An article on The Register looks at another article from The Economist which concludes that fear of Microsoft has given Symbian victory in the Smartphone market. Despite its obvious superiority, many (including me) are still of the opinion that it's too early to call the shots, but some very interesting points are made;

[quote="The register"]
Series 60 was developed from the ground up for a small platform (from the original Psion OS). However not all of the Symbian partnership are using the same Symbian OS SDK. Series 60 is Nokia's own internally modified version. Most of the other licensees, until recently, were modifying or using other versions of Symbian OS SDK. Until the current acceptance of Series 60 as the standard, none of the applications written for one manufacturer's Symbian OS device would operate on another manufacturer's device. Surprising isn't it. So why did Series 60 become the standard? Look at worldwide cellular handset shipments and you know the answer. Nokia is the king.
[/quote]

[quote="Th Register"]
Microsoft's Smartphone 2002 is an oversized OS requiring high computing power, sufficient memory and high resolution screens that all conspire to drastically shorten battery life. Series 60 offers the same functions as 2002 while requiring moderate improvements from a base phone with a slight reduction in battery life. We all know that battery life is the key to portability and utility in a mobile device of any kind.
[/quote]

Read the article here for the full text.