Symbian officially compatible with open-source creativity
by Stevie Smith - Feb 4 2010, 12:22
Would you like some open-source with that? Image: Nokia/Symbian Foundation.
Google’s open-source Android operating system is proving itself to be an increasingly popular option with the mobile phone software development community.
And, eager to channel some of that open-source love, the non-profit Symbian Foundation has this week taken the shackles off its widely used Symbian operating platform – which is largely utilised on devices manufactured by parent company Nokia.
Making good on an initial open-source promise made back in 2008, the foundation has said it is giving away billions of dollars worth of code for free, enabling developers to modify the software’s core source code for a multitude of creative purposes.
Speaking with BBC News, a Symbian Foundation representative said the announcement represents “the largest open-source migration effort ever” and will hopefully lead to an “increased rate of evolution and increase the rate of innovation of the [Symbian] platform.”
Apart from Nokia, existing partners within the Symbian Foundation include industry heavyweights such as AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicro, Texas Instruments and Vodafone.
Those interested in flooding Symbian with their creative juices can do so immediately, because the open-source code became available for download today at 1400 GMT.
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