Symbian, the UK based smartphone software maker who was recently acquired by Nokia, is trying to become more tied in with online software giant Google. Symbian will soon be open source and will attempt to use it’s relationship with Google to become an even stronger smartphone player.
In a quote from Reuters, Symbian SEO Nigel Clifford said,
“We already work together and so whatever collaboration, if there is an opportunity, we will be happy to collaborate with them,” and he continued, “and that could be on the application level or that could be on the more fundamental operating system level.”
This collaboration with Google will further strengthen Symbian’s presence in the mobile world by giving them access to Google’s numerous online resources such as Gmail, Maps, and Calendar. How will this play out with Google’s Android platform? My guess is Google will hold the best features for Android and have a quality presence on Symbian.
This news is good news as Symbian will continue to be the ‘Open’ platform, especially compared to the walled garden approach Apple has taken with the iPhone. As consumers adopt functionality once reserved for the PC on their mobile handsets, being open and flexible will continue to be Symbian’s edge.