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Tag: symbian-foundation

  • Symbian to Launch App Store Platform


    The Symbian Foundation has unveiled its application-publishing program – becoming the latest in what is becoming a long line of mobile app stores.

    Called Symbian Horizon it is scheduled for general availability in October.

    Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, said through Horizon developers will receive assistance in building applications for Symbian devices.

    They will also get help in placing those applications in the many global stores which reach Symbian customers – as well as receiving promotional assistance for bringing those applications to end users.

    "Our goal is to encourage robust application development, increase revenue and application diversity in mobile stores, and improve the consumer experience – all for the greater benefit of the mobile ecosystem," said Williams.

    "And we can help North American developers reach markets in Asia and Europe where the Symbian platform is widely known and loved.

    "We are building a self-sustaining ecosystem that will drive the next generation of mobile and developers that join now are aligning themselves with the future of mobile."

    Symbian Horizon will aim to provide new benefits to two primary communities within the Symbian ecosystem.

    The first is comprised of application store providers, either operator or manufacturer-based, such as Ovi Store by Nokia, Samsung Applications Store and AT&T’s MEdia Mall.

    The second target community for Symbian Horizon is comprised of developers ranging from individual developers to companies that want to reach a broader mobile consumer market.

    Symbian Horizon is currently in development with a number of participating companies and developers, and is anticipated to be available in October 2009.

  • Smartphone Market Will Remain Buoyant in 2009


    Lee Williams, chief of the Symbian Foundation, is confident that sales of smartphones will remain buoyant with growth of 12-15 per cent in 2009.

    While his forecast falls short of some estimates which predict 30 per cent increases, it underlines the growing confidence felt in the smartphone sector of the mobile market.

    This is expected to be boosted with the launch of the Palm Pre on June 6th – and the scene is all set for what is likely to be an exciting summer for the smartphone industry.

    Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology summit in Paris earlier this week, Williams said larger display sizes and more memory for media such as music were also encouraging consumers to buy smartphones.

    "For the first time people are realizing you don’t have to carry your digital camera with you and your phone, for the first time people are realizing that you can do your email and access Internet services on your mobile phone," he said.

    Williams’ comments were echoed by Frank Esser chief executive of France’s second-largest mobile operator SFR.

    He said the company was seeing strong demand for smartphones.

    This growth, couple with the contractions taking place in the wider mobile market, will see smartphones becoming increasingly widespread as mass market devices.

    A report just published shows that smartphone sales grew 12.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 despite sharply fallings sales of mobile phones generally – down 9.4 per cent year-on-year.

    Sehat Sutardja, chief executive of Marvell Technology, said smartphones will make up half of the mobile phone market in the next few years.

    He predicted multimedia-enabled smartphones will account for at least 50 per cent of all mobile phones in the next three to four years, and grow even more popular in the following years.

    "Smartphones today are only addressing the tip of the pyramid," he told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York.

    "I would say in the next three to four years, at least 50 per cent of the market will move to smartphones."

    Sutardja said this could grow to 90 per cent in six to seven years.

  • Symbian Foundation support continues to grow


    A further nine companies have thrown their weight behind the planned Symbian Foundation.

    Last week Nokia announced it had reached an agreement with Samsung to buy the remaining share in Symbian, clearing the way for the completion of the plans outlined in June.

    The new companies are Acrodea, Brycen, HI Corporation, Ixonos, KTF, Opera Software, Sharp, TapRoot Systems and UIQ.

    As well as comprising some well known Symbian names, the newcomers represent device manufacturers (in the form of Sharp and KTF) and a strong showing of software engineering and middleware companies.

    Since June, 40 companies have confirmed commitment to the initiative, including the ten initial board members: AT&T, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung Electronics, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone.

    Mats Lindoff, Sony Ericsson’s chief technology officer, said: “We are happy to see that so many developers and partners in the industry have expressed their support for the plans for the Symbian Foundation, as this will help drive the next level of innovation needed to deliver new user experiences on mobile phones."

    Bob Bicksler, CEO of TapRoot Systems, said: “We’re excited about the plans for the Symbian Foundation and believe it will increase the proliferation of innovative products and services to mobile consumers.”