History of Symbian
Encyclopedia
Symbian OS was one of Nokia
's mobile operating system
s for mobile devices and smartphone
s, with associated libraries
, user interface
, frameworks and reference implementations of common tools, originally developed by Symbian Ltd.
It is a descendant of Psion
's EPOC and runs exclusively on ARM
processors
, although an unreleased x86 port existed.
In 2008, the former Symbian Software Limited
was acquired by Nokia
and a new independent non-profit organization called the Symbian Foundation was established. Symbian OS and its associated user interfaces S60
, UIQ
and MOAP(S)
were contributed by their owners to the foundation with the objective of creating the Symbian platform as a royalty-free, open source software. The platform has been designated as the successor to Symbian OS, following the official launch of the Symbian Foundation in April 2009. The Symbian platform was officially made available as open source code in February 2010.
EPOC is a family of graphical
operating system
s developed by Psion for portable devices, primarily PDAs
. EPOC came from epoch
, the beginning of an era, but was backfitted by the engineers to "Electronic Piece Of Cheese".
-family processor and a 16-bit
architecture. EPOC16 was a single-user preemptive multitasking operating system, written in Intel 8086 assembler language and C and designed to be delivered in ROM
. It supported a simple programming language called Open Programming Language
(OPL) and an integrated development environment
(IDE) called OVAL. SIBO devices included the: MC200, MC400, Series 3
(1991–98), Series 3a, Series 3c, Series 3mx, Siena, Workabout and Workabout mx. The MC400 and MC200, the first EPOC16 devices, shipped in 1989.
EPOC16 featured a primarily 1-bit-per-pixel, keyboard-operated graphical interface — the hardware for which it was designed did not have pointer
input.
In the late 1990s, the operating system was referred to as EPOC16 to distinguish it from Psion's then-new EPOC32 OS.
ROM v1.0 in 1997. Later, ROM v1.1 featured Release 3 (Release 2 was never publicly available.) These were followed by the Psion Series 5mx, Revo
/ Revo plus, Psion Series 7 / netBook
and netPad (which all featured Release 5).
The EPOC32 operating system, at the time simply referred to as EPOC, was later renamed Symbian OS. Adding to the confusion with names, before the change to Symbian, EPOC16 was often referred to as SIBO to distinguish it from the "new" EPOC. Despite the similarity of the names, EPOC32 and EPOC16 were completely different operating systems, EPOC32 being written in C++ from a new codebase with development beginning during the mid 1990s.
EPOC32 was a pre-emptive multitasking, single user operating system with memory protection, which encourages the application developer to separate their program into an engine and an interface
. The Psion line of PDAs come with a graphical user interface
called EIKON which is specifically tailored for handheld machines with a keyboard (thus looking perhaps more similar to desktop GUIs than palmtop GUIs ). However, one of EPOC's characteristics is the ease with which new GUIs can be developed based on a core set of GUI classes, a feature which has been widely explored from Ericsson R380
and onwards.
EPOC32 was originally developed for the ARM family of processors, including the ARM7, ARM9, StrongARM
and Intel's XScale
, but can be compiled towards target devices using several other processor types.
During the development of EPOC32, Psion planned to license EPOC to third-party device manufacturers, and spin off its software division as Psion Software. One of the first licensees was the short-lived Geofox, which halted production with less than 1,000 units sold. Ericsson
marketed a rebranded Psion Series 5mx called the MC218, and later created the EPOC Release 5.1 based smartphone
, the R380. Oregon Scientific
also released a budget EPOC device, the Osaris
(notable as the only EPOC device to ship with Release 4).
In June 1998, Psion Software became Symbian Ltd.
, a major joint venture between Psion and phone manufacturers Ericsson
, Motorola
, and Nokia
. As of Release 6, EPOC became known simply as Symbian OS.
The Series 5
device, released in June 1997, used the first iterations of the EPOC32 OS, codenamed "Protea", and the "Eikon" graphical user interface.
The Oregon Scientific Osaris
was the only PDA to use the ER4.
The Psion Series 5mx
, Psion Series 7, Psion Revo
, Diamond Mako, Psion netBook
and Ericsson MC218 were released in 1999 using ER5. A phone project was announced at CeBIT
, the Phillips Illium/Accent, but did not achieve a commercial release. This release has been retrospectively dubbed Symbian OS 5.
The first phone using ER5u, the Ericsson R380
was released in November 2000. It was not an 'open' phone – software could not be installed. Notably, a number of never-released Psion prototypes for next generation PDAs, including a Bluetooth Revo successor codenamed "Conan" were using ER5u. The 'u' in the name refers to the fact that it supported Unicode
.
s. This release is sometimes called ER6. Psion gave 130 key staff to the new company and retained a 31% shareholding in the spin-off.
The first 'open' Symbian OS phone, the Nokia 9210
Communicator, was released in June 2001. Bluetooth
support was added. Almost 500,000 Symbian phones were shipped in 2001, rising to 2.1 million the following year.
Development of different UIs was made generic with a "reference design strategy" for either 'smartphone' or 'communicator' devices, subdivided further into keyboard- or tablet-based designs. Two reference UIs (DFRDs or Device Family Reference Designs) were shipped – Quartz and Crystal. The former was merged with Ericsson's 'Ronneby' design and became the basis for the UIQ
interface; the latter reached the market as the Nokia Series 80 UI.
Later DFRDs were Sapphire, Ruby, and Emerald. Only Sapphire came to market, evolving into the Pearl DFRD and finally the Nokia Series 60 UI, a keypad-based 'square' UI for the first true smartphones. The first one of them was the Nokia 7650
smartphone (featuring Symbian OS 6.1), which was also the first with a built-in camera, with VGA (0.3 Mpx = 640×480) resolution.
