Symbian Foundation boss talks up Symbian for netbooks, and more

We've already seen Symbian ported to an Atom-based PC for kicks, but it looks like Symbian Foundation boss Tim Holbrow already has some considerably grander plans, and says that we could actually see some Symbian-running netbooks in stores before too long. As TechRadar reports, when asked if we'll see Symbian netbooks on the market, Holbrow replied "I think so, yep," before intriguingly adding that he thinks the real question is "will netbooks carry on being netbooks?" Apparently, Holbrow sees netbooks becoming nothing more than a "single processor" that people carry around and use to access data from various sources -- letting folks use a wireless keyboard and display at home and have the UI adjust automatically, for instance, or what Holbrew calls "superconvergence." Of course, Holbrow isn't making any firm promises just yet, although he does say he can "see world in two or three years' time where mobile devices start to eat into the world of laptops and netbooks."

[TareX @ May 20th 2009 9:08PM]

Let them join Android netbooks on the items-no-one-should-buy shelf.

[JohnTitor @ May 20th 2009 10:30PM]

now we just need Palm to bring back the Foleo but with more WebOS

[Adil @ May 20th 2009 9:09PM]

its dull enough on a phone..

[superhobo @ May 21st 2009 6:49AM]

I thought it was the screen quality, but...hahaha, the UI is dull.

Or maybe it's the background.

[y3k.nik @ May 20th 2009 9:09PM]

he can "see world in two or three years' time where mobile devices start to eat into the world of laptops and netbooks."


That isnt hard to believe at all. My phone now is easily more powerful than my first computer, maybe even my second one.

That being said, it really wont matter how powerful your device is as long as meets a certain basic criteria, if the cloud goes mainstream, OnLive is a good example.

[Epsilon-Not @ May 20th 2009 9:14PM]

Hm- wasn't the OS of the Psion NetBook some ancestor of modern Symbian?

[Raim @ May 20th 2009 9:21PM]

That's something I am not going to buy. Symbian wouldn't be very user-friendly on a net/notebook or desktop.

[huh @ May 20th 2009 9:22PM]

my current phone (and next Android based phone) is indescribably more powerful than my first computer (vic-20). In so many ways. Processing (cpu), graphics, wide, local and immediate networking, storage, running different languages, along with the basics such as screen resolution storage, access speeds, you name it.

But it's a cultural as much as technological front. You can look at the source code of any Web page today, understand it. Web pages are a standard, there's a lot of interoperability at the web (http) level. It's truly building a web of trustworthy information. Can we do that with our computers? With Linux based systems, that's an intent. With Symbian?

Sorry, they're coming out of left field, and I don't trust their cultural or technical indications at all.

[Qsat @ May 20th 2009 9:28PM]

My wife will be happy, she's asking for a symbian for years! She also said that Stern talk about it on radio, must be good.

[Look_Around_You @ May 20th 2009 9:41PM]

I see what you did there.

[Game_playa @ May 20th 2009 11:23PM]

DUDE! WTF! Only a hardcore pr0n fanatic would know that!

Don't ask me how I know....

[Gregorian @ May 20th 2009 9:30PM]

What it will come down to is desirable content.
I can sort of imagine if Android ever takes off on phones that there might eventually be enough cool applications that you'd be happy to use it on a netbook. Maybe not now, but in some hypothetical future that goes Android Crazy.

But Symbian? Seems a bridge too far.

[Big M @ May 20th 2009 9:46PM]

horrible.
Symbian is the reason I'm not buying a Nokia phone.

[NickNick @ May 21st 2009 4:45AM]

My thoughts too, symbian is just an ugly, dull os.

symbian on a netbook? no thanks

[Darrell @ May 20th 2009 9:46PM]

I thought we went through this already. Linux will more than likely remain king of netbooks unless Microsoft makes some serious interventions and start supporting ARM systems. Could android become defacto? Maybe, but unlikely. Symbian definitely won't take over the market, that's for sure, and right now I'm going to say that either Ubuntu Netbook Remix or Moblin will be king of the hil.

[Deathtrap3000 @ May 20th 2009 9:51PM]

It has to become king first to be able to remain there. It has a long way to go.

