Nokia rumored to be kicking Symbian OS to the curb, moving in with Maemo
By Tim Stevens 
posted Aug 12th 2009 10:07AM
posted Aug 12th 2009 10:07AM
Poor Symbian. Sony Ericsson's been giving you some hot play with its Satio smartphone, but lately it seems Nokia wants little to do with you, always throwing a cold shoulder and mentioning what a great guy that Maemo dude is. Now, according to rumors from the (still pink) German Financial Times, Nokia is looking to drop Symbian OS altogether and move to Maemo wholesale, powering not just its internet tablets but also its smartphones, the first of which is due in "the next few weeks" -- possibly referring to the RX-51 Rover that's been out and about lately. According to the report, the Symbian OS just can't keep up with the younger players these days; "far too cumbersome to work with." Nokia has issued a typical no comment, but interestingly last night's mention of a "alliance" between Microsoft and Nokia for the creation of Office for Nokia phones made no explicit mention of Office for Symbian. Intrigue; we love it.
Update: As Reggie has pointed out in the comments, Peter Schneider, Nokia's Maemo marketing guru, has put the brakes on this rumor via Twitter. "No, Nokia is not replacing Symbian with Maemo. Symbian and Maemo will continue to coexist." So much for intrigue, and romance.
Update: As Reggie has pointed out in the comments, Peter Schneider, Nokia's Maemo marketing guru, has put the brakes on this rumor via Twitter. "No, Nokia is not replacing Symbian with Maemo. Symbian and Maemo will continue to coexist." So much for intrigue, and romance.
[Via TechCrunch]
I don't use Nokia for years
How about grammar?
sorry about my English grammar~I'm from France
but it's true about the Nokia,It does sucks in the way how they build the cell phone
That explains a lot. :P French people suck in every language other than French.
Maemo is going to be used in high end Nokia phones and Symbian still stays. S60 is holding Symbian back, no matter how good the operating system is old UI is hindering it. We have to wait a bit until Direct UI is ready and S60/Avkon is totally kicked out. Maemo 5 is a big change compared to previous releases and it is completely finger optimized and it has HW accelerated UI. Obviously Nokia hasn't showed all about Maemo 5 in SDK's but thing are really interesting and both operating systems have interesting future.
personally i enjoyed that grammar
@Suomaa
Don't be a dick, at least he has a second langauge, its a hard skill.
@Ginger
This gauge you speak of, tell me about it
I think this would be a very good move. Symbian is just old and tired at this point and nothing short of a complete overhaul would really bring it up to speed with today's mobile OSs. The last iteration of Maemo was alright but not perfect... maybe with Maemo 5 they can really get the ball rolling on something not only better than symbian, but potentially a contender in the market's that nokia doesn't have much hold in (like the US).
If this article had a credible source, it would probably also mention about Nokia's complete re-write of the UI and system API's with Qt and Orbit. Seeing as Nokia have just paid silly sums of money for Qt and Symbian OS, dropping it would seem stupid.
And shitty journalism strikes again.
First the Guardian tells us that Nokia will absolutely ditch Symbian for Android a couple of weeks ago, now the FTD says they'll drop Symbian in favor of Maemo...both without any sources of course.
Already refuted officially, btw:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090812-702406.html
Speaking of shitty journalism, Sony Ericsson's Aino isn't Symbian.
Ok they've edited Aino out now.
Good or bad, not gonna happen, Nokia have invested too much into symbian to completely abandon it
What might happen though is maemo appearing on some high end smartphones, like this rumoured one, whilst S60 replaces S40 in the mid range, allowing for more mid range touchscreen phones like the 5800xm
pah.. Maemo.. the only operating system I've seen in the last 20 years that doesn't support a 24-hour clock (from a Nokia 770, N800 and N810 user) Maemo is ok.. but the quality of the OS really feels a bit "my first graphical OS"
I've started to rate OS's by their consistent look and feel across 3rd party apps. For example, Macs seem to win since most mac apps look the same.. Maemo suffers horrible.. no two apps ever seem to look and behave the same. If you app needs to render buttons using a custom tool kit or simply a bit map file rather than using the operating systems standard look and feel .. not only are you making themes ineffective, but the os needs a facelift and a more facist approach to UI adoptation..
