Sep 22

Symbian Foundation Planned for Evolution of the Symbian OS as a open platform for the Mobiles.The foundation is expected to start operating during the first half of 2009.

The plans for the establishment of the Symbian Foundation and royalty-free licensing of foundation software are:
1) The acquisition of Symbian Limited by Nokia, expected to close in Q4, 2008, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
2) Software assets are contributed to the foundation, including Symbian OS and S60 by Nokia, UIQ technology by Motorola and Sony Ericsson and MOAP(S) by NTT DOCOMO and Fujitsu.
3) This contributed software will be available under a royalty-free license to foundation members from the first day of Symbian Foundation operations, expected 1H 2009.
4) The Foundation will work to unify the platform, with the first unified foundation release expected in 2009.
5) The foundation will work to make the platform available in open source by June 2010 (two years from the Symbian Foundation announcement)

Right now Symbian had 60 per cent of the smart-phone market in the first quarter of this year, According to market watcher. That’s compared to 12 per cent for Linux, 11 per cent for Microsoft and RIM and four per cent for Apple’s iPhone - six months after launch.

With the code under an open-source license, It’s espected that Symbian does not tied to a single company or small group.
By open sourcing the code, Nokia thinks it can help Companies to lower their costs by offering a base-level operating platform that can be customized to add value. Handset providers waste money re-inventing the same operating system layer as their rivals.

Hope Lots Good things will happen.

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