Symbian has announced two key technologies for the next generation of Symbian OS-powered smartphones, ensuring that superfast mobile broadband and complex interface, video and gaming requirements won't be a problem for the smartphones of 2008 and beyond. Read on for the full press release about the new ScreenPlay and FreeWay and for official reaction from Symbian licensees. And we'll have a video podcast up shortly with a full interview.
Read on in the full article.
What this means? From an end user point of view I mean.
Good to hear that Symbian are not resting on their laurels, this is all good stuff. Some points;
1.) While providing these snazzy new technologies, Symbian also need to be focussing on getting into more low-end cheap phones - so more people get the benefits of "smartphones" and so we all benefit from the design decisions made for the mass market (no more geeky, techy user interfaces, thank God). This is in line with Krisse's article The Last Smartphone of course. If this low end push means a slightly less capable version of Symbian, or something, at the low end, then do it (actually that probably wouldn't be necessary, or even a good idea, but my point is - do what it takes). As many people say "I don't need a smartphone" or know what exactly one is, the market push should be like that with the great 6120 classic - no mention of the word "smartphone", low key, marketing focussed on what the device can for someone rather than the tech it employs, low price, and not part of a line of smartphones (NSeries).
2.) TV out, TV out, TV out. Improve TV out. If Symbian are jazzing up graphics, provide a way to see them in all their glory on the big screen, using connections most TVs have nowadays. None of this chunky low res nonsense. TV out on EVERY handet, even low end.
3.) While something always sits uneasily with me about commercial dominance/monopoly, and open source is better from that point of view, it is good to see this new generation of "personal computers" landed with a good operating system, and wonderful to see the increasingly irrelevant Microsoft and their appalling software become "so last century".
Alex
phonething.com
Check out video at hexus tv
ScreenPlay seems to be some vaporware. I didn't find anything from Symbian site but the press release about this. No developer details information or anything (sdks or API references). Why they don't publish even a white paper about it?
btw: Symbian's search in their website is broken. Of course there wasn't any way to comment to them about this issue...