Back in January I wrote an article regarding Symbian, and what would happen if it became Open Source. I compared it to Google Android, Linux, and Windows, for us to get to know the implications. Six months have gone by and there have been changes in the market. You get hacked S60 devices, modified internet tablets with Google Android, and even N95s with Google Android.

I have now realised that making more code available is not only good for developers, but also for the consumer. However, the consumer will still have to do extra work, as developing companies won't make things any easier.

You'll be able to use code to write your own programs to customize the Operating Systems, but internal features are still going to remain secret, and if you want to edit your phone to internal point, you will still have to "hack" it.

Why is this? For example: boot up your Nokia phone, any Nokia, doesn't need to have S60, it can be S40. What do you see? The Nokia logo. Now do you think Nokia will allow developers to change that logo? No! They might show you how it's done, as after all, it is Open Source, but they won't allow you to edit it. This is the big difference: you can see code, you can't upload your own firmware.

There are always security implications for allowing Operating Systems to be fully customized. Viruses will become more prominent, but this topic isn't very important, so feel free to skip to the next paragraph.. Since Symbian OS9.x has been released, not one of my friends told me he had a virus on his phone. Ok, sometimes they did, but they just need a fresh format due to some application going corrupt. So what viruses can Open Source bring? Linux is open source and you don't see its users crying, about malware they prefer it to Windows. There has been a virus which sends MMSes and waste sa consumer's  money, now making more code available can bring more varieties of viruses. Mobile phones have airtime, and wasting that affects a consumer. Mobile phones have bank details and important contacts, this will prompt mobile phising. There are antivirus and antispywares companies that can control that, so maybe I'm just overreacting...

Are there atleast any advantages to it? Yip, there are quite a lot. More code means more functionality, more customization. You know what an accelerometer is right? The motion sensor on an N95, N82, K850i, etc? With the API of this sensor, programmers were allowed to use the sensor and code programs that would use the sensor for determined functionality, such as RotateMe or Nokmote, reviewed here. The API of the accelerometer wasn't available, but programmers bugged Nokia, who released it to much joy of programmers and consumers. Now, if developers had access to every single line of code, in other words, to an Open Source operating system, they would be able to see many more APIs, and induce more functionality to programs. Imagine changing your User Interface from S60 to UIQ at your fingertips! Nice hey? But the only thing we are wondering is how much code there will be available, and to what extent programmers can edit the operating systems. And this applies to both Google Android and Symbian Foundation. The Symbian Foundation platform is on the image at the left, courtesy of All About Symbian.

Is Symbian improved for programmers? Definitely. Before there used to be a lot of differences in the programming nature of Symbian. S60 programs did not work with UIQ or with MOAP, and vice-versa. I'm expecting that all programs work with every Symbian phone, except in resolution differences.

Why did it happen now? One answer: Google Android. Symbian needed something to counteract Google Android and MAC OS X for the iPhone. The only way to win programmers' hearts is to make it open source. Symbian ships more operating systems than any other developer [Source: Wikipedia] and it needs to keep the standard high and not fall back due to the possible future penetration of MAC OS X thanks to the iPhone, and the Google Android penetration in the market.

How does it affect companies financially? There's obviously less work, you have code coming in from everywhere, although mainly Nokia, and higher quality code output. In other words, better programs, a better Operating System, but less trouble from the participants, that's Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, NTT DoCoMo, as well as AT&T, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone, according to the press release. Although this means that companies will be able to fire much of the staff that they no longer need!

Nokia shipped more Symbian devices than any other of the three manufacturers, and it has most of the shares of Symbian Limited (it had 52% and now bought what it didn't own), but it won't control the whole of the Symbian Foundation. The excerpt below comes from Michael Mace's Mobile Opportunity article:

"Five Foundation board seats will be allocated to handset vendors on the basis of volumes shipped using the Symbian Foundation platform. There will be a maximum of one (1) board seat per company."

Nokia bought Symbian, instead of any of the other partners doing it, and the reason is above mentioned: they shipped most devices, and they owned most of the company.

So...what's next? Perhaps the most complex work will be integrating the whole of Symbian and User Interfaces in the Symbian Foundation. That means Employees of Symbian, S60, UIQ, MOAP.

Who will do what? And to add to the confusion, there's Trolltech, a company Nokia bought in January who specializes in cross-platform development. Below is a quote from the press release, and at your left is a picture of Trolltech's Greenphone, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Trolltech provides cross-platform software development frameworks and application platforms. Trolltech's Qt is used in popular software such as Skype, Google Earth, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Lucasfilm and by more than 5000 customers worldwide. Trolltech's Qtopia has enabled a new generation of exciting consumer devices such as mobile handsets, video-phones, set-top boxes and media players. Trolltech's software has shipped in more than 10 million devices.

Trolltech's products enable companies to easily build and deploy software across a wide range of operating systems and electronic devices. The company serves desktop and embedded application providers, as well as consumer electronics and mobile vendors, who face challenges in delivering user-friendly and differentiated software. Trolltech enables customers to accelerate innovation, shorten time to market and increase revenues. Trolltech's software improves the user experience by increasing the appeal and quality of customer's applications on desktop and devices. The future proof Qt software allows developers to code less, create more and deploy anywhere.

Trolltech supports open source and commercial customers.

Another motive of discussion: Although Symbian has gone Open Source, it might not be the most important aspect. It affects consumers and programmers directly, but there is something else that affects the competitors much more, and that is union. Apple, Google, and Microsoft will suffer from this. Symbian has a strong support from the industry's most influential players, and that will worry those three competitors. A union between those three? I don't think so, it's much different. Symbian is owned by Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, NTT DoCoMo and Samsung. Google Android has support from HTC, and more companies will join in. Microsoft has support from HTC, Windows Mobile, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, but it has a low sales number, and only Apple has itself to play with, so to speak. Symbian is indeed the strongest one. Microsoft and Google won't be left by themselves because manufacturers need diversity to appeal to different customers, but profit only comes from "places" that consumers trust, and that place is Symbian. One way or another, things are going to get spicier, and all this is great for us, the consumers.

When will we see all this happening in front of our own eyes? On the first half of 2010, we will see the first release of Symbian Foundation, according to the presentation given at the event.. Google Android will be here in the fourth quarter of this year, for T-Mobile USA and China Mobile, according to quotes of Wall Street Journal from SMS Text News. Our interview with an executive of HTC tells us the same.

Oh, and if you want to join the Symbian Foundation you will be paying US$1500 per year. Below is a table of the membership rights and benefits, taken from the white paper.

And that's all I have in my head right now, but I'd love to discuss your points. There is a lot of information in this article, so there is chance of factual errors. Please point out anything I missed or mistakes in the article.