Nokia Symbian Devices Still Going Strong

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By Mike Browne on February 14,

2011 at 00:00,

Nokia still has a place for Symbian in its evolving ecosystem and it's likely we'll be seeing a host of improvements and speed bumps on the OS for some time to come. Read on to find out why Nokia says Symbian is still going strong.

Speaking on the opening day of Mobile World Congress, Nokia bosses, including CEO Stephen Elop and the new head of the 'Smart devices' division, Jo Harlow, have pointed out there is plenty of life left in the Symbian Operating system and we're likely to see plenty of devices sporting the OS for some time to come.

Nokia Windows Phone Smartphone: The Facts

Stephen Elop when talking to the consumer press pointed out that some 28.5 million Symbian devices were sold in the last quarter of 2010, so the company is hardly in a position to abandon the OS wholesale.

Beforehand, Jo Harlow pointed out that new devices would be coming this year with significant speed bumps, including the first Nokia smartphone to pack in a 1GHz processor.

Nokia will also continue to build on the hugely successful Symbian^3 platform. To this end we'll see further development, both in the roll out of updates such as PR 2.0 and PR 3.0 but also more in the way of enhanced services.

The roadmap of Symbian devices still remains under wraps, as there is no clear indication of when we'll see the first Nokia Windows Phone. However, Harlow suggested that we may well see the first such device this year, which means the Symbian OS still has plenty of life left in it, for the short to medium term at least.

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Michael

Does Nokia pay the people that write this blog?
Andy

What a load of rubbish – The reaction to the news was unexpectedly negative and they are trying to back pedal so they can put some spin on things. Because unfortunately they have just realised they are never gonna sell 150 million symbian devices from now. And unless they do they are not going to be in a position to develop the WM7 devices either. ooops
stoli89

Yes, of course this is a Nokia PR front…and as far as technical prowess concerning said phones…not a very good one at that. In any event, yes, it seems quite logical that Nokia will support Symbian development over the near term (no more than 18 months). This also means Symbian phones already long in the development pipeline will also be released this year. Over the medium term (3+ years) it must also support the Symbian install base and help prepare Symbian customers so that they become interested in transitioning to a M$-Nokia ecosystem. So clearly, both Nokia and M$ do not want to alienate the Nokia-Symbian consumer. However, Elop really screwed the pooch by killing any positive sentiments toward 3rd party developers of Symbian/Qt. He basically said…sorry…forget the last few years of “commitment”….we changed our minds…game over. This was a caustic and drastic move that has killed his and Nokia’s credibility on the developer front. It doesn’t mean Symbian will not improve…I imagine we will see some big improvements that will make the M$ decision even harder to accept. As well, the phones may very prove to sell…though momentum has further turned against Nokia near term…thanks to the Elop “burning platform” communication strategy. Steve Jobs must be laughing his a$$ off at Nokia’s neophtye…Mr.Elop.
marco

on the one hand i could care less what OS is on the phone – when switching phones the only thing that needs to be transferred really are the contacts – and equivalent ‘must needed apps need to be found. so whats the big deal about what os nokia chooses? in a few months phones like the N8 will probably be dirt cheap (great value for me but bad for nokia – will get one just for the camera and navigation!).

The developers must be pissed and even though nokia might be planning some further symbian fixes surely all 3rd party development is now dead… and so is Ovi, dead, absolutely no way i am going to buy any more apps or even bother using any of the services since its a one way to nowhere. Also who in there right mind would even bother buying a meego device if its ever released. why would you???
http://www.claro.com.hn/Movil.aspx Celulares Honduras

I think this announcement was made up for trying to keep the actual fans of Nokia-Symbian phones, the damage is done.
ben

own a Nokia5800 xpressmusic music and can not download any adobe flashplayer.can anyone please help
Shah Nawaz

Surely OS is a lesser deciding factor in the low and medium range devices, especially in India where more growth is expected in this range.
Nokia has taken a beating in the higher range smartphones mostly so they would be trying to concentrate on that market at the moment. Nokia should try to dole out more improvements and keep thoughts of rivals out of their heads.
And rightly said, Symbian is here to stay for now.