Despite these efforts to be generic, the UI was clearly split between competing companies: Crystal or Sapphire was Nokia, Quartz was Ericsson. DFRD was abandoned by Symbian in late 2002, as part of an active retreat from UI development in favour of 'headless' delivery. Pearl was given to Nokia, Quartz development was spun off as UIQ Technology AB, and work with Japanese firms was quickly folded into the MOAP
standard.
(Sony Ericsson P800, P900, P910, Motorola A925, A1000), Series 80 (Nokia 9300, 9500), Series 90 (Nokia 7710), Series 60 (Nokia 3230, 6260, 6600, 6670, 7610) as well as several FOMA
phones in Japan and Siemens SX1(VGA Camera, MMC card, Bluetooth, Infraport, radio) - the first and the last symbian phone from Siemens. It also added EDGE
support and IPv6
. Java support was changed from pJava and JavaPhone to one based on the Java ME standard.
One million Symbian phones were shipped in Q1 2003, with the rate increasing to one million a month by the end of 2003.
Symbian OS 7.0s was a version of 7.0 special adapted to have greater backward compatibility
with Symbian OS 6.x, partly for compatibility between the Communicator 9500 and its predecessor the Communicator 9210.
In 2004, Psion sold its stake in Symbian. The same year, the first worm
for mobile phones using Symbian OS, Cabir
, was developed, which used Bluetooth
to spread itself to nearby phones. See Cabir
and Symbian OS threats.
or EKA2). However, the EKA2 kernel version did not ship until Symbian OS 8.1b. The kernels behave more or less identically from user-side, but are internally very different. EKA1 was chosen by some manufacturers to maintain compatibility with old device drivers, while EKA2 was a real-time kernel
. 8.0b was deproductised in 2003.
Also included were new APIs to support CDMA, 3G
, two-way data streaming, DVB-H
, and OpenGL
ES with vector graphic
s and direct screen access.
The first and maybe the most famous smartphone featuring Symbian OS 8.1a was Nokia N90
in 2005, Nokia
's first in Nseries.
Symbian OS has generally maintained reasonable binary code compatibility. In theory the OS was BC from ER1-ER5, then from 6.0 to 8.1b. Substantial changes were needed for 9.0, related to tools and security, but this should be a one-off event. The move from requiring ARMv4 to requiring ARMv5 did not break backwards compatibility.
3rd Edition phones have Symbian OS 9.1. Sony Ericsson is shipping the M600
and P990
based on Symbian OS 9.1. The earlier versions had a defect where the phone hangs temporarily after the owner sent a large number of SMS'es. However, on 13 September 2006, Nokia released a small program to fix this defect. Support for Bluetooth
2.0 was also added.
Symbian 9.1 introduced capabilities and a Platform Security framework. To access certain APIs, developers have to sign their application with a digital signature
. Basic capabilities are user-grantable and developers can self-sign
them, while more advanced capabilities require certification and signing via the Symbian Signed program, which uses independent 'test houses' and phone manufacturers for approval. For example, file writing is a user-grantable capability while access to Multimedia Device Drivers require phone manufacturer approval. A TC TrustCenter ACS Publisher ID certificate
is required by the developer for signing applications.
1.2 (was 1.1.2). Vietnamese language support. S60
3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 phones have Symbian OS 9.2.
Nokia phones with Symbian OS 9.2 OS include the Nokia E71
, Nokia E90, Nokia N95
, Nokia N82
, Nokia N81
and Nokia 5700
.
, Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
, Nokia N79
, Nokia N96
, Nokia E52
, Nokia E75
, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
, Sony Ericsson P1
and others feature Symbian OS 9.3.
support is provided by SQLite
. Ships with the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
, Nokia N97
, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, Nokia 5228, Nokia 5230, Nokia 5233, Nokia 5235, Nokia C6-00, Nokia X6
, Sony Ericsson Satio, Sony Ericsson Vivaz
and Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro.
Used as the basis for Symbian^1, the first Symbian platform release.
The release is also better known as S60 5th edition, as it is the bundled interface for the OS.
announced v9.5 which includes native support for mobile digital television
broadcasts in DVB-H
and ISDB-T formats and also location services.
, under the OSI
- and FSF
-approved Eclipse Public License (EPL)
. The release of the Symbian platform deprecated Symbian OS as a standalone product.
Symbian Ltd.
was purchased by Nokia in December 2008, transitioning principal OS and user interface development to Nokia.
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
's mobile operating system
Mobile operating system
A mobile operating system, also known as a mobile OS, mobile software platform or a handheld operating system, is the operating system that controls a mobile device or information appliance—similar in principle to an operating system such as Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux distributions that controls a...
s for mobile devices and smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s, with associated libraries
Library (computer science)
In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
, user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
, frameworks and reference implementations of common tools, originally developed by Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing company, known for the Symbian OS, a smartphone operating system, and other related technologies...
It is a descendant of Psion
Psion PLC
Psion is a designer and manufacturer of rugged mobile handheld computers for commercial and industrial applications. The company is headquartered in London, England with major operations in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and additional company offices in Europe, the United States, Asia, Latin...
's EPOC and runs exclusively on ARM
ARM architecture
ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...
processors
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
, although an unreleased x86 port existed.
In 2008, the former Symbian Software Limited
Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing company, known for the Symbian OS, a smartphone operating system, and other related technologies...
was acquired by Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
and a new independent non-profit organization called the Symbian Foundation was established. Symbian OS and its associated user interfaces S60
S60 (software platform)
The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
, UIQ
UIQ
UIQ by UIQ Technology is a software platform based upon Symbian OS. Essentially this is a graphical user interface layer that provides additional components to the core OS, to enable the development of feature-rich mobile phones that are open to expanded capabilities through third-party...
and MOAP(S)
MOAP
MOAP is the software platform for NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service for mobile phones. -Versions:There are two versions of MOAP:...
were contributed by their owners to the foundation with the objective of creating the Symbian platform as a royalty-free, open source software. The platform has been designated as the successor to Symbian OS, following the official launch of the Symbian Foundation in April 2009. The Symbian platform was officially made available as open source code in February 2010.
