Unwrapping the Symbian Foundation

[Ewan]

Now the dust is starting to settle on the announcement of the Symbian Foundation, many commentators are looking at the bigger picture now the surprise is over, including ourselves here at All AboutSymbian. Rafe has been looking at the strategic implications of the deal, and why it increases, but does not assure, Symbian of long term success.

Read on in the full article.

[krisse]

I did an editorial about this yesterday for All About N-Gage, it may interest anyone who wants a simple-to-understand background on what Symbian is and what's going to happen to it:

http://www.allaboutngage.com/news/it...fy_Symbian.php

[krisse]

Oh, erm, and... well done Rafe, that's quite an editorial.

Interesting point about Google perhaps not being too worried about Android's fate now, as they're virtually guaranteed that whatever happens the dominant platform will be completely open.

The commoditisation of the OS may go hand in hand with the same thing happening to hardware, in which case the only valuable things left will be content and services, which would explain Nokia's sudden pouring of cash into all things Ovi-related.

[Rafe]

I knew I was mising something from my extra reading list. Seriously though krisse's article is worth reading even if you're not into the N-Gage stuff as it explains things from a more consumer orientated stand point.

and yes the editorial is a bit erm... but then there's a fair bit to consider and this is something of a milestone in Symbian's history.

[viipottaja]

Man.. what a great article!! AAS is the tops.

And man, do I wish I found a secret Nokia strategy document left on a metro seat... It is absolutely fascinating to observe it as a mere end consumer. As a Finn, I of course hope for the best and fear for the worst. I do feel some national pride (although Nokia is hardly Finnish anymore) in Nokia's ability to keep re-inventing itself. Sometimes too late, too slow, but certainly in more agile way than some other big corporations. All the software/services relate acquisitions are slowly but sure falling into their places in the puzzle too.

Finally, wonder how much we have Dr. Jaaksi as an individual to thank for pushing this (risky as it is) strategy through?

My posts are zero compared with yours. Sometime I think it should be better to leave this space. I am not good enough to keep the pace.

This move reflects what has already been going on in the desktop world.

It could be argued that services which enable access to "the cloud" are far more important now than the brand of browser, OS or hardware on which they run, something far more significant in mobile devices where processing power and screen size is still very limited. This parallels Windows' emphasis on Live (tending towards platform agnosticism and ad supported) and Nokia's own development of Ovi.

The real question is whether Google will come to dominate the mobile space in the same way that it has the desktop. Apple is but a bit player in this game, but then it is a game which it doesn't need to win since it appears to have its own niche.

[krisse]

This move reflects what has already been going on in the desktop world.

I think mobile and desktop computers are on a collision course, not just because of mid-size devices like the EEE PC, but also because of things like TV Out on pocket-size devices.

In 20 years time the difference between desktop and mobile computing may no longer exist, there will just be devices that access a single internet.

The real question is whether Google will come to dominate the mobile space in the same way that it has the desktop.

Does Google really dominate the desktop though? Apart from Search and Advertising, they haven't really had any major commercial successes. Those are two VERY big successes of course, but they're not the complete range of services that people require.

I think the "cloud" is a very healthy mixture of different services provided by many different companies, there's plenty of competition and people aren't locked into one provider the way they are with hardware or OSes.

Google is a major player in the on-line advertising space, and in a world where customers are increasingly expecting all services to be "free", advertising is the perhaps the only way of running them and turning a profit.

Of course, Google is not the only one in this arena, Baidu is the other significant player, but Google is the only one with feet planted in the two (convergent) playgrounds of mobile and desktop. Windows Live and Yahoo are also fairly well established but floundering, and Nokia has only recently joined the game.

Google may not offer all the services that people want, but by george, they are still going to try to sell you the advertising on the ones they don't!

This news must completely blow your beginning of year predictions out the water. In a good way.

[Rafe]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This news must completely blow your beginning of year predictions out the water. In a good way.

I knew buying my mystic-seeing-ball second hand was mistake.

Joking aside something was bound to happen, but I've been surprised by the timing (speed) and scope of the news.

In my defence I did mention open source (sort of)... and I... err... um... well isn't the weather nice today?

[Williamoni]

Very thorough analysis. Good work Rafe.