Even Nokia's own bundled maemo apps all look different.. terrible..
(Why does the facebook app on the N97 look different all other apps.. replace facebook with amazon, ap, reuters, accuweather.. they all look different.. Why? Because the vendors couldn't cope with such an ugly UI!!)
Shut up if you don't know what you are talking about. You obviously have no clue about what Maemo 5 (and upcoming Harmattan) is and
Shut up if you don't know what you are talking about. You obviously have no clue about what Maemo 5 (and upcoming Harmattan) is and it looks nothing like current Maemo 4.
Dude it is not the OS your are referring to, it is the Nokia's GUI of the Linux OS, that got your panties in a bind. They could have done it a hundred of different ways but that is all Nokia on top. What ever floats their boat, I guess as long as it does not allow Theora Ogg as a Web Standard. Who the hell is Nokia any way? (A Web Standard VETO Power Hog)
I knew this story was probably false as of the M$ Office on a Linux Device, you had me in stitches. That software would cost the user more the Moemo OS. Open Office is already on there, no need for any other 'Office'.
nokia already dismissed the report
see this - http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200908120255dowjonesdjonline000290&title=nokiaremain-strongly-committed-to-symbian-operating-system
Plain rumor. Checkout the tweet from someone from Nokia: http://twitter.com/PeterMaemo
"Since it is a popular subject right now: No, Nokia is not replacing Symbian with Maemo. Symbian and Maemo will continue to coexist."
Actually, FTD doesn't claim anything different. The article says that nokia will continue using symbian for lower end modells while higher end smartphones will get something else - probably maemo.
About time. Nokia's hardware has been plagued by their anemic OS for far too long. The last OS any revision of Symbian could compete with was PalmSource's Garnet.
Maemo has flash!!!
Its ahead of the game!
So does Symbian...
They just bought the rest of Symbian for something like 260 million euros, and now they're (supposedly) coming to the conclusion that Symbian won't take part in their next-gen handhelds . Ridiculous. Why do they keep buying all these companies when they clearly have no robust plan how to proceed with the acquisitions or their future devices. Downright awful management.
They should just draft a good concept for their future philosophies on what the consumer needs, wants or affords, make the right investment(s) and stick with it. Though unfortunately, that would require at least some skill!
Thanks to chilko and Reggie for pointing out it was just a rumor.
Whew.
I gathered that Maemo would be used for tablets and the like. S60 will move to their low to midrange phones (that S40 currently occupies) and Symbian^4 will be for upper end phones.
Didn't Nokia buy out Symbian this year? I would imagine they would be reluctant to drop Symbiam completely a few months after buying it!
Everyone in their right mind would realise that these kind of rumors are just plain stupid and they shouldn't be even published. Nokia spend huge amount of money to Symbian, Symbian Foundation is bigger than for an example Open Handset Alliance, Symbian has clear roadmap, Qt is important part of that roadmap, they are just bringing Ovi services to all incoming phones, etc. and still some idiots think that Nokia is dropping Symbian.
FAIL with capital letters.
And that doesn't mean that they cannot bring Maemo to high-end devices (at least to part of them) like they're doing with RX-51 (and perhaps RX-71). Anyway the whole dropping Symbian is total nonsense. Nokia has already said it like hundred times that Symbian will be important part of Nokia devices in future. And anyone in their right mind can see it in everything they have done during couple last years.
Thank you for bringing some sanity in this conversation. You couldn't have said it better. I don't understand how the whole techblogosphere keeps fueling these rumors, it's like a mass hypnosis or something.
Good comment.
But I hope these incessant and stupid rumors will fire up Nokia so much so that they'll redouble their effort in updating Symbian into a freaking awesome OS to shut these bullying rumor-mongers up for good.
Dear Engadget,
Please hire a journalist who has a clue about Nokia and let the rest of your writers concentrate on the latest iPhone rumours. The current quality of reporting is appalling.
Love,
Your Readers
That should read:
"Love,
Just Aaron and the rest of the stupid Nokia fanboys."
At least Aaron is not so stupid that he would first blog how Nokia and Microsoft are bringing Office to Nokia devices (== Symbian) and then blog how Nokia is dropping Symbian.