EPOC
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s developed by Psion for portable devices, primarily PDAs
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
. EPOC came from epoch
Epoch (reference date)
In the fields of chronology and periodization, an epoch is an instance in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. The "epoch" then serves as a reference point from which time is measured...
, the beginning of an era, but was backfitted by the engineers to "Electronic Piece Of Cheese".
EPOC16
EPOC16, originally simply named EPOC, was the operating system developed by Psion in the late 1980s and early 1990s for Psion's "SIBO" (SIxteen Bit Organisers) devices. All EPOC16 devices featured an 8086Intel 8086
The 8086 is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and mid-1978, when it was released. The 8086 gave rise to the x86 architecture of Intel's future processors...
-family processor and a 16-bit
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
architecture. EPOC16 was a single-user preemptive multitasking operating system, written in Intel 8086 assembler language and C and designed to be delivered in ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
. It supported a simple programming language called Open Programming Language
Open programming language
The Open Programming Language is an embedded programming language for portable devices that run the Symbian Operating System, which can be found on e.g. the Nokia 9200, 9300 and 9500 Communicator series mobile telephone/personal digital assistant and the Sony Ericsson P800, P900, P910 series...
(OPL) and an integrated development environment
Integrated development environment
An integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
(IDE) called OVAL. SIBO devices included the: MC200, MC400, Series 3
Psion 3
The Psion Series 3 range of personal digital assistants were made by Psion PLC. The four main variants are the Psion Series 3 , the Psion Series 3a , the Psion Series 3c , and the Psion Series 3mx , all sized 165 × 85 × 22 mm...
(1991–98), Series 3a, Series 3c, Series 3mx, Siena, Workabout and Workabout mx. The MC400 and MC200, the first EPOC16 devices, shipped in 1989.
EPOC16 featured a primarily 1-bit-per-pixel, keyboard-operated graphical interface — the hardware for which it was designed did not have pointer
Pointing device
A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...
input.
In the late 1990s, the operating system was referred to as EPOC16 to distinguish it from Psion's then-new EPOC32 OS.
EPOC32
The first version of EPOC32, Release 1 appeared on the Psion Series 5Psion 5
The Psion Series 5 was a PDA from Psion. It came in two main variants, the Series 5 and the Series 5mx , the latter having a faster processor, clearer screen, and updated software. There was also a rare Series 5mx Pro, which differed only in having the operating system loaded into RAM and hence...
ROM v1.0 in 1997. Later, ROM v1.1 featured Release 3 (Release 2 was never publicly available.) These were followed by the Psion Series 5mx, Revo
Psion Revo
The Psion Revo, launched in 1997, is a PDA from Psion. It is the successor to the Psion Series 3 and a light version of Psion 5mx. It is software-compatible with the 5mx and has the same processor but is more lightweight , and substantially smaller...
/ Revo plus, Psion Series 7 / netBook
Psion Netbook
The Psion netBook is a small subnotebook type computer developed by Psion. Released in 1999, it was aimed at the mobile enterprise market.-Description:...
and netPad (which all featured Release 5).
The EPOC32 operating system, at the time simply referred to as EPOC, was later renamed Symbian OS. Adding to the confusion with names, before the change to Symbian, EPOC16 was often referred to as SIBO to distinguish it from the "new" EPOC. Despite the similarity of the names, EPOC32 and EPOC16 were completely different operating systems, EPOC32 being written in C++ from a new codebase with development beginning during the mid 1990s.
EPOC32 was a pre-emptive multitasking, single user operating system with memory protection, which encourages the application developer to separate their program into an engine and an interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
. The Psion line of PDAs come with a graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
called EIKON which is specifically tailored for handheld machines with a keyboard (thus looking perhaps more similar to desktop GUIs than palmtop GUIs ). However, one of EPOC's characteristics is the ease with which new GUIs can be developed based on a core set of GUI classes, a feature which has been widely explored from Ericsson R380
Ericsson R380
The Ericsson R380 Smartphone was a GSM mobile phone made by Ericsson, released in 2000. It combined the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant . It was the first device marketed as a 'smartphone'. In December 1999 the magazine Popular Science appointed the Ericsson R380...
and onwards.
EPOC32 was originally developed for the ARM family of processors, including the ARM7, ARM9, StrongARM
StrongARM
The StrongARM is a family of microprocessors that implemented the ARM V4 instruction set architecture . It was developed by Digital Equipment Corporation and later sold to Intel, who continued to manufacture it before replacing it with the XScale....
and Intel's XScale
XScale
The XScale, a microprocessor core, is Intel's and Marvell's implementation of the ARMv5 architecture, and consists of several distinct families: IXP, IXC, IOP, PXA and CE . Intel sold the PXA family to Marvell Technology Group in June 2006....
, but can be compiled towards target devices using several other processor types.
During the development of EPOC32, Psion planned to license EPOC to third-party device manufacturers, and spin off its software division as Psion Software. One of the first licensees was the short-lived Geofox, which halted production with less than 1,000 units sold. Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
marketed a rebranded Psion Series 5mx called the MC218, and later created the EPOC Release 5.1 based smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
, the R380. Oregon Scientific
Oregon Scientific
Oregon Scientific, Inc. is a manufacturer of electronic products including radio-referenced clocks, home weather stations, public alert monitors, youth learning aids, and fitness devices. The firm was started in 1989 in Portland, Oregon, United States...
also released a budget EPOC device, the Osaris
Osaris
Osaris is a personal digital assistant featuring the EPOC operating system distributed by Oregon Scientific.The Osaris was released in 1999, and at the time priced at £219.99–£279.99. The Osaris contains an 18.432 MHz CL-PS7111 processor and is powered by two AA size batteries or external...
