Symbian lives up to its promise - the mobile OS is now really open source

By virtue of being installed on every Nokia smartphone in existence, Symbian is the most populous mobile operating system in the world. And the company maintained a very friendly, all-in-the-same-boat together appearance, with a lot of lip service paid to openness. But to get access to that open source code, you needed to pay your way into the Symbian Foundation. From today that is no longer true. Developers, start your engines. Symbian is now truly open source.

Not just open, but free: Brew MP mobile OS from Qualcomm

GoMo News reported on the release of the new mobile operating system from Qualcomm last week. Brew Mobile Platform (MP) is based on the mobile application framework from Qualcomm, but takes a step forward into being a true operating system for smartphones. Part of the PR push was about the fact that it is “open” - but that doesn’t always equate to “cheap”. But there’s some good news from Qualcomm…

Is there room for one more? Qualcomm launches yet another mobile operating system

A mere two days ago, we wrote about how Nokia is annoyed about the sheer number of mobile operating systems. So I can only image a collective slapping of foreheads at Nokia central today, as Qualcomm announces it’s new BREW Mobile Platform Open Operating System.

First Android from LG; openness from Myriad

It seems that no mobile maker wants to be without at least one Android device on its roster, and LG is no different. The LG GW620 should be released by the end of this month - and the Korean giant has announced that mobile software provider Myriad will be its partner for different types of open mobile application

Android update: Google sees mobile app competition from developers

Here’s an interesting twist. After the argie-bargie surrounding Google and Cyanogen over the last few days, a group of Android developers has set themselves up to create open source versions of the closed applications that Google provides for mobile. Why? To make the Android OS completely open source.

Mobile software company Myriad Group joins the Symbian Foundation

The Myriad Group announced today that it is joining the Symbian Foundation. Myriad Group is a big mobile software players, formed this year by the merger of French company Purple Labs with the Swiss Esmertec. The group also owns widely-used mobile Web browser Openwave. Between it’s various subsidiaries, Myriad Group has software embedded on around 2 billion mobile handsets worldwide.

Mobile giants co-operate on Windows Mobile device, look to open OS for the future

Mobile operator powerhouses NTT DOCOMO and Telefónica announced a Windows Mobile device launch today, as part of future joint undertakings by the two operators. The device from Toshiba, which we covered back in Febraury, will be launched in Japan as the T-01A, and in Spain as the TG01 . It will arrive in both markets [...]

Dramatic growth in open source use on mobile platforms says Black Duck

Black Duck Software claims the number of open source projects targeting mobile platforms is rising sharply. Black Duck, which manages and deploys open source software, reviewed over 2,300 mobile projects and says the growth in open source code for mobile devices in 2008 was dramatic.
Palm, iPhone and Windows Mobile had the most open source [...]

Nokia/Symbian - Enough Hype!

Well that got your attention didn’t it! Don’t get me wrong, I think the announcement yesterday was good news. Symbian has needed to go Open Source for a while.
For one reason it can be a real pain to programme for. I know. I have hired developers, and good ones to do it and everything about [...]

Symbian transformation to Open will take time

Rating: Legal and technical hurdles to overcome
The momentous news that Nokia intends to help transform Symbian into an open source OS has taken most observers – and plenty of affected employees, too – completely by surprise.
However, the open source code for the Symbian Foundation won’t be appearing on user group sites tomorrow.
It’s going to take [...]

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 [...]

Funambol Secures $12.5 Million in Venture Funding

I mentioned Funambol last week with their alternative open source solution for the iPhone. Well yesterday they announced that they have secured another $12.5 million in Series B funding, led by mobile-focused venture capital firm Nexit Ventures. Castile Ventures participated as a new investor and was joined by existing investors, Walden International and HIG Ventures.They [...]

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