Symbian looks to seduce iPhone devs with free Nokia 5800s, world destroying robo-duckie

Sure, we feign a lack of bias, but deep down in our hearts we only have one love: Symbian Foundation's robo-duckie mascot. Unfortunately for Symbian, it's going to take all the charm it can muster to win over the iPhone App Store's crop of cash-flush developers. Symbian was apparently at WWDC today, doing its best to woo, with all-day festivities involving coffee, food, a "hackathon," prizes, and free Nokia 5800 handsets for attendees. We're expecting Ovi Store to fill in with some solid €1.00 beer drinking simulators and Zippo lighter apps any second now.

[The Walrus @ Jun 8th 2009 10:06PM]

"Sure, we feign a lack of bias"

You sure did a good job of that with how many iPhone articles today? More than twice as many as the Pre release I'm sure

[john @ Jun 8th 2009 10:14PM]

right on!

[Kamokazi @ Jun 8th 2009 10:15PM]

I don't touch Apple products with 10 foolt poles, but I would say Engadget has given the Pre PLENTY of love lately. Today was the normal Apple keynote spamfest...it's expected.

[Chris Top Her @ Jun 8th 2009 10:15PM]

Listen to their podcasts. Dude is a total Palm fanboy.

[Sy @ Jun 8th 2009 10:19PM]

Dude, its the annual WWDC day! What do you expect?

[enz1ey @ Jun 8th 2009 10:30PM]

Boo hoo?

[Anthony @ Jun 8th 2009 11:00PM]

I agree. Pre got its due. Now it's Apple's turn.

I say: Squared Circle for the both of them & let's see who wins.

Personally, I'm leaning towards a Pre (& I'm a huge Nokia fan- but the N97 looks borning, my 5800 *was* boring & my N79 is just doing okay).

[Anthony @ Jun 8th 2009 11:01PM]

I agree. Pre got its due. Now it's Apple's turn.

I say: Squared Circle for the both of them & let's see who wins.

Personally, I'm leaning towards a Pre (& I'm a huge Nokia fan- but the N97 looks boring, my 5800 *was* boring & my N79 is just doing okay).

[iphonerulez @ Jun 9th 2009 7:53AM]

Ugh. Symbian tries to seduce developers and fails big-time. That robo-duckie is typical of Symbian. Parts that don't quite fit together and the result is an ugly-looking disaster. Forget giving out handsets. Maybe they should have tried using hookers.

They think they can buy developers by giving out free handsets. Holy crap. They really think developers are that stupid. Why the heck would developers go to a platform that's dying? Symbian has been around a long time and if anyone was interested in it, they would have been there already.

Offering handset blowjobs to developers is rather insulting and smells like bribery. Here's a $100 Nokia 5800 handset if you defect to our side. Damn pathetic. No damn way is any up-and-coming developer going to leave the iPhone platform to jump to some geriatric OS no matter how much market share they have. Anyone with any common sense can tell there is going to be a huge market shift away from Symbian.

[OneLove @ Jun 9th 2009 10:09AM]

I thought it read "...join us for a Symbian Masturbation". lol.

[Epsilon-Not @ Jun 8th 2009 10:07PM]

I'm really liking the Symbian Foundation's new graphic styles- it's like they ran out of money for an actual graphic design firm, and just gave yellow crayons to the local kindergartners.

[jinushaun @ Jun 8th 2009 10:24PM]

Yeah, except that "crayon" look was probably done by a big name graphic design firm and cost Symbian hundreds of thousands of dollars. :p

[zamboni @ Jun 9th 2009 12:28PM]

Hahahah.

That made me crack up. They could have used a designer's touch to actually make the poster look good. It looks like a indie café breakfast menu.

[Richi @ Jun 8th 2009 10:20PM]

"we feign a lack of bias"

... *facepalm*

[iDavey @ Jun 8th 2009 10:28PM]

You mind if I join in on this facepalm?

-facepalm

[Awjvail @ Jun 8th 2009 10:41PM]

It's a facepalm threesome.

*facepalm*

[Jive Turkey @ Jun 9th 2009 1:17AM]

Quadruple the facepalm!

*facepalm*

[superhobo @ Jun 9th 2009 7:09AM]

*pentapalmface*

[amu @ Jun 8th 2009 10:20PM]

How sad that an open source os needs from a closed os to build it up. Why can't the Symbian Foundation do stuff by themselves? They can read forums/blogs, and know what the consumers want. I can now see that there will be one less mobile os in the market.

[iDavey @ Jun 8th 2009 10:26PM]

Really...did you just really suggest that Symbian would be put out.

Go jump off a cliff please.

[amu @ Jun 9th 2009 2:10AM]

@iDavey
Think about it. Why would they want iphone developers? If they do grab some developers, that would mean that Apple's os is far superior to symbian. What does that mean for consumers? That we'll see the same apps from the iphone, but they will be less useful. Can you tell me any great symbian apps out there compared to the iphone's?? (besides badly java ported ones?). But it doesn't matter as everyone has their own opinions, so I respect your opinion.