(notable as the only EPOC device to ship with Release 4).
In June 1998, Psion Software became Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing company, known for the Symbian OS, a smartphone operating system, and other related technologies...
, a major joint venture between Psion and phone manufacturers Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
, and Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
. As of Release 6, EPOC became known simply as Symbian OS.
EPOC OS Releases 1–5
Work started on the 32-bit version in late 1994.The Series 5
Psion 5
The Psion Series 5 was a PDA from Psion. It came in two main variants, the Series 5 and the Series 5mx , the latter having a faster processor, clearer screen, and updated software. There was also a rare Series 5mx Pro, which differed only in having the operating system loaded into RAM and hence...
device, released in June 1997, used the first iterations of the EPOC32 OS, codenamed "Protea", and the "Eikon" graphical user interface.
The Oregon Scientific Osaris
Osaris
Osaris is a personal digital assistant featuring the EPOC operating system distributed by Oregon Scientific.The Osaris was released in 1999, and at the time priced at £219.99–£279.99. The Osaris contains an 18.432 MHz CL-PS7111 processor and is powered by two AA size batteries or external...
was the only PDA to use the ER4.
The Psion Series 5mx
Psion 5
The Psion Series 5 was a PDA from Psion. It came in two main variants, the Series 5 and the Series 5mx , the latter having a faster processor, clearer screen, and updated software. There was also a rare Series 5mx Pro, which differed only in having the operating system loaded into RAM and hence...
, Psion Series 7, Psion Revo
Psion Revo
The Psion Revo, launched in 1997, is a PDA from Psion. It is the successor to the Psion Series 3 and a light version of Psion 5mx. It is software-compatible with the 5mx and has the same processor but is more lightweight , and substantially smaller...
, Diamond Mako, Psion netBook
Psion Netbook
The Psion netBook is a small subnotebook type computer developed by Psion. Released in 1999, it was aimed at the mobile enterprise market.-Description:...
and Ericsson MC218 were released in 1999 using ER5. A phone project was announced at CeBIT
CeBIT
CeBIT is the world's largest and most international computer expo. CeBIT is held each year on the world's largest fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology...
, the Phillips Illium/Accent, but did not achieve a commercial release. This release has been retrospectively dubbed Symbian OS 5.
The first phone using ER5u, the Ericsson R380
Ericsson R380
The Ericsson R380 Smartphone was a GSM mobile phone made by Ericsson, released in 2000. It combined the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant . It was the first device marketed as a 'smartphone'. In December 1999 the magazine Popular Science appointed the Ericsson R380...
was released in November 2000. It was not an 'open' phone – software could not be installed. Notably, a number of never-released Psion prototypes for next generation PDAs, including a Bluetooth Revo successor codenamed "Conan" were using ER5u. The 'u' in the name refers to the fact that it supported Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
.
Symbian OS 6.0 and 6.1
The OS was renamed Symbian OS and was envisioned as the base for a new range of smartphoneSmartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s. This release is sometimes called ER6. Psion gave 130 key staff to the new company and retained a 31% shareholding in the spin-off.
The first 'open' Symbian OS phone, the Nokia 9210
Nokia 9210
The Nokia 9210 Communicator is a third generation Communicator series smartphone produced by Nokia, introduced November 21, 2000 . It greatly improved on the second generation Nokia 9110 Communicator, providing colour main screen, changing to Symbian OS platform and ARM processor...
Communicator, was released in June 2001. Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
support was added. Almost 500,000 Symbian phones were shipped in 2001, rising to 2.1 million the following year.
Development of different UIs was made generic with a "reference design strategy" for either 'smartphone' or 'communicator' devices, subdivided further into keyboard- or tablet-based designs. Two reference UIs (DFRDs or Device Family Reference Designs) were shipped – Quartz and Crystal. The former was merged with Ericsson's 'Ronneby' design and became the basis for the UIQ
UIQ
UIQ by UIQ Technology is a software platform based upon Symbian OS. Essentially this is a graphical user interface layer that provides additional components to the core OS, to enable the development of feature-rich mobile phones that are open to expanded capabilities through third-party...
interface; the latter reached the market as the Nokia Series 80 UI.
Later DFRDs were Sapphire, Ruby, and Emerald. Only Sapphire came to market, evolving into the Pearl DFRD and finally the Nokia Series 60 UI, a keypad-based 'square' UI for the first true smartphones. The first one of them was the Nokia 7650
Nokia 7650
The Nokia 7650 is a smartphone belonging to the fashion and experimental series. The phone was released on the second quarter of 2002 for around 600€. It was notable for a number of firsts: first Nokia smartphone with the Symbian OS ; first Series 60 ) platform device; first Nokia with built-in...
smartphone (featuring Symbian OS 6.1), which was also the first with a built-in camera, with VGA (0.3 Mpx = 640×480) resolution.
Despite these efforts to be generic, the UI was clearly split between competing companies: Crystal or Sapphire was Nokia, Quartz was Ericsson. DFRD was abandoned by Symbian in late 2002, as part of an active retreat from UI development in favour of 'headless' delivery. Pearl was given to Nokia, Quartz development was spun off as UIQ Technology AB, and work with Japanese firms was quickly folded into the MOAP
MOAP
MOAP is the software platform for NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service for mobile phones. -Versions:There are two versions of MOAP:...
standard.
