What's good to see in this announcement is the breadth of support for the foundation, from device manufacturers and software houses to service providers and businesses looking to explore the rapidly evolving mobile space. The Foundation is still going through the legal process that any acquisition requires (the first step is for Nokia to purchase Symbian, and this requires negotiation with all partners and a number of regulatory authorities around the world) although this hasn't stopped the vision being on display and discussed at the Smartphone Show.
The Foundation is expected to be running sometime in the first half of 2009, with a full open-sourcing of the platform by June 2010.
"The mobile phone industry is a very dynamic industry that continues to evolve and develop,” said Mats Lindoff, Sony Ericsson Chief Technology Officer, on behalf of the initial board members. “We are happy to see that so many developers and partners in the industry have expressed their support for the plans for the Symbian Foundation, as this will help drive the next level of innovation needed to deliver new user experiences on mobile phones."
The full press release is here.