Symbian goes fully open source, it's a free download to all

04 February, 2010
There have been quite a few rumors about the fate of Symbian, but now the OS has entered a new stage of its existence - its code is now open source. This move began in June 2008, when Nokia bought Symbian...

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • PFx
  • 05 Feb 2010

haha, 04 Feb 2010i had a S60 phone,it was a SUCH crap..before that phone i h... moreLoL if Symbian fail why Symbian still leader in WorldWide SMART OS LoL. you don't know how to use Symbian
. WinMo better than Symbian??? you taste very bad. WinMo is totally CRA*P. you jealous because Symbian very success than other SMART OS.

    • P
    • Parvin
    • LxG
    • 05 Feb 2010

    Could someone please clarify or confirm if a device using Symbian^1 can be upgraded to Symbian^3 ???

      • N
      • No problem with 5800
      • 3GQ
      • 05 Feb 2010

      I think it depends what you want to do with the phone...

      - if you are a computer nerd, and you only want a phone you can use to play with, sure... android, winmo are great... as long as you know how to 'get root', and all the other stuff...

      - If you just want a good smartphone, and do not want to have to do lots of complex stuff, just to do what you did with your last phone (hey it Is meant to be better, isnt it???) - its like getting a new car that is faster, more comfy, more fancy stuff... BUT where can plug in your super cdplayer, that worked fine in the last car?? (the radio is totally merged in the dashboard...)
      - oh the tech says, you just have to remove the dashboard, take your GHK-392 adapter you just bought at the shop, plug it into the back of the socket GHD-567, simple really... ??????

        • j
        • jetpach
        • nv9
        • 04 Feb 2010

        this so in line with nokia's alignment roadmap. 1st opensource Maemo, release QT and align symbian then open source symbian to have QT dev to port stuff to symbian. next would be their netbooks and align that to maemo and have a form factor to compete the tablet users market also have it a derived Linux/Maemo/QT/Symbian OS with free software. Its the GNU open source way. this gonna work nokia.

          • h
          • haha
          • p@$
          • 04 Feb 2010

          Anonymous, 04 Feb 2010What's your problem. Look around, everybody is going "... morei had a S60 phone,it was a SUCH crap..before that phone i had a winmo,and it was 10 times better..just please,look at a symbian touchscreen phone?it sucks,right?how long did it took them to make a symbian touchscreen phone?and still,they all have some issuse (i mean the 5800)...
          android is much much more finger friendly that symbian,and fo winmo you have plenty of apps that change your home screen...
          symbian is a fail.

            • d
            • deep space bar
            • kDi
            • 04 Feb 2010

            nokia lvled up

            stats
            int +5
            str +7
            stm +6
            def +9
            spd +2

              • s
              • sujith
              • U2c
              • 04 Feb 2010

              hey can u clarify my doubt .i am using nokia 5530 with symbian^1 now can i upgrade it to this platform if i can how can i do it ...???

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • mI6
                • 04 Feb 2010

                i dont understand what these guys are trying to say.open source???you cannot upgrade from symbian^1 to symbian^3???

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • wHU
                  • 04 Feb 2010

                  Anonymous, 04 Feb 2010so can one using a sonyericsson symbian/based device use pr... moreas long it's symbian...YES YOU CAN!

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • mrI
                    • 04 Feb 2010

                    so can one using a sonyericsson symbian/based device use programmes from nokia website? can one install ovi maps on samsung omnia HD using symbian?

                      • O
                      • Or
                      • RbX
                      • 04 Feb 2010

                      Wow Symbian and Nokia just did a triple backflip over Google. Ovi Maps free (can also use w/o data), Maps Racing map out your town and race with it, now Symbian is open source and free to everyone. We can mod and bring new things to our phones and no company stands in our way. Unlike Google, who gives multitouch to people whenever THEY feel like it. Many android owners have to root and break the warranty to get 2.0 among other things Google won't let them have. Ouch. Lovin that 5800.

                        • J
                        • Julius
                        • Lmt
                        • 04 Feb 2010

                        That's a very good step forward. And I stand corrected: Nokia still can.

                        Symbian is a different entity from Nokia, yes, but it's no secret that they have close ties that go a long way back in time (look at what made S open source in the first place).

                        Nokia is finally understanding (or at least being forced to do so) that they can't put software behind hardware. Now, to remain relevant, they just need to avoid commoditization of phone sets (like the PC industry).

                        I went HTC/Android this year (no N900 to me), but I'm happy about this.

                          • k
                          • knicks
                          • 0Tn
                          • 04 Feb 2010

                          bravo for Nokia! very good business move, in accordiance with modern requirements. competitors have even more difficult task to answer that Nokia's change.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • nbu
                            • 04 Feb 2010

                            Andreas, 04 Feb 2010Why would you be a developer for symbian, then you got Andr... moreAndroid is 100% controlled by Google. While it doesn't matter for some people, others wants FREEDOM - and that's what Maemo/Symbian is offering.

                              • M
                              • Maniatiko
                              • LBj
                              • 04 Feb 2010

                              I was going to ship from Symbian to Android looking for better apps and games(which could exploit better the OS) but now Im staying loyal to Nokia :)

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • w7n
                                • 04 Feb 2010

                                The most mature, most widely used, most capable os now turned to open source

                                do you think it won't maintain it's world wide market share for the next 20 years?

                                Winmo +android market share can't beat symbian last year 2009


                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • PId
                                  • 04 Feb 2010

                                  haha, 04 Feb 2010yeah,but when it comes out,WinMo will be 100x better and An... moreWhat's your problem. Look around, everybody is going "oper source" or communist as per Microsoft's terminology. Microsoft should forget mobile market. Their primary money spinner Windows Desktop OS is being threatened.
                                  Now with Symbian open source it is comparable to Android without a Google hangover. Even though its market share is bound to fall, but costly phones running Windows are something nobody will buy.

                                    • E
                                    • Ex-Symbian Developer
                                    • SwC
                                    • 04 Feb 2010

                                    I wonder if this moves invalidates the 25 year NDA I had to sign to see the source code? Can I finally talk about all the shameful, poorly-written classes?

                                      • n
                                      • nwaokoro victor
                                      • T26
                                      • 04 Feb 2010

                                      thumbs up it's a welcome development..........

                                        • h
                                        • haha
                                        • p@$
                                        • 04 Feb 2010

                                        Anonymous, 04 Feb 2010Nokia did some great things recently! Symbian +nokia go!... moreyeah,but when it comes out,WinMo will be 100x better and Android also.
                                        Dream on!