Symbian OS 7.0 and 7.0s
First shipped in 2003. This is an important Symbian release which appeared with all contemporary user interfaces including UIQUIQ
UIQ by UIQ Technology is a software platform based upon Symbian OS. Essentially this is a graphical user interface layer that provides additional components to the core OS, to enable the development of feature-rich mobile phones that are open to expanded capabilities through third-party...
(Sony Ericsson P800, P900, P910, Motorola A925, A1000), Series 80 (Nokia 9300, 9500), Series 90 (Nokia 7710), Series 60 (Nokia 3230, 6260, 6600, 6670, 7610) as well as several FOMA
Foma
Foma may refer to:* FOMA , a Japanese mobile telecommunications service* Sergei Fomenko, nicknamed "Foma", Ukrainian musician...
phones in Japan and Siemens SX1(VGA Camera, MMC card, Bluetooth, Infraport, radio) - the first and the last symbian phone from Siemens. It also added EDGE
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM...
support and IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
. Java support was changed from pJava and JavaPhone to one based on the Java ME standard.
One million Symbian phones were shipped in Q1 2003, with the rate increasing to one million a month by the end of 2003.
Symbian OS 7.0s was a version of 7.0 special adapted to have greater backward compatibility
Backward compatibility
In the context of telecommunications and computing, a device or technology is said to be backward or downward compatible if it can work with input generated by an older device...
with Symbian OS 6.x, partly for compatibility between the Communicator 9500 and its predecessor the Communicator 9210.
In 2004, Psion sold its stake in Symbian. The same year, the first worm
Computer worm
A computer worm is a self-replicating malware computer program, which uses a computer network to send copies of itself to other nodes and it may do so without any user intervention. This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach...
for mobile phones using Symbian OS, Cabir
Caribe (computer worm)
Cabir is the name of a computer worm developed in 2004 that is designed to infect mobile phones running Symbian OS. It is believed to be the first computer worm that can infect mobile phones...
, was developed, which used Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
to spread itself to nearby phones. See Cabir
Caribe (computer worm)
Cabir is the name of a computer worm developed in 2004 that is designed to infect mobile phones running Symbian OS. It is believed to be the first computer worm that can infect mobile phones...
and Symbian OS threats.
Symbian OS 8.0
First shipped in 2004, one of its advantages would have been a choice of two different kernels (EKA1EKA1
EKA1 is the first-generation kernel for Symbian OS. It offers pre-emptive multitasking and memory protection, but no real-time guarantees and a single-threaded device driver model. It has now largely been superseded by EKA2....
or EKA2). However, the EKA2 kernel version did not ship until Symbian OS 8.1b. The kernels behave more or less identically from user-side, but are internally very different. EKA1 was chosen by some manufacturers to maintain compatibility with old device drivers, while EKA2 was a real-time kernel
Real-time operating system
A real-time operating system is an operating system intended to serve real-time application requests.A key characteristic of a RTOS is the level of its consistency concerning the amount of time it takes to accept and complete an application's task; the variability is jitter...
. 8.0b was deproductised in 2003.
Also included were new APIs to support CDMA, 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
, two-way data streaming, DVB-H
DVB-H
DVB-H is one of three prevalent mobile TV formats. It is a technical specification for bringing broadcast services to mobile handsets. DVB-H was formally adopted as ETSI standard EN 302 304 in November 2004. The DVB-H specification can be downloaded from the official DVB-H website...
, and OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
ES with vector graphic
Vector graphic
Vector graphic may refer to:*Vector Graphic, a computer company*Vector graphics, a form of computer graphics*Vektor Grafix, UK based computer game development company...
s and direct screen access.
Symbian OS 8.1
An improved version of 8.0, this was available in 8.1a and 8.1b versions, with EKA1 and EKA2 kernels respectively. The 8.1b version, with EKA2's single-chip phone support but no additional security layer, was popular among Japanese phone companies desiring the real-time support but not allowing open application installation.The first and maybe the most famous smartphone featuring Symbian OS 8.1a was Nokia N90
Nokia N90
The Nokia N90 multimedia is a smartphone with two displays and Carl Zeiss optics . It has a 2 megapixel built-in digital camera with autofocus, 20× digital zoom, integrated flash, macro mode and the ability to record high quality video . The phone has no vibration feature...
in 2005, Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
's first in Nseries.
Symbian OS 9
Symbian OS 9.0 was used for internal Symbian purposes only. It was de-productised in 2004. 9.0 marked the end of the road for EKA1. 8.1a is the final EKA1 version of Symbian OS.Symbian OS has generally maintained reasonable binary code compatibility. In theory the OS was BC from ER1-ER5, then from 6.0 to 8.1b. Substantial changes were needed for 9.0, related to tools and security, but this should be a one-off event. The move from requiring ARMv4 to requiring ARMv5 did not break backwards compatibility.
Symbian OS 9.1 and open source development
Released early 2005. It includes many new security related features, including platform security module facilitating mandatory code signing. The new ARM EABI binary model means developers need to retool and the security changes mean they may have to recode. S60 platformS60 platform
The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
3rd Edition phones have Symbian OS 9.1. Sony Ericsson is shipping the M600
Sony Ericsson M600
Sony Ericsson M600 is a 3G smartphone based upon the UIQ 3 platform...
and P990
Sony Ericsson P990
Sony Ericsson P990 is a smartphone and the successor of Sony Ericsson P910. The phone uses the UIQ 3 software platform, which is based upon Symbian OS 9.1. It was released in August 2006. The P990 has a numeric keypad that flips open to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard below the display, on the phone...
based on Symbian OS 9.1. The earlier versions had a defect where the phone hangs temporarily after the owner sent a large number of SMS'es. However, on 13 September 2006, Nokia released a small program to fix this defect. Support for Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
2.0 was also added.
Symbian 9.1 introduced capabilities and a Platform Security framework. To access certain APIs, developers have to sign their application with a digital signature
Digital signature
A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit...
