Disqus
Today, I’m ranting about the possibilities of Symbian platform beyond mobile phones. Symbian Inc. is the mobile phone OS development company, 
but as mobile phones are getting smarter and new needs arrive, maybe they could jump-in in the other markets. Just a thought, but think for a moment – one day we will all need the synchronized solution(s). Will we use web for that? Can we have a single OS in all our devices? That’s what Microsoft hopes for. Can Symbian handle that (pressure)? I hope so.
One of the things that made me think in this direction is the announcement of the Sony’s ebook reader PRS-500. Cool thing – would want one for myself. That made me wonder, why wouldn’t Symbian develop a platform for such and similar devices? Something like Maemo, just powered by Symbian OS (plus, I want an option to rotate the screen like on all the Palms and Pocket PCs).
Also, what about pure mp3 players. Personally, I love the all-in-one device concept, but I’m also certain that many people like that their mp3 player only plays music, and their mobile phone only, well, makes and receives phone calls. Symbian could find its place in the pure mp3 players as well.
Finally, what about the cars. Microsoft aims to be the OS in the cars as well.
I see 3 interesting factors (recent happenings or whatever they are):
- Nokia 770 Internet tablet,
- new Opera platform, and
- latest developments around Google, ajax and all the web 2.0 buzz.
By mixing all these three together, I get this picture – one not-that-large Internet enabled device with very little software on it, since most of the software is run from the server. Someone, said Microsoft’s Ultra-Mobile PC (aka Project Origami)!?
Recently Google acquired Writely, the web-based word processor, meaning that you could make your documents online with ajax-powered browser (Opera platform). Online spreadsheet is on its way as well. There’s Google Calendar, and many DHTML games… Got my point? You can do many things online already!
In conclusion, there are many things Symbian could do to expand its platform. Ebook readers, mp3 players, Internet tablets, cars… Possibilities are infinite. So what is gonna be?
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
