Open Symbian Foundation to be created

OHA rivaling body launched by mobile leaders

24 June 2008 9:23 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DOCOMO have announced that they will unite the Symbian OS, S60, UIQ and MOAP to create one open mobile software platform.

Along with AT&T, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone the plan is to establish the Symbian Foundation with membership of this non-profit Foundation open to all organisations.

In order to enable the Foundation, Nokia has announced plans to acquire the remaining shares of Symbian Limited that it does not already own for around 264 million euros and then contribute the Symbian and S60 software to the Foundation.

Sony Ericsson and Motorola have said they will contribute technology from UIQ while DOCOMO has also indicated it will contribute its MOAP assets.

From all these contributions, the Foundation will provide a "unified platform with common UI framework". A full platform will be available for all Foundation members under a royalty-free license, from the Foundation's first day of operations.

"This is a significant milestone in our software strategy", said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia.

"Symbian is already the leading open platform for mobile devices. Through this acquisition and the establishment of the Symbian Foundation, it will undisputedly be the most attractive platform for mobile innovation. This will drive the development of new and compelling, web-enabled applications to delight a new generation of consumers."