[Aaron @ Jun 9th 2009 3:47AM]

@amu
Great Symbian apps? How about Garmin XT (real GPS, right now)? Or the superior version SlingMobile (no crappy resistrictions!)? Or how about Quake 3? :)

BTW, developers tend not to do "badly java ported" apps since Symbian phones already support Java.

Get a clue.

[iDavey @ Jun 9th 2009 12:16PM]

It's not an opinion, since Nokia and Symbian still hold market share. To make then "one less mobile OS" will take quite a time. And as far as it's only a locked OS (while Symbian is on how many phones) it won't happen quickly either. It has nothing to do with stock, but everything to do with business and statistics.

Now if Mobile OS X were open and on multiple devices...I'd agree with you...

[iDavey @ Jun 9th 2009 12:17PM]

I meant it has nothing to do with apps. Mind is on shareholders and whatnot =p

[John @ Jun 9th 2009 6:59PM]

haha really?? one less mobile OS? do you know anything about symbian?? Symbian has the most market share worldwide. so somehow the most popular OS is gonna die oh no!!! soon all that will be left is apple and ill have to sell my car to make the monthly payments..

[john @ Jun 8th 2009 10:36PM]

iphone vs pre vs N97

who will win?

[enz1ey @ Jun 8th 2009 10:38PM]

Haha you're really not trying to instigate anything like, oh, about 400 overly dramatic comments. Are you?

[username @ Jun 8th 2009 10:43PM]

there will be a mighty explosion, and Chuck Norris will rise out of the ashes to claim the land as his own.

[Félix @ Jun 9th 2009 6:08AM]

I'm seriously considering waiting for this ChuckPhone. As long as he doesn't name it iChuck, cause that would be poor humour.

[john @ Jun 8th 2009 10:45PM]

let the ball rolling...hmmm lets see... Pre is having issues with hardware design and build, and iPhone 3GS(stupidity) is nothing that qualifies as an upgrade. N97 is clear winner.

[iphonerulez @ Jun 9th 2009 8:06AM]

The Nokia N97 is a winner. If you consider losing money on every unit you sell and the most units sold will be equal to about a million a year. An N97 will be a winner in mediocrity. Good hardware alone does not produce sales. Nokia is now considered a company building handsets for old people. They're totally out of touch with the younger generation of handset users. I think an N97 is probably one of the best handsets on the market, but it is expensive and Nokia won't sell many in the U.S.

[digitallysick @ Jun 8th 2009 10:49PM]

Honestly Nokia sucks at software and the ovi store is a complete failure.

A good example, open up the iphone app store and go to free games. You will find at least 10 free full games, and probably hundreds of demos, or games that you can buy custom levels or add ons, etc.

Now, go to OVI and select free games, you get 4 choices, 2 are demos, and 1 of them is a watered down version of the paid edition.

So ovi comes out and nothing free, Now lets look at the OVI star rating system, things like skyfire (something all S60 owners should have) show no ratings, but yet paid apps like the $2.00 cell wallpaper of rocks , has a 3 star rating, with no reviews, where skyfire has no stars and tons of reviews

The ovi store is tainted , no one would buy a $2.00 wall paper , give it 3 stars, or 2 stars, and not write a review, or for that matter buy a wallpaper for their cell.

[ALBGunner04 @ Jun 9th 2009 12:15AM]

I think there's a problem with the way the Ovi Store registers the ratings. Notice how Reuters Sports UK has 2 ratings. It's not like Nokia is secretly promoting payable items or anything, the Ovi Store has been live for 3 weeks. Give it time. The App Store has been around for about 2-3 years, of course you'll have more free content on the App Store. Wait until the Ovi Store hits a year old to judge it.

Not to mention I see improvements in the Ovi service (like Ovi Friends) coming with the N97 launch. The Ovi Store lets the developers price their items. $3 a wallpaper someone charges you do not have to buy. Do the smart thing, go online, get some wallpaper that you know you'll like and put it on your phone. The Apps on the other hand are coming out quite nicely. Qik was just released on the Ovi Store, and many other apps to come.

On the games, we got FIFA 09 out, along with SimCity. Basically, all I'm saying is that you can't compare Ovi Store to the App Store just yet.

[SteveH @ Jun 9th 2009 1:11AM]

"The App Store has been around for about 2-3 years, of course you'll have more free content on the App Store."

You wouldn't be referring to the same app store that was released with the iphone 2.0 software that is less than a year old would you? Add to that the app store had over a thousand free apps the day it was released. Yes Nokia wins hands down on hardware but they are nowhere near close to what apple has done with the app store.

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 9th 2009 5:35AM]

@digitallysick

You're the guy who couldn't work out how to install the Ovi Store app, right? Forgive me then if I don't bow to your expertise.

