” operating system – something the company has repeatedly played-down. Mobile operators China Mobile and China Unicom have also readied their own platforms, although there have been mixed reports as to how successful these have been. In the first quarter of 2011, the Chinese smartphone market saw “triple digit” growth, according to research firm Canalys, with Android very much having momentum, but with Nokia’s Symbian OS also having a strong established position in the market.