14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia, the largest handset vendor in the world, has reaffirmed its commitment to the Symbian operating system, with plans to invest in the future development of the mobile OS.
According to the company, even if the Symbian Foundation announced some changes and restructuring plans, Nokia will continue to drive the Symbian platform upwards.
The leading handset vendor will invest its own resources in the development of Symbian, and plans launching a strong portfolio of Symbian-based smartphones on the market.
“The future of Symbian as a platform does not depend on the existence of the foundation,” said Jo Harlow, Senior Vice President, Smartphones, Nokia.
“The changes announced by the foundation have no impact on Nokia's Symbian device roadmaps or shipping commitments.
“The platform powers hundreds of millions of smartphones - including our own - and we expect to deliver ongoing support and innovation benefitting the Symbian ecosystem in the future,” Harlow continued.
The company expects increased speed in the evolution of the Symbian platform through focusing on Qt as the only application development framework.
Through this approach, the company ensures that applications developed for Symbian are compatible with various platform versions, even if the OS will taste frequent updates and upgrades.
“To take advantage of this ever-growing opportunity, developers can find the tools and support they need through Forum Nokia, and global distribution to Nokia's broad base of smartphones through Ovi Store,” the company notes.
The company stressed on the fact that it remains committed to the Symbian platform, and that its latest Symbian-based smartphones are proof of that.
Nokia will showcase its portfolio of Symbian-based smartphones at the Symbian Exchange and Exposition (SEE) 2010 event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between November 9-10.
Recently, the company brought to the market a series of highly appealing devices based on Symbian^3, including the Nokia N8, Nokia C7 and the new Nokia C6-01, as well as with Nokia E7.
“Nokia expects to sell more than 50 million Symbian^3-based devices,” the company concluded.