Mobile Computing News

Photo: Symbian

Over 18 months in the making, Nokia’s Symbian OS goes from closed platform to completely open source in what the organisation is calling “The biggest open source migration project ever”. Nokia has watched its operating system’s business, which it co-owned until it completed a buyout in 2008, eroded due to pressure from its closed-platform counterpart iPhone OS and the semi-closed platform Android. As such, Nokia hopes opening the code to the software and powering over 330 million phones will breathe life back into the platform.

What Does Open Source Mean?

The massive Smartphone business has become as much about the software as it is about the hardware. Going open source means the code is now available in its entirety to any organisation or individual to modify as they please, without being limited to just mobile devices.

Why Make This Move?

Photo: Nokia

There are two key reasons Nokia made this move. The first is in the hopes that an open source platform will result in faster development of the platform. The second, albeit speculative, reason is that Nokia is ready to abandon Symbian altogether if it must, in favour of it’s new operating system, Maemo. Opening the source code makes Symbian the collective problem of the entire development community, freeing Nokia to focus on its new operating system without the backlash that would accompany abandoning the most widely distributed Smartphone operating system in the world.

Is It Enough To Save Symbian?

It looks too late to save Symbian if Nokia is not prepared to throw its muscle behind a stable homegrown platform (akin to Ubuntu for Linux) if it were to emerge. And, speaking of Linux and Ubuntu, Symbian seems likely to follow a path similar to that operating system with a niche, yet passionate, audience or, the less attractive alternative, into obscurity.

The monetary incentives for developers to code for Symbian do not exist in the same way they do for the iPhone and the Android, so a rush of amazing apps is unlikely. In addition, the splintering of the market over the years with various handsets with vastly differing capabilities means compatibility of applications that are developed will border on non-existent at the top end. Having said that, though, this is a major victory for all advocates of open source software, as well as a minor loss for Nokia. Credit must be given to the company for being prepared to let go of failed initiatives.