You're right, iPoop. Calling Engadget out for reporting on something that's already been debunked is pure fanboyism.
@iLoveApple
Another Apple lover that doesn't possess the technical ability to use a phone that doesn't have big shiny icons. Who cares if you can get any work done with the stupid thing. It annoys me that somehow people believe Nokia gives a shit about the Iphone or it's users. Nokia sells more phones in a week then Apple sells in a month. The reason is many people find capacitive screens worthless, myself included. They do not allow the use of more precise input devices then your finger. Great when your playing stupid touch screen games, not so great when you need to draw out an equation or a character from a language like Japanese.
My Iphone is a media player with a phone, I use it to watch movies at work. My s60 device is used for getting work done, traveling internationally, and tethering without unlocking/jail breaking nonsense. Guess which one I could happily live without?
In short, save it. The people who like S60 and like Nokia's use of established technology which we can develop infrastructure upon are worth a whole lot more money then the "I maxed out my credit card to buy an Iphone cause my friends have one" crowd.
Business needs > Consumers, Nokia = Business Phone company 1st, consumer appeal 2nd.
Apple = Consumer phone kings, Business phone never... most companies with ATT large scale deployments forbid Iphones on their network because of added fee's ATT levies against them for their magic phone, It's why I stopped using mine.
Nokia is completely lost. This company has no vision.
That has been my concern as well, even though the ditching of Symbian has been proved to be an founded rumor.
Years ago, when they introduced the E and N series, things seemed to clear up a bit. They had a clear business and a consumer lineup, a rather new and modern OS & interface (S60), the economy was booming, and on top of that, the current mobile trends were giving Nokia a convenient tailwind.
How things have changed.
For the past two years they've stagnated in crossroads, unable to make up their minds, almost as if they were unwilling to, and the intersections just keep adding up. Were they hoping the direction of the smartphone business would suddenly reverse, or were they just blind?
If they just stopped reaching in every goddamn direction and for once concentrated on a longterm philosophy, like they apparently did during the early days of the E and N series, they would be in a much healthier position.
The current way of handling things is possible only because they are still making money and they are financially pretty safe and sound, but unless things change, they can't afford to play this senseless game for much longer. This is exactly where you end up with poor and ignorant management. What a pity.
Come on engadget writers, can you please stop travelling the internet far and wide trying to find something bad to say about Symbian?
nokia needs to get rid of their s60 os, its painfully slow, s40 is perfect for low end/mid range phones, they SHOULD just move over to maemo or android.
Like some posters above said ,
Nokia is not replacing Symbian , it is compartmentalising it. Maemo will be for top-end internet oriented devices while S60 will be for mid - low range devices....
People that post about "S60 OS" make it immediately apparent that they have no idea what they're talking about.
@suomaa
Are you just naturally rude or do you have to work at it?
Rumor? It's a confirmed truth for some months, now.
Worth noting that Symbian will just leave the top-tier segment. Nokia will keep Symbian for mid and low-end phones. Until Symbian^4, at least.
This is fantastic news! I have always been a fan of Nokia phones, ever since my first Nokia 5160 back in high school. I did get the E51 and loved it, but when I was considering finally getting a QWERTY phone, the E71 was the logical choice. However, when I realised it was the same bloody phone minus the form factor, I decided to get the BlackBerry instead.
While there are a few things I miss from my Nokia, but the BlackBerry cons outweigh a lot of the Nokia pros! One thing I loved on my older Motorola phones and now my BB, is the voice dialling. The program that Nokia used was complete rubbish. Not only did it work horribly, it didn't even verify names, it just dialled it.
That all being said, if Nokia makes several changes, including tossing out Symbian, I very well may go back to Nokia. I often find that is the case. I start off with Nokia, then I made the mistake of having a few Motorolas then go back to Nokia for a few more models, then now I get a BlackBerry, and most likely will keep this for some time, but then I may go back to Nokia once again.
All I have to say is, I will not get an iPhone. While I do have the iPod Touch, and think it is fantastic, I hate using it for email which is why I got a BlackBerry to begin with.
Nokia makes more and more phones but it is using the same base OS and hasn't changed in years.