I should also point out that Nokia's main game distribution platform is N-gage on which you can download and try for free every game to see if you like it or not. Plus, of course, Nokia will merge Ovi and N-gage at some point although there are already a couple of dozen games on the Ovi store itself.

Which is not to say Ovi doesn't need work because it does. It's just not the shambles you make it out to be.

[Andrew @ Jun 9th 2009 8:07AM]

There's a valid question here, why are there no free games on the Ovi store? Why are a lot of apps $10? Why is a wallpaper $2? Look at comparable prices on the apple store, they are cheaper. Why?

To develop for Apple: $99 one time fee.

To develop a true native Symbian application for the Ovi store:

1. $200/year trusted certificate.
2. $70 fee to the Ovi Store
3. $20 Express Sign the app. Every time you update it, $20 again.

Total: $270 to post your first app.

(#3 may require you to buy a 10 pack at $200, so it maybe $470 to post your first app)

That said, you can distribute symbian applications anyway you want, you aren't forced to use the Ovi store. If you want to distribute your application for free OUTSIDE the Ovi Store you can do something called "Open Signing" where people who download your free app have to send to a special website and get a signed version back. It works, but it's not pretty.

[tallfella @ Jun 9th 2009 9:51AM]

"The App Store has been around for about 2-3 years"

Try 11 months, it was released on July 10th 2008, stop give Nokia excuses ;)

[Newone @ Jun 9th 2009 5:12PM]

Actually, the 2-3 year count is more accurate as app store is just a offshoot of the itunes shop. iTunes is actually older, but lets count just the time that iPhone interface been on it

[apolloa @ Jun 8th 2009 10:51PM]

No Way, Sony Ericsson Satio will win!!

[iDavey @ Jun 8th 2009 10:55PM]

That will be a hot phone...
Too bad the US will never see it grace our shores! =|

[Nathan B @ Jun 8th 2009 11:05PM]

I used to work at a mobile software development company where our product was on Palm, Windows Mobile, Blackberry (very scaled down version) and Symbian. I was on the Palm team and the Symbian guys told me horror stories, and some of the restrictions there were nuts, not to mention we had to do all these different versions for UIQ, S60, S80, etc. They need to unify and get it together.

[ALBGunner04 @ Jun 9th 2009 12:18AM]

It's basically UIQ which I think is for Ericsson phones (not quite sure).

Then S60 for Nokia's smartphones, and Samsung also I think. S60 has v3, and the new version which supports touch interface, v5.

Then there's S40, which is for lower end models.

Nothing too hard here, 3-4 versions depending on how you want to look at it. Because Nokia's line is so big, they can't put S60 on low-end phones. Apple on the other hand only has one phone to worry about which makes it easier for them.

[Aaron @ Jun 9th 2009 3:51AM]

@ALBGunner04
Sorry, you're incorrect.

There's only ONE version of Symbian now. There used to be 3+ but they HAVE unified. Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson et al all use the same platform and UI now.

[mko @ Jun 9th 2009 7:02AM]

Series 40 is not Symbian. It's not considered a smart phone os. It only supports Java Me

On the other hand it's probably the largest market for mobile applications.

[superhobo @ Jun 9th 2009 7:12AM]

UIQ is dead now...actually more like absorbed into the main Symbian OS.
S80 used to be on those Nokia brick-like communicators. Haven't seen one around for a few years.

S60 is what it's based on now, don't know if they're still calling it that.

[Unknown @ Jun 8th 2009 11:58PM]

Now that's good marketing intelligence

I swear if nokia makes omni likes appstore I switch back in a heart bit

The only thing nokia missing is the app store otherwise it's a much better phone than iPhone

[jjrudey @ Jun 9th 2009 12:23AM]

so does this mean that apple runs the phone business and everyone wants what they have? i think so

[simon @ Jun 9th 2009 12:35AM]

Um, no. It means that Nokia is trying to poach. You know the way Apple poached Sony Vaio engineers to make the first Intel Mac laptops... or Sony poached Tim Schaaf.

It's a common occurence... no news here unless Engadget is trying to spin something

[nick @ Jun 9th 2009 1:21AM]

Well, with the new low price, added features, and app store, Apple has basically nailed the coffin on the smartphone market. Sure, there are worthy alternatives, like the Pre and the nokia n97, but the fact of the matter is Apple is selling one phone almost as well as Nokia's entire E and N series combined. I think we're going to start see the decline of sales for Nokia in the smartphone market as their phones become less compelling, at least in the western world. Before anyone screams at me, I have a Nokia 5800 as my daily phone, after a few months I'm ready to let it go, at first I thought the steady stream of updates would save it, but they haven't. Basically, unless Android really steps up its game, or the Pre comes to Verizon. I'm likely going unlocked iphone on T-mobile.

[Félix @ Jun 9th 2009 6:09AM]

Symbian, stick with real dev, with real apps, please NOBODY will ever need $1 iFart.
ever.