. Basic capabilities are user-grantable and developers can self-sign
Self-signed certificate
In cryptography and computer security, a self-signed certificate is an identity certificate that is signed by its own creator. That is, the person that created the certificate also signed off on its legitimacy....
them, while more advanced capabilities require certification and signing via the Symbian Signed program, which uses independent 'test houses' and phone manufacturers for approval. For example, file writing is a user-grantable capability while access to Multimedia Device Drivers require phone manufacturer approval. A TC TrustCenter ACS Publisher ID certificate
Authorization certificate
In computer security, an attribute certificate is a digital document containing attributes associated to the holder by the issuer. When the associated attributes are mainly used for authorization purpose, AC is called authorization certificate. AC is standardized in X.509...
is required by the developer for signing applications.
Symbian OS 9.2
Released Q1 2006. Support for OMA Device ManagementOMA Device Management
OMA Device Management is a device management protocol specified by the Open Mobile Alliance Device Management Working Group and the Data Synchronization Working Group...
1.2 (was 1.1.2). Vietnamese language support. S60
S60 platform
The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 phones have Symbian OS 9.2.
Nokia phones with Symbian OS 9.2 OS include the Nokia E71
Nokia E71
The Nokia E71 is a smartphone from the Eseries range with a QWERTY keyboard targeting business users worldwide. It runs on Symbian OS v9.2, with a Series 60 3rd Edition, second generation Feature Pack 1. The Nokia E71 succeeded the Nokia E61/61i models, building on the base design and form factor...
, Nokia E90, Nokia N95
Nokia N95
The Nokia N95 is a smartphone produced by Nokia as part of their Nseries line of portable devices. It was released in 2007. The N95 runs Symbian OS v9.2, with a S60 3rd Edition user interface. The phone has a two-way sliding mechanism, which can be used to access either media playback buttons or...
, Nokia N82
Nokia N82
The Nokia N82 is a smartphone produced by Nokia. It is part of the company's Nseries line of smartphones which features the N-Gage gaming platform and the Nokia Music store...
, Nokia N81
Nokia N81
The Nokia N81 is a smartphone announced by Nokia on August 29 2007. The phone is compatible with the N-Gage 2.0 mobile gaming service.- Problems :The Nokia N81 suffered from lower sound output due to the release of the new firmware version...
and Nokia 5700
Nokia 5700
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a music series mobile phone by Nokia. It is a Symbian S60 3rd Edition FP1 smartphone that was sold under the XpressMusic sub-brand, which emphasises music and multimedia playback. The Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a monoblock twistable phone which weighs 115 g. It has a casing...
.
Symbian OS 9.3
Released on 12 July 2006. Upgrades include improved memory management and native support for Wifi 802.11, HSDPA. The Nokia E72Nokia E72
The Nokia E72 is a smartphone from the Nokia Eseries range that manufactured in Finland. It is the successor to the Nokia E71 and is based on a similar design and form factor, and offers a similar feature set...
, Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is a multimedia and music-dedicated sliding smartphone announced in March and released in June 2009. Its features include a full backlit slide-out QWERTY keyboard, dedicated camera, volume, gaming and music keys as well as Wi-Fi connectivity and a basic accelerometer...
, Nokia N79
Nokia N79
Nokia N79 is a smartphone and a member of the Nokia Nseries multimedia smartphone family. It was officially announced by Nokia on 26 August 2008...
, Nokia N96
Nokia N96
Nokia N96 is a Nokia smartphone in the Nseries range of products. It is the official successor to Nokia N95.The handset was publicly announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 2008, and started shipping in September 2008. Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific are the first locations...
, Nokia E52
Nokia E52
The Nokia E52 is a smartphone from the Nokia Eseries range, a Symbian OS v9.3 device with a 240x320 screen. It is available in Black, Black Aluminum, Metal Grey aluminium, White Aluminium and Gold. It comes with a 1GB MicroSD memory card, but it supports MicroSD cards with up to 16GB memory. It...
, Nokia E75
Nokia E75
The Nokia E75 is a smartphone from the Eseries range with a side sliding QWERTY keyboard and also front keypad. - Features:*Quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900...
, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
The Nokia 5320 Xpress Music is a Symbian OS S60 smartphone, released by Nokia in 2008 as a part of their XpressMusic line of portable devices. The phone has a rugged candybar body with outlined keypads. It emphasizes music and multimedia playback...
, Sony Ericsson P1
Sony Ericsson P1
The Sony Ericsson P1 is a smartphone and the successor of the P990. It integrates many of the hardware features of the P990 in the form factor of the M600. It was announced on 8 May 2007. There is a Chinese version of P1 called P1c...
and others feature Symbian OS 9.3.
Symbian OS 9.4
Announced in March 2007. Provides the concept of demand paging which is available from v9.3 onwards. Applications should launch up to 75% faster. Additionally, SQLSQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
support is provided by SQLite
SQLite
SQLite is an ACID-compliant embedded relational database management system contained in a relatively small C programming library. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain and implements most of the SQL standard...
. Ships with the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
Samsung i8910
Samsung i8910 HD is a multimedia smartphone by Samsung, announced at MWC 2009 on February 18, 2009.This handset comes with a 3.7" AMOLED capacitive touchscreen having a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels, capable of displaying up to 16 million colors. It has an 8 megapixel camera with the...
, Nokia N97
Nokia N97
Nokia N97 is a touch screen mobile phone in the Nseries of smartphones by Nokia, with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard...
, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, Nokia 5228, Nokia 5230, Nokia 5233, Nokia 5235, Nokia C6-00, Nokia X6
Nokia X6
The Nokia X6 is a music-oriented capacitive touchscreen smartphone and portable entertainment device by Nokia. It was announced in early September 2009 during Nokia World 2009 in Germany.The X6 replaces the Nokia 5800 as Nokia's flagship music-centred model...
