14 DAY TRIAL // The Symbian Foundation showcased on Thursday an application-publishing program called Symbian Horizon, which is slated for general availability sometime in October 2009. According to the Foundation, the Symbian Horizon is meant to provide a helpful hand to developers that work on applications for the Symbian OS, while also assisting them in offering their solutions through global stores so that they will reach a large number of users all around the world.
The Symbian Horizon is also targeted at increasing the profitability from the development of applications for the Symbian OS. Those who will participate in Symbian Horizon will benefit from access to a wide range of services related to the development, distribution, and marketing of mobile software solutions. The application-publishing program will assist developers in the creation of a single point of management and distribution to mobile phone users across the globe.
“Our goal is to encourage robust application development, increase revenue and application diversity in mobile stores, and improve the consumer experience – all for the greater benefit of the mobile ecosystem,” said Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation. “And we can help North American developers reach markets in Asia and Europe where the Symbian platform is widely known and loved. We are building a self-sustaining ecosystem that will drive the next generation of mobile and developers that join now are aligning themselves with the future of mobile.”
Symbian Horizon, the Foundation says, is aimed at offering benefits to two different primary communities in the Symbian area. The first one comprises application store providers, including Ovi Store by Nokia, Samsung Applications Store and AT&T’s MEdia Mall. The second community Symbian Horizon is targeted at includes developers, both individual and companies, such as Dynatech, The Guardian, MobileIron, National Public Radio (NPR), Skout, Ustream, and Wine.com, which already committed to participate in the program.
Currently, the Symbian Foundation says, Symbian Horizon is in the development phase, while already including a variety of companies and developers. The application-publishing program is expected to become available for general public in October this year. The Foundation already offers developers the possibility to join the program, and those interested in doing so can learn more details and register for participation here.
“I expect Symbian developers to have broader opportunities to reach consumers at the Samsung Applications Store thanks to Symbian Horizon. We welcome a valuable effort of Symbian Foundation and will support Symbian Horizon to provide benefits of total eco-system partnership in the industry,” said Yong-suk Moon, vice president and managing director of Samsung Electronics Research Institute based in UK. Marco Argenti, VP of Media & Games at Nokia, added, “We are keen to leverage the advances in the Symbian open source community to provide developers with the best tools to build the best apps and experiences for Nokia devices.”