I hope Maemo does come out, even though I don't know anything about it, I think any change at this point is for the good.
As a side, why whenever you guys post links in a foreign language, you insist on using Google Translate? Can you please give the original link AND the translated for those that need it. I ask, because my company blocks any website that redirects itself like how Google Translate does, websites that are IP address based (don't blame me, blame the IT managers)
"Can you please give the original link AND the translated for those that need it."
The origin is right there in the Google translator's URL. It shouldn't be that hard for you to copy and paste it from there...?
"Now, according to rumors from the (still pink) German Financial Times"
It's still pink in the UK the country it's from......
Basically,
Nokia has no idea what they WANT to do.
Maemo, Android, Windows, Symbian, Qt, Orbit, Intel UI kit, Brew, Java, S60....
They are the new Motorola, they have their hands in everything...of course except OSX and Apple stuff.
They should focus on Maemo and Android. Symbian is polishing a turd, Qt is *too bloated* and Java is so '90's.. Sure they paid good $$$ for those items, but that's the cost of NOT doing R&D.
Did you care to read the article and the comments?
Nokia knows exactly what they want:
- Maemo to face off against iPhone and Android;
- S60 for everything else - what will be incredible: even the former dumbphones will be smartphones to some extent.
If Maemo 5 is hot enough, Nokia will be in a great position in both high and middle-end markets.
It CAN change in the future with Symbian^4 released - what will take at least 2 years, so it's not relevant right now.
"Maemo, Android, Windows, Symbian, Qt, Orbit, Intel UI kit, Brew, Java, S60...."
Android? Windows? Brew? Where are you getting your information from?
"Qt is *too bloated*"
Care to explain how it's too bloated? Have you used Qt on Maemo/Symbian? None of the desktop Qt apps I've used are slow.
Don't forget Symbian^3. It may not be as revolutionary as Symbian^4, but nevertheless it is supposed to have a lot of features that should appeal to the mainstream. HD video recording, hardware-accelerated content in UI and overall improved graphics performance, HDMI output etc. Though many of those new features can be custom made to the current generation and it will still be a year before the Symbian^3 devices see daylight.
I've used Maemo on a Nokia N800, Symbian on the N97, and I've used Android on a HTC Magic. I think the hugest downfall for Nokia will be user interface consistency and usability - I know a couple of people who've already ditched the N97 because of the crumby interface.
If you expect to turn heads you need to keep up with the interface with the likes of IPhone, and Android.
eww, bad photoshopping... check out the misalinged bottom edges :-(
It's a visual aid to help identify the story, it isn't intended to trick you into thinking it's a real press shot. If he had spent more than three minutes perfecting the image it would have been a waste of time.
Bummer it isn't true, having used both platforms all I can say is that replacing Symbian with Maemo is probably the most intelligent thing that Nokia could possibly do right now to stay relevant.
It's quite aparent very few people know what they are talking about when they talk about OS.
It's quite aparent that when people here talk abotu OS, they are speaking about OS and UI being the same thing. You guys are bagging on the symbian OS but have no idea what you are talking about when trying to compare it with "more modern OS/UI". Those "more modern" OS you guys speak of are written specifically for 2hand touch screen devices. One of the biggest reasons Nokia released so few touch devices is because their OS and UI was designed specifically for 1handed use; which, btw, is much more practical and more functional for a MOBILE DEVICE.
Nokia isn't going to phase out Symbian because the base OS is solid, established and works well for the intended devices that it was designed for; single hand, button operated mobile devices. Nokia's future efforts in UI will primarily focus on 2hand-use touchscreen devices while their other 1 billion mobile phones shipped per year will house Symbian + S60 variant OS.
Having used other mobile OS over the years, it's been my experience that Nokia's OS/UI is the clear winner in the mobile phone as a mobile device category. 2hand touch devices are a separate thing altogether and a separate market. The only thing Nokia lacks atm is system designed specifically for 2 handed use; which is still a small market compared to the far more usable and far more practical 1handed-use devices.
People seem to be extremely confused over this.
I'd love for this to be true, but I'll believe it when I see it.
nice blog , Nokia is one of the trusted brands in mobile and he launches best technology always so it is the best.
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Alexander cruz