Linux Solutions

Mobile phone giant Nokia has bought all the remaining parts of the Symbian OS it didn’t already have and is releasing it to the open source foundation, along with the S60 UI layer. They are not alone with Sony giving UIQ and DoCoMo throwing MOAP(S) in to the mix.

Symbian has always been the underlying OS, allowing companies to develop different graphical layers on top in much the same way that Windows (previous to 95) used to sit on top of MS-DOS.

Nokia had S60, originally intended for button interfaces, Sony Ericsson had UIQ, designed for pen-control, and DoCoMo had MOAP(S), intended fro Japan.

The difference between the UI’s were becoming pretty blurred, with developments such as S60 adding touch control and UIQ 3 offering pen-less interaction. Now, all three are to be combined and given away royalty-free to the Symbian Foundation’s members as a single UI.

Each of those members will have to pay $1,500 a year but that won’t break the bank for companies like AT&T and Vodaphone, who have both come on board to endorse the open Symbian platform.

This move by the companies does remove the advantage Google’s Android platform has; the fact the code is free. The move also removes a large portion of Nokia’s revenue. The company is paying €264m for the privilege of giving away its software.