[KEROLiUKAS @ May 20th 2009 11:38PM]

It's definately king, maybe not the most USED choice to do Linuxphobia from the noobs, but defiantely THE best.

[Destricto_Ense @ May 21st 2009 6:26AM]

There's this new netbook-friendly operating system called Windows 7, you may have heard of it?

[videonevin @ May 20th 2009 10:02PM]

symbian on anything more powerful than a dumbphone? bleh

[flyingcolours87 @ May 20th 2009 10:21PM]

Symbian is not good nowadays... more enhanced os r available in other manufacturers.... for this reason i sold my nokia phone...

[Ntw1103 @ May 20th 2009 10:57PM]

not symbian. eeww that is for cellphones.. it would be bad on a netbook. it just isn't designed with that type of usage. BUT Epoc on the other hand would be fantastic. I would buy it instantly(well if they didn't charge to much. look at the psion devices. *cough* the real netbook*cough* those things were way ahead of their time.
that os was stable and responsive.

[boredtoday @ May 20th 2009 11:20PM]

symbian. eewww. yuck. bleech.

[Game_playa @ May 20th 2009 11:24PM]

Symbian is already REALLY good, just needs a redesign and it will be the best!

[kekes @ May 20th 2009 11:39PM]

Well symbian is not so bad, i had a Nokia with symbian, and i can say it is the best mobile manufacturer, maybe is not so popular in US, but in Europe, are the top selling brand, and is a trusted brand for all people.

Now we have the iphone, the android, but a few years ago, the symbian was the best SO for mobiles, and we going to see new improvements in that SO i belive so, they going inovate for catch up the others SO's.

But at the moment i'm so happy with my WinMo HTC, but i continue recomend nokia smartphones for all people, they are simple, and do what the have to do, and in the real other only a few people use the full capacity of a phone, the others only use it for make calls and send SMS, or listen music, and that almost any phone is capable to do, and symbian do that so good ;)

[The Dude @ May 20th 2009 11:38PM]

When are they going to release Symbian for sybians?

[kingu @ May 21st 2009 7:37AM]

It pretty much emulates the experience by now.

[Cunthor @ May 21st 2009 12:24AM]

In the near future netbooks will have more ram and faster/more cpu cores so win7 will have the best balance between usability and compatibility with apps on netbooks. Symbian along with Linux and Android will remain a niche market, even though they might better run on low end hardware. My two cents...

[Me4u2 @ May 21st 2009 3:15AM]

All you guys dissing symbian, have you ever used a symbian phone???, Its the most straight-forward, stable and powerful OS out there. Though it might not be as flashy as the new OSes, It's certainly more robust and light-weight. All it needs its a little bit re-skinning here and there.

[Destricto_Ense @ May 21st 2009 6:28AM]

Yeah, something which Nokia don't seem to have that much of an inclination towards doing. S60v5 comes out for touchscreen phones, phones that are hip by nature, and they include the same dull enterprise layout as they had for v3.

[Aaron @ May 21st 2009 3:40AM]

Interesting news, especially with Symbian moving the Qt (a UI framework already available for desktop operating systems). Potentially, Qt apps for Windows could run on a Symbian netbook with no/very little modification.

[martialoffrance @ May 21st 2009 3:53AM]

netbooks are for cheap weaklings who can barely lift a macbook. its people who buy systems with intel graphics that are hurting the mobile market a crossed the board.





CDMA Sucks Go ATT

[HereAndNow @ May 21st 2009 6:13AM]

Netbook/tablet devices running a smartphone OS like Android, Symbian, etc., could become a big hit with mobile operators.

If these devices include smartphone hardware (touchscreen, 3G, GPS, accelerometer, compass, etc.) and support cell phone calls and SMS, the mobile operators would be able to generate revenue from:
1. data contracts.
2. phone calls & SMS.
3. app purchases (e.g. operators get a cut from Android Market app sales).
4. value-added apps & services that leverage the capabilities of these "smartphone" devices.

Netbooks/tablets running a desktop OS don't offer all of these same revenue opportunities for the operators.

[superhobo @ May 21st 2009 6:51AM]

For it's own good, somebody make a better UI for the awesome OS.