Nokia killed Symbian. Many links to Symbian apps on this site have expired. Check out Android Underground.



Wednesday 2 March 2011

Idea for Nokia: Run Windows on a Symbian phone

Symbian mobile phone operating system
Nokia may move to Windows, but they still expect to sell 150 million more phones running on the dying Symbian. Something just doesn't sound right here.

Would you buy a Symbian phone in the knowledge that even its maker doesn't believe in it anymore? Even if Nokia keeps updating the operating system the stream of updated 3rd party apps will dry up, and don't count on anyone making new Symbian programs in the knowledge that they'll be obsolete tomorrow.

But what if you could buy a Symbian phone, and then install Windows Phone on it when it's ready? PCs can run Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. The iPhone can run Android. And Nokia will tweak Windows to run on hardware that has been tailored for Symbian for many years. So why not offer the buyers of the 150 million Symbian phones that Nokia still expects to sell the option to switch to Windows without having to buy a new phone?

Nokia could ask 3rd party application developers to offer a free switch from a license for Symbian to a license for Windows Phone. Nokia has the power to negotiate such a deal. After all, they hold the keys to the Ovi store.

An emulator that lets you run your old Symbian apps on the new Windows system is another way to ease the transition.

Not that I really care, because I ditched my old Nokia for a new Android phone. So expect to see an Android version of this blog in the near future.

By the way, isn't it a little fishy that Nokia announces to kill Symbian after pocketing millions of tax euros from the European Union which they're supposed to spend on Symbian development? I wonder if I will get my money back.

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