Nokia takes Symbian into Open Source

The Palm OS seems to be falling behind, and MS Windows Mobile phones can be pricey, so this is something US buyers should be looking into. Symbian has been widely used in Europe and has active support communities on the Internet.

Nokia to buy Symbian - Yahoo! News: "HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE) will pay $410 million for the remaining shares in UK-based smartphone software maker Symbian and make its software royalty-free to boost phone sales and respond to new rivals such as Google (GOOG.O).

The world's biggest mobile phone maker said on Tuesday it would contribute Symbian's assets to a not-for-profit organization in which it would unite with leading handset makers, operators and chipmakers to create an open-source platform with wide appeal.

Symbian's software is used in two-thirds of smartphones -- handsets with computer-like capabilities -- but new platforms such as Google's Android and Apple's (AAPL.O) iPhone could challenge its dominance.
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The other members of the new Symbian Foundation are Sony Ericsson (6752.T), Motorola (MOT.N), NTT DoCoMo (9437.T), AT&T (T.N), LG Electronics (066570.KS), Samsung (005930.KS), STMicroelectronics (STM.PA), Texas Instruments (TXN.N) and Vodafone (VOD.L).

Nokia will contribute Symbian and its S60 software assets to the not-for-profit foundation, while other members will put in their UIQ and MOAP software to create a new joint Symbian platform in 2009.
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Kai Oistamo, head of Nokia's devices business, told Reuters: "It offers us an opportunity to innovate faster on a bigger, united, more widely accepted platform ... It also enables us to deliver new products, we believe, faster to the market."

Oistamo said he expected the first phones using the open source code to be unveiled shortly after the closing of the transaction, while phones using a completely new platform would reach consumers within the next two years."