Nokia rumored to be kicking Symbian OS to the curb, moving in with Maemo
By Tim Stevens 
posted August 12th 2009 10:07AM
posted August 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]
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