David Wood, writing on the Symbian Foundation Blog, about reviewing the release plans has highlighted some details of upcoming Symbian releases. Symbian^2, the equivalent of S60 5th Edition Feature Pack 1, will be functionality complete next week and in devices early next year. Symbian^3, for which the majority of the source code should be available, enhances communication architecture, multimedia and graphics functionality and should reach devices in the second half of 2010.
Symbian ^4 will see full integration and optimisation of Qt into the Symbian platform. Further proposals includes the 'Orbit' extension library for Qt (replacing AVKON) and a new 'Direct UI' interaction and navigation logic. Put crudely, this means we will see an evolution of the existing S60 / AVKON UI to a new Qt based 'Orbit' Symbian UI for devices coming out in 2011. Read on for more details.
Read on in the full article.
I would be very happy if they just give Symbian^4 because its not only integrate QT and its very important to me as developer (code less). Too bad its going to be available at 2011 which is going to be more difficult for Symbian to compete with other platforms in the next two years.
There's Symbian^2 and Symbian^3 in the mean time. They'll keep Symbian more than competitive.
Also Qt development will be possible a long time before Symbian^4. A preview version is available now for S60. I would imagine Nokia will look to ship Qt (as a development language) with its Symbian^3 and Symbian^4 devices.
If anything this gives developers an incentive to look at Qt earlier than they might have otherwise done.
Here's hoping they stop beating around the bush, ignore Apple's daft and unenforceable patents, and sort full multitouch support on the platform.
Secondly, lets get the OS onto as many low end devices as possible - the smartphone market in up and coming developing nations is already basically owned by Symbian and the huge growth potential is there for the taking 😉
Unregistered wrote:Here's hoping they stop beating around the bush, ignore Apple's daft and unenforceable patents, and sort full multitouch support on the platform.Secondly, lets get the OS onto as many low end devices as possible - the smartphone market in up and coming developing nations is already basically owned by Symbian and the huge growth potential is there for the taking 😉
I am pretty sure that Nokia will ship S60 to lower end devices , so that Symbian will conquer dumbphone market 😊 . I also heard a rumor that Nokia might put maemo on their high end devices . Lets wait and see
Hi, just read your post and I was really dumbfounded by the announcement of the Symbian^3 and Symbian^4 platform. I just wish to inquire, will Idou be using the Symbian^3 platform since Idou is known to be using the Symbian Foundation platform.
Thank you very much.
From the article, regarding plans for Symbian^4:
"Nor does it preclude another company or Symbian Foundation contributor creating an alternative application framework and UI layer (e.g for low end mobile phones or non-mobile phone devices)."
Let me voice my opinion as a developer: Alternatives like this are devastating for third-party developers. Fragmentation is currently one of *the* curses of mobile application development, and anything that threatens to make it even bigger is most unfortunate, to say the least, IMHO.
I was really hoping that now, with the Symbian foundation, and the union of S60, UIQ and MOAP, Symbian would be able to make a decisive break from its UI and framework mess of the past.
Of course an open-source Symbian more or less precludes nothing, by design, but the foundation could do developers a very big favor by evangelizing vocally and visually *against* such fragmentation attempts.
Just a short while ago the whole UIQ ecosystem went down the drain, in the interest of a unified Symbian from the foundation, and now there is already talk again that there might be *new* variants, UI's, flavors and frameworks on top of Symbian? You are just joking, right?
@BHY: Idou will use Symbian^1
John D. Doe wrote:@BHY: Idou will use Symbian^1
I am not sure this is technically correct, some excited sections of SE marketing were touting this as using the first SF OS (Symbian^1) but it is actually the same version of S60 5th edition as used on 5800, i8910 and N97.
Rafe said "There's Symbian^2 and Symbian^3 in the mean time. They'll keep Symbian more than competitive."
Do they..? The current S60 UI (and probably ^1 and ^2 too) is quite horrible and very slow compared to it's rivals and I don't see much hope for ^3 either. Both from user's and developer's perspective. They are promising major improvements in ^3 but isn't it already too late if the ^4 with all-new Qt-based UI (with different API) is coming only 6 months later?
I pretty much agree with everything rbrunner said.. I would place my bet for ^4, but 2 years is a loooong time in this industry.. In mean time, Nokia & co will have a lot of difficulties keeping S60 even near on the same level as it's rivals. Not in set of features, but in providing modern, attractive, good looking, and usable UI that could compete with Android and iPhone devices.
I believe it when I see it. Nokia seems to have lost it a bit.
I'm sure all can agree that Nokia isn't it's best currently, but because they aren't doing best just now dosen't mean it will stay like that forever. Nokia have had it's battle with Motorola and SE.
I can't agree with the fact that S60 is slow. Just look how 5800 is running with v21 and on the old 390mhz proc. Try that with WM example or look at Omnia HD with it's OMAP3 platform and 600mhz processor.
All that said i totally agree that they have wasted too much time. I would say they would be ok if Symbian^3 would be out in the end of this year with the screenplay and all that that was supposed to be already in Symbian v9.5(announced back in 2007). Symbian^4 looks promising, but there's long way till that. Thought Symbian got pretty good shield because of SE, Samsung and Nokia making Symbian Foundation it's OS. Phones like Idou will keep Symbian on it's current place if not better IMO before Symbian^3 and Symbian^4.
Plus we will if it's true that Maemo is going to be Nokias hihg end OS in the future and Symbian mid and low end like Mobile-Reviews Eldar said.
Wow. This is almost a joke. My guess is that Nokia and Google go into a deep partnership on Android in early 2011.
i don't see any reason for google to go into partnership with Nokia.
about this piece of news, which honestly i have read tooo late, i think it is going to be amazing.
2 years is a long time, to be sure, but at least they have a concrete plan. if they act on this, Symbian should hold the market share for quite some time now
Let me voice my opinion as a developer: Alternatives like this are devastating for third-party developers. Fragmentation is currently one of *the* curses of mobile application development, and anything that threatens to make it even bigger is most unfortunate, to say the least, IMHO.
Samsung's also joining the gang of "I've also a mobile OS of mine that I'm going to open up and get others to use, I hope".