, Sony Ericsson Satio, Sony Ericsson Vivaz
Sony Ericsson Vivaz
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is a smartphone, announced by Sony Ericsson on 21 January 2010. It was released on 5 March 2010 in the color schemes Moon Silver, Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue and Venus Ruby....
and Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro.
Used as the basis for Symbian^1, the first Symbian platform release.
The release is also better known as S60 5th edition, as it is the bundled interface for the OS.
Symbian OS 9.5
In 26 March 2007 Symbian Ltd.Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing company, known for the Symbian OS, a smartphone operating system, and other related technologies...
announced v9.5 which includes native support for mobile digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
broadcasts in DVB-H
DVB-H
DVB-H is one of three prevalent mobile TV formats. It is a technical specification for bringing broadcast services to mobile handsets. DVB-H was formally adopted as ETSI standard EN 302 304 in November 2004. The DVB-H specification can be downloaded from the official DVB-H website...
and ISDB-T formats and also location services.
Open Sourcing
The Symbian Foundation was announced in June 2008 and came into existence in 2009. Its objective was to publish the source for the entire Symbian platform, including Symbian OS and Series 60 platformS60 (software platform)
The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
, under the OSI
Open Source Initiative
The Open Source Initiative is an organization dedicated to promoting open source software.The organization was founded in February 1998, by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, prompted by Netscape Communications Corporation publishing the source code for its flagship Netscape Communicator product...
- and FSF
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
-approved Eclipse Public License (EPL)
Eclipse Public License
The Eclipse Public License is an open source software license used by the Eclipse Foundation for its software. It replaces the Common Public License and removes certain terms relating to litigations related to patents....
. The release of the Symbian platform deprecated Symbian OS as a standalone product.
Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd.
Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing company, known for the Symbian OS, a smartphone operating system, and other related technologies...
was purchased by Nokia in December 2008, transitioning principal OS and user interface development to Nokia.
Symbian^3
Symbian^3 is a big improvement over previous S60 5th Edition and features single touch menus in the user interface, as well as new Symbian OS kernel with hardware-accelerated graphics; further improvements will come in the first half of 2011 including portrait qwerty keyboard, a new browser and split-screen text input. Nokia announced that updates to Symbian^3 interface based on Qt framework will be delivered gradually, as they are available; Symbian^4, the previously planned major release, is now discontinued and its intended features will be incorporated into Symbian^3 instead, named as Symbian Anna.General
- EKA1EKA1EKA1 is the first-generation kernel for Symbian OS. It offers pre-emptive multitasking and memory protection, but no real-time guarantees and a single-threaded device driver model. It has now largely been superseded by EKA2....
old Symbian kernel - EKA2EKA2EKA2 is the second-generation Symbian platform kernel.Like its predecessor, EKA1, it has pre-emptive multithreading and full memory protection...
current Symbian kernel, successor of EKA1 - List of Symbian devices
- MOAPMOAPMOAP is the software platform for NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service for mobile phones. -Versions:There are two versions of MOAP:...
user interface - Mobile Web Server (Symbian OS)Mobile Web Server (Symbian OS)The Mobile Web Server software is an Open source software port by Nokia of the Apache HTTP Server to the Symbian OS S60 mobile software platform...
- Nokia Ovi suiteNokia Ovi SuiteNokia Suite is an application for Nokia users to connect their devices with Microsoft Windows.-Overview:Nokia Suite can synchronize contacts, calendar, messages, photos, videos and music between a Nokia device and a PC...
- Series60-RemoteSeries60-RemoteSeries60-Remote is an application to manage S60 mobile phones. It can directly send and receive SMS messages and browse files, contacts and calendar on the mobile device.It is intended to be a free crossplatform replacement for Nokia Ovi Suite.-See also:...
- Nokia PC SuiteNokia PC SuiteNokia PC Suite is a software package used to establish an interface between Nokia mobile devices and computers that run Microsoft Windows operating system.-Usage:...
software package used to establish an interface between Nokia mobile devices and computers that run Microsoft Windows operating system. Not confined to Symbian - Nokia Software UpdaterNokia Software UpdaterNokia Software Updater is a Windows based application from Nokia that enables customers to update and recover their mobile device firmware of a recent Series 40 or S60 device from any Internet enabled access point....
- S60S60 (software platform)The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
(Series 60, user interface used by NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
and others)- Web Browser for S60Web Browser for S60Web Browser for S60 or the S60 OSS Browser, is the default web browser for the S60 mobile phone platform. It is the default browser for many old phones running on the Symbian mobile operating system and all new phones running on Symbian. It was developed by Nokia...
default web browser
- Web Browser for S60
- Series 80 (user interface previously used by NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
) - Ovi storeOvi (Nokia)Ovi by Nokia is the brand for Nokia's Internet services. The Ovi services can be used from a mobile device, computer or via the web. Nokia focuses on five key service areas: Games, Maps, Media, Messaging and Music. Nokia's aim with Ovi is to include third party developers, such as operators and...
Nokia's application store on the internet, not confined to Symbian - Series S90 (user interface previously used by NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
) - SymbianSymbianSymbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...
- Symbian Foundation
- Symbian Ltd.Symbian Ltd.Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing company, known for the Symbian OS, a smartphone operating system, and other related technologies...
- Symbian OS (former name of the operating system)
- UIQUIQUIQ by UIQ Technology is a software platform based upon Symbian OS. Essentially this is a graphical user interface layer that provides additional components to the core OS, to enable the development of feature-rich mobile phones that are open to expanded capabilities through third-party...
