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Symbian Smartphone OS Goes Open Source

Symbian Smartphone OS Goes Open Source

5 Feb 2010

The Symbian Foundation is set to change its proprietary mobile platform to be completely open source from today onwards.

Individual developers and organisations will now be able to modify the OS source code “for any purpose”.

The move means that phone manufacturers using the Symbian OS such a Nokia will save on costs, as they will not be changed a licensing fee. Analysts say that Microsoft charges up to US$15 per handset for its Windows software.

Symbian currently controls around half of the smartphone market, although its grip on the market has slipped since the release of the Apple iPhone and Google Android platform.

Symbian has said that this move from proprietary code to an open source model is the largest step in the history of software.

"The development community is now empowered to shape the future of the mobile industry, and rapid innovation on a global scale will be the result," said Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation.

"When the Symbian Foundation was created, we set the target of completing the open source release of the platform by mid-2010, and it's because of the extraordinary commitment and dedication from our staff and our member companies that we have reached it well ahead of schedule."

Nokia bought out Symbian shareholders in 2008 and gave its software to an independent foundation to develop and open source basis. Members of the Foundation include Nokia, AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT Docomo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone.

The Symbian Foundation said it completed that task last week.

"Not only has this come four months ahead of schedule, but also represents 10 years of investment and billions of dollars worth of code," the foundation said.

"With this achievement, the world's most popular smartphone platform is available in its entirety for developers around the world to innovate on and contribute to, enabling new opportunities for engagement and monetisation," said Peter Ropke, VP for devices R&D at Nokia, in a statement.

Find out more about open source mobile platforms at the CeBIT Mobile Office Expo.

Learn more about Research and Development driving business outcomes at CeBIT’s AusInnovate Conference.

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