Symbian will go Open Source
Rating: massive overreaction to Google Android or what?
The reason why Nokia has acquired the entirety of Symbian has just become clear. It is being thrown into a giant melting pot of Symbian related technologies to create the Symbian Foundation.
Besides the Symbian OS, Nokia is throwing in its Series 60 (S60) platform; NTT DoCoMo is contributing its its MOAP(S) asset; and Sony Ericsson is adding in its UIQ user interface offering.
The huge difference over the existing status quo is that the Foundation technology will be made available royalty free to any organisation which chooses to join.
More surprising still is this statement from the Foundation… “The Foundation will make selected components available as open source at launch.”
Not only does this make the Foundation a direct rival to the Google/Android platform, it sweeps the arpet out directly from beneath its feet.
Why bother developing for a platform like android where the phones don’t even exist yet, when existing applications aimed at Symbian phones should be able to be ported to the new Foundation platform.
It’s hard to see how UIQ or Symbian will b able to make any money after this. So where does that leave Microsoft with windows Mobile? Who’s going to pay a licence fee for that if Symbian becomes Open source?
Better still the Foundation has the support of key players such as AT&T, NTT and Vodafone as operators; the leading handset producers such as LG, Samsung and Motorola; plus the chip makers such as STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments.
This announcement is really going to shake up the whole world of mobile software development.
Related News:
Leave a Comment