(user interface previously used by Sony-Ericsson)
Development related
- Accredited Symbian DeveloperAccredited Symbian DeveloperAccredited Symbian Developer was a now defunct accreditation program for software developers using Symbian OS, a mobile phone operating system, having been terminated in April 2011 after the closure of Symbian Foundation. The scheme was operated independently on the Foundation's behalf by Majinate...
- Active object (Symbian OS)
- Carbide.c++Carbide.c++Carbide.c++ is a software development tool for C++ development on Symbian OS. It is used to develop phones that use the OS, as well as applications that run on those phones. It is based on the Eclipse IDE platform enhanced with extra plug-ins to support Symbian OS development. The product is...
(alternative application and OS development IDEIntegrated development environmentAn integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
) - Cleanup stackCleanup stackCleanup Stack is a concept widely used in Symbian OS. It is most suitable to use in places where dynamic memory is used in programming. The problem with dynamic memory is the sole discretion of the underlying OS whether the request for memory allocation shall succeed or not. Applications must be...
- Open Programming LanguageOpen programming languageThe Open Programming Language is an embedded programming language for portable devices that run the Symbian Operating System, which can be found on e.g. the Nokia 9200, 9300 and 9500 Communicator series mobile telephone/personal digital assistant and the Sony Ericsson P800, P900, P910 series...
for older Symbian devices - P.I.P.S. Is POSIX on SymbianP.I.P.S. Is POSIX on SymbianP.I.P.S. is a term for Symbian software libraries that means, P.I.P.S. Is POSIX on Symbian OS. It is intended to help C language programmers in migration of desktop and server middleware, applications to Symbian OS based mobile smartphone devices...
- Python for S60Python for S60The Python for S60 also called PyS60 , is Nokia’s port of the general Python programming language to its S60 software platform, originally based on Python 2.2.2 from 2002....
(alternative application development language) - Qt (framework) (preferred development tool, both for the OS and applications, not confined to Symbian)
- Qt CreatorQt CreatorQt Creator is a cross-platform C++ integrated development environment which is part of the Qt SDK. It includes a visual debugger and an integrated GUI layout and forms designer. The editor's features includes syntax highlighting and autocompletion, but not tabs. Qt Creator uses the C++ compiler...
IDEIntegrated development environmentAn integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development... - Qt QuickQt QuickQt Quick is a framework that provides a declarative way of building custom, highly dynamic user interfaces with fluid transitions and effects, which are becoming more and more common especially in mobile devices....
- QMLQMLQML is a JavaScript-based, declarative language for designing user interface–centric applications. It is part of Qt Quick, the UI creation kit developed by Nokia within the Qt framework...
(JavascriptJavaScriptJavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
based language)
- Qt Creator
List of applications for end users
- See :category:Symbian software (still very incomplete)
- The Core Pocket Media PlayerThe Core Pocket Media PlayerThe Core Pocket Media Player is a software media player which operates on portable devices and Windows-based PCs. It is discontinued, but still available from the official mirror site. Supported operating systems include Palm OS, Symbian OS, and Microsoft Windows, CE, and Mobile. It is also...
- EQOEQOEQO is a downloadable mobile application that brings free instant messaging, low-cost mobile VoIP and free or low-cost text messaging to mobile phones from manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG, BlackBerry and HTC...
(instant messenger) - Fring (instant messenger)
- Nokia Sports TrackerNokia Sports TrackerNokia Sports Tracker, later Sports Tracker was originally a piece of software for Symbian Series 60 phones that allowed its user to track their route, speed, timings and energy expenditure, while engaging in a sport activity such as...
- Nimbuzz
- Opera miniOpera MiniOpera Mini is a web browser designed primarily for mobile phones, smartphones and personal digital assistants. Until version 4 it used the Java ME platform, requiring the mobile device to run Java ME applications. From version 5 it is also available as a native application for Android, iOS, Symbian...
web browser - Opera MobileOpera MobileOpera Mobile is a web browser for smartphones and PDA's developed by the Opera Software company. The first version was released in 2000 for the Psion Series 7 and netBook. Today, it is available for a variety of devices that run on Android, S60, Windows Mobile, Maemo , and MeeGo...
web browser - OctroTalk (instant messenger)
- PalringoPalringoPalringo is a server-based instant messaging client for various platforms. It supports several protocols such as AOL Instant Messenger , Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, XMPP/Jabber, Google Talk, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, MobileMe/iChat and Facebook IM....
(instant messenger) - Quiet Internet PagerQuiet Internet PagerQIP is a multiprotocol instant messaging client. It is a closed source freeware program originally developed by Ilgam Zyulkorneev. In 2008 it was bought by RosBusinessConsulting media group and named most popular RBC service in 2009.- Features :...
(instant messenger) - QuickOfficeQuickOfficeQuickoffice is a productivity suite for mobile devices which allows users to view, create and edit text files, presentations and spreadsheets. It consist of Quickword , Quicksheet and QuickPoint . The programs are compatible with Microsoft Office.Quickoffice is commonly used in smartphones and PDAs...
- SPB mobile shellSPB SoftwareSPB Software Inc. is a division of Yandex, the leading Russian IT company which operates the largest search engine in Russia. A global company developing mobile solutions for OEM mobile device manufacturers, mobile carriers, smartphone, tablet, and end users, SPB develops software running on...
- SPB TVSPB SoftwareSPB Software Inc. is a division of Yandex, the leading Russian IT company which operates the largest search engine in Russia. A global company developing mobile solutions for OEM mobile device manufacturers, mobile carriers, smartphone, tablet, and end users, SPB develops software running on...
- Skyfire (web browser)
- UDigitsUDigitsuDigits is a numeric puzzle game, originally developed by UK-based uWaver in which players match and cross pairs of digits that are of equal value or that amount to 10 when added. The goal of the game is to clear the playfield in as few moves as possible...
- The Core Pocket Media Player