Nokia delays Symbian^3, investors not impressed
By Tim Stevens 
posted April 22nd 2010 7:51AM
posted April 22nd 2010 7:51AM
posted April 22nd 2010 7:51AM
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Damn, that sucks for Nokia and their customers.
@Kwame Nkrumah
That would be me :(
@Kwame Nkrumah im really impressed, maybe theyll delay it so long it will never come out!
@Kwame Nkrumah
Invested are like engadget readers when a new and impressive OS comes out they'll jumb on it and 'high rank' it.
Nokia dont be distracted be competition, take ur time nd deliver a good product...
@Kwame Nkrumah
I are dissapoint.
@Kwame Nkrumah
I lol'd
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:NOK
@Kwame Nkrumah
(best SNL voice I can muster) Yeah... you know what? Huh-uh! I made the mistake of purchasing a 5800 xpressmusic. I'll never purchase another Nokia device after the firmware fiasco this product turned out to be. Don't even get me started on their Bluetooth stack. You can report software bugs until you are blue in the face, and their repair is to send it in to them. WTF is sending it in going to do other than take my phone away from me for a week and get me another phone with EXACTLY THE SAME ISSUES?
Screw Nokia, and anyone who looks like Nokia.
@merrialolan
LOL weren't you banned before for constantly spamming your website? Do you use Bit.ly to mask your domain, just to goad people to click through? I'll admit: I fell for it and clicked through, so you got my pageview, lmao!
FYI, you linked to an article from February 18th on your site. I thought you were at least posting your reaction to the delay of Symbian^3. I'm guessing you're just looking to pump up the eyeball count on your own old articles.
Does Nokia even know what they're trying to achieve anymore with this OS?
I know it's not really comparable to the NGage debacle, but it seems that they're still in some ways running around aimlessly. Just release the damn thing, and stop goofing about -- especially when it's so close to completion.
@r34p3r
I think Ngage as a brand is dead, but Nokia has continued to foster the tools needed to make it a success. Expect it to reemerge as Ovi Gaming, and have a cross platform component and possibly a set top box tie in.
Is it Friday the 13th already?
@Smart People Play Tuba Not yet, but keep the chainsaw running.
Can someone remind me again....how many OSs is Nokia working on?
I keep seeing articles about Symbian 4, And now I see Symbian 3. What version of Symbian is on all current Nokia phones?
And what the hell is is the purpose of MeeGo if they have Symbian?
@TheLondonExchange
I know right? WHy don't they just slap iPhone OS like everyone else right? AMIRITE??
@n0ne
No I just wanted a simple answer.
Symbian itself is confusing me. Which is why I was trying to get answers.
With Windows Mobile everyone knows its on 6.0 or 6.5 with 7 coming out full this year.
Android is a hot mess of 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, and 2.1
webOS is actually really consistent and doing a good job.
SO all I wanted to know was where nokia was at and the purpose behind MeeGo. No need to be snarky. Unlike you hypocrite I'm not trolling nokia posts complaining to Engadget about how they are biased.
@TheLondonExchange
It's called supporting your old phones. See, you wouldn't understand this. As an Apple fanboy you are used to not having updates on older phones. What Nokia is doing is updating OS' on even the older phone which can't run the newest iteration of the OS. Same with Google phones.
What apple does, it make 1 OS and if you phone is to old to get the newest version, tough. Bugs needs fixing? tough. Buy a new iPhone.
Ok. Let of give you an answer without calling you a fanboy: There's just 3 Nokia supports. S40, a small featurephone layer that has a java emulator; S60 (now called Symbian ^), which supports their higher-end smartphones and touchscreens; and Meego, backed by Intel is mainly for tablets or upcoming large mobile devices.
As for Symbian ^, it's just the name of the OS. The numbers 1, 3, 4 are just their respective releases.
@TheLondonExchange
Currently Nokia has three platforms:
1. S60: Their smartphone platform. It is subdivided into two, S60v3 for non-touchscreen phones like the E series devices (E71, E72), and S60v5 for the touch devices (like 5800, N97, N97mini, X6).
Now they have renamed S60v5 and it is called Symbian^1.
2. S40: This is their dumbphone,or featurephone platform.
3. Maemo: An evolved version of Nokia's Internet Tablet platform. Only device running Maemo, in the market is the N900. This has been highly appreciated for being highly customizable since it has Linux roots. It is the first mobile platform touting Mozilla Firefox Mobile.
Maemo has now been merged with Intel's Moblin, and is called Meego.
Nokia intends to use Meego for its top-end devices, and only one Meego phone is expected this year from Nokia, though there might be other manufacturers bringing Meego smartphones in the market, as it is an open source platform.
@TheLondonExchange
It is still just one smartphone OS. That is Symbian. Symbian^3 hasn't been launched on any products at the moment, so all current Symbian devices coming out are running S^1. S^2 was skipped and merged into S^3. The OS itself has been released to the public, but Nokia is making sure the device layer of drivers and its unique apps for their firmware is hardened. This is what has been delayed, not the OS itself. The OS was released months ago.
