Symbian initiatives expand choice and opportunity for Symbian OS developers

The Symbian Smartphone Show, London, UK, October 11th 2005 - At The Smartphone Show today, Symbian Limited announced a set of initiatives designed to broaden the accessibility, cost-effectiveness and ease of Symbian OS application development for all types of developer, whether a large team working in enterprise application development or an individual developing freeware products. Symbian OS is the global market-leading smartphone operating system and the development platform of choice for mobile application development. The installed base of Symbian OS phones continues to expand rapidly, having reached almost 40m with more than 14m Symbian OS phones shipping in the first half of 2005.

David Wood, EVP Research, Symbian said : “The Symbian OS phone installed base is growing rapidly, creating massive commercial - and non-commercial - market opportunities for Symbian OS applications developers. Symbian is making it as simple and as cost-effective as possible for developers to take advantage of these opportunities. Symbian recognises that application developers are vital to making sure that truly compelling content, services and applications are available to every Symbian OS phone user. We look forward to helping developers leverage the hugely exciting opportunities that exist around developing for the Symbian OS platform.”

Free Developer Certificates

Symbian has further lowered barriers to entry to Symbian OS development by making Developer Certificates available free to developers of applications designed for Symbian OS v9. A Developer Certificate enables a developer to gain access to functionality on their own handset that Symbian OS v9's enhanced security model would otherwise make inaccessible. With a Developer Certificate, the developer can develop and debug applications for Symbian OS v9 without the need for additional hardware or software.

Free Symbian Signed route to market for freeware and open source

Symbian and Cellmania - in conjunction with Forum Nokia, Sony Ericsson and UIQ Technology AB - are enabling freeware applications to undergo the Symbian Signed process completely free of charge. Symbian has driven this important development of Symbian Signed in recognition of the vital, innovative role that freeware and other forms of collaborative software development play within the Symbian ecosystem. Freeware applications that successfully complete the standard Symbian Signed testing process will install on Symbian OS phones unimpeded by security warnings to the user that the application is unsigned, ensuring the user's confidence in the integrity of the application.

“With almost 40 million Symbian OS handsets shipped to date, freeware and Open Source developers now have one of the biggest audiences ever for their software. Cellmania is delighted to be helping Symbian meet the distribution needs of freeware and Open Source developers. These developers have always been a vital and vibrant source of innovation within the software development ecosystem. Our co-operation with Symbian to have these applications Symbian Signed strengthens our sales and distribution channels, but also gives freeware and Open Source vendors an easy route to market through Cellmania and the recognition they deserve,” said Dr. Ronjon Nag, CEO, Cellmania Inc.

Free Symbian Signed Testing Tools

In addition to today's launch of a free route to market through Symbian Signed for freeware applications, Symbian - in co-operation with SysOpen Digia - expanded its extensive support for small software houses as well as the freeware and Open Source community. Symbian has made available free to all developers an automated testing tool that enables developers to test their products against the Symbian Signed test criteria before submitting their products through the testing process. This will ensure that the rate of applications passing through the testing process at the first attempt will be higher than ever, significantly reducing the time to market and costs for all developers.

Eclipse Foundation Membership

In a separate press release, Symbian announced today that it has joined the Eclipse Foundation in order to contribute its extensive expertise in mobile software development to advance the availability of a range of free Eclipse-based development tools for Symbian OS.

"Due to the tremendous market success of devices using Series 60 and Series 80 platforms, Symbian OS developers are playing an increasingly important role in Nokia's overall product offering," said Lee Epting, vice president, Forum Nokia, Nokia's global developer program. "By working closely with Symbian, we have been able to deliver a completely free development solution that will expand access to Symbian development and encourage innovation from developers who are new to the Symbian platform. These initiatives will help to drive continued demand for smartphones and maintain the market leadership of Symbian OS-based devices."

“UIQ 3 - based on Symbian OS v9 - delivers major enhancements for phone manufacturers, network operators and developers alike. Our continued close co-operation with Symbian and other platform vendors on key initiatives for developers such as Symbian Signed ensures that all types of developer can bring their compelling products to market freely and easily. For the first time our developers can now benefit from entirely free tools and routes to market allowing everyone to benefit from the new opportunities UIQ 3 will bring,” said Johan Sandberg, CEO, UIQ Technology AB.

Developer Accreditation Program

Symbian today also lent its support to the launch of the new Accredited Symbian Developer program. This initiative is designed to create a formal qualification process that provides industry-wide recognition for transferable, benchmarked Symbian OS-related development skills. The Accreditation program's approved core curriculum aims to help align mobile developers and the wider mobile industry around open industry standards and competencies. The initiative reflects Symbian's continuing commitment to meeting needs of the rapidly growing Symbian OS developer community.

About Symbian Signed

Symbian Signed is a testing and certification program for Symbian OS applications and content. Created by Symbian, Symbian Signed is endorsed by major handset manufacturers and Network Operators including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Orange and T-Mobile. The GSM Association recommends its member operators certify third party applications and content and use Symbian Signed specifically for the certification of applications and content for Symbian OS.

Symbian Signed has continued to evolve since its initial roll-out in February 2004, responding to the changing technological and commercial environment as well as in response to feedback from leading developers, network operators, application vendors and handset vendors. Since its launch more than 4,000 Symbian SIS files have been Symbian Signed and the cost of signing a Symbian OS application has fallen by more than 75%.

About Symbian Ltd.

Symbian is a software licensing company that develops and licenses Symbian OS™, the global open industry standard operating system for advanced, data-enabled mobile phones.

Symbian licenses Symbian OS to the world's leading handset manufacturers and has built close co-operative business relationships with leading companies across the mobile industry. In the first half of 2005, more than 14.5 million Symbian OS-based mobile phones were sold worldwide to over 200 network operators, taking the installed base of Symbian OS phones to almost 40 million.

Symbian has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom with offices in the United States, Europe (Cambridge, UK and Ronneby, Sweden (UIQ Technology AB), Israel and Asia (Bangalore, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo).

About Cellmania

Cellmania drives mobile ecosystems for mobile operators, infrastructure providers and content owners. Cellmania's integrated mFinder™ solution provides infrastructure to allow digital rights management of downloaded content onto mobile phones. Cellmania's mFinder™ solution is used as a full end-to-end delivery and ecosystem solution for the world's largest mobile operators. Cellmania also provides the world's largest repository of mobile content consisting of over 135,000 items across 300+ handsets from 100+ countries in 55+ languages. Content owners can provide their wares to Cellmania to distribute across Cellmania mobile operator and other distribution channels with a win-win business model. Founded in 1999, Cellmania is based in Mountain view, California.