Honestly, its no big deal anyway, since the launch of S^3 devices has only been slightly delayed, and only after they were first ahead of schedule. N8 will still be the business, a week or two later or not.
@TheLondonExchange
The good thing about Symbian is all versions are functionally alike, and run the same apps regardless. There are just small UI refinements in the different versions, like multiple home screens for S^3, but the similar functionality of S^1. So from a user standpoint, don't worry about it. It'll just be a redux of S^1 anyway.
Until S^4, there won't be a real need to version watch. Just know if its 3rd Edition its non-touch, and if its 5th Edition/S^x, its touch. That simple. S^4 will be the entirely new UI similar to Maemo.
@n0ne
So Nokia supports every single forever, I mean all their phones get the latest OS updates right. Damn stop with the lies and spreading misinformation.
@Kwame Nkrumah
No, but current devices all have the same features. There is no incompatibility between the versions. Version differences between S^1 and S^3 are mostly cosmetic and UX related.
@TheLondonExchange
Thanks for all the replies. Very informative and I appreciate it....
Nokia was once great, but now they are falling behind. Sure some fanboy is going to yell out 'market share, market share' but Nokia hasn't 'wowed' me in a long time.
If anyone is doing some 'wowing' right now, it's definitely Dell.
@7egend
nokia's resistive touchscreen do tend to be more usable in extreme cold which is probably why they have huge market share in Europe
@7egend
Same here. The only Nokia to perk my interest was the N900 but since it wouldn't fly on the deathstar's 3G network, I had to pass.
@7egend
+1
@7egend
Let's see...Dell... They're using Android, and aside from the Mini5, are doing what everyone else is doing. Nokia is doing much more, only on the OS and framework side. That is done, and now they will be refocusing on the hardware, an aspect they put on the back burner the last few years while reorganizing and implementing their new cross platform strategy.
The fruit of their work won't be evident to neophytes and amateurs until Q1, 2011, when the unified MeeGo/Symbian/Python/Qt and Windows Phone 7/Symbian/Python/Silverlight ecosystems will be realized. Then, you'll see that the OS is moot, since both Nokia OSes are 10-20 year old kernel powered enablers to the same services, functions, and capabilities. It won't matter which OS you're using if its a Nokia device. It'll still run the same apps, except for the rare GTK app on MeeGo.
@dand
the connectivity and VOIP options are so broad, you really don't need full carrier support. I use mine SIM free with a personal WiFi hotspot, and get free calls and SMS with Google Voice and SIP/VOIP. To think you need at&t and their userous tactics is just not totally true if you really want an N900.
@christexaport
But that's not what he said, he said supporting your old phones alluding to the fact that Nokia keeps releasing updates for all their old phones even the ones they've stopped manufacturing.
@christexaport Linux might be 20 years old but it architectural benefits over symbian's kernel. Linux is also constantly improved including for arm devices like Nokia's OMAP-based handsets/tablets.
@7egend
Thats funny cuz I haven't seen a single Dell phone on the market, or read a review. It's all just on paper so far. These phones look hot right now but in Q1 2011 they are gonna be ... meh. Old news.
This is what happens when companies rest on their Laurels because when they get too much power. Nothing new here.
Wow. Judging by the picture Nokia fans really are suffering...
i knew this would happen...Nokia has been fail for the past 2 years, and the total lack of information about their lineup for 2010 thus far has had me suspicious. I guess now I know...sucks to be them...they really have no one to blame but themselves.
I personally think this has more to do with Apple's patent on coverflow.
@DefPoet
Indeed this is what happens when company becomes lazy and only enjoys its large market share. Nokia kinda reminds me of Nvidia...different industry but same problems
NokiaFail!
Symbiam is unfortunately aging.
Complete reworking anytime now?
@gax907
I dont know if you noticed, but Nokia doesn't know the first thing about software.
So..... no.
@gax907
Symbian^3/4 is a complete reworking of the UI and application layer.
@Wesscoast
in case you missed it, Nokia no longer designs Symbian. It is a separate entity developing the OS in the open with many other partners.
@christexaport
'Many other partners' equals...two: Nokia and Sony Ericcson.
The investors probably don't undestand complicated stuff such as operating systems and processors etc.
The reason the stock price went down was because the results failed to meet expectations.
@triplea something tells me the guys investing millions know a thing or two about what they invest in. Just a guess though.
And when will engadget write an article that the iPhone camera flash is due next year on another iPhone variant and how proud was Apple on their multitasking OS in the year of 2010.
No, no. Where is my N8?
I don't really like nokia.they don't have any killer feature in their handset.
@jacobian64
yeah, those are all locked up with iPhone and Android, who copy their features from...Symbian, the benchmark. Full multitasking, great battery and memory management, full access to cross app data, real camera hardware, fast app switching, robust runtime support, Flash in browser as standard since 2007-2008, etc. mean little. Its all about pinch-to-zoom, as far as you know... Yeah, sure.
I kind of surprises me to hear that Nokia is doing so bad. They were the king of phones years back, but like Motorola they rested too long and Apple took over, now HTC is there with Apple. They are going to have to work hard to overcome.