Top 10 reasons why Apple should embrace Symbian OS for its iPhone
By Stefan Constantinescu on Monday, October 9th, 2006 at 8:12 AM PST In Apple, Symbian, iPhone
I’ve recently posted that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) could go Symbian. After thinking through the subject, I’ve compiled the top 10 reasons why they should do it. And here it is…
1. Symbian OS is by far the most superior mobile OS on the market. Unfortunately, not many U.S. consumers have seen the Symbian OS in action. Mobile Web browsing on Symbian OS devices rules.
2. Shared values. Both Apple and Symbian share values in terms of speed, security, simplicity/usability and reliability.
3. Who needs another mobile OS? The mobile OS market is already full. By choosing Symbian, Apple gets an army of developers and thousands of applications for the future iPhone users.
4. Lower costs. By selecting Symbian OS (or any other already developed mobile OS), Apple would save on development and marketing costs.
5. iTunes. With a single decision, Apple can get a few million users on their iTunes service. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) reported that there are few times more Symbian S60 smartphones sold than iPods.
6. Symbian could use another strong handset maker. Apple has a chance to become a Symbian star. With its unique design, I’m sure iPhone would appeal to both existing and future Symbian handset users.
7. U.S. market is the place where Apple could really shine. It’s a chance to allow U.S. consumers to “share the Symbian experience”.
8. Symbian users love Apple for its design, user friendliness, speed, security… you name it. I’m sure that many Symbian users, including the truly yours, would love to have a Symbian OS powered iPhone.
9. Unfortunately, Symbian devices are still not that supported on Apple computers. With the Symbian OS powered iPhone, Apple would provide users with a missing link. This could result in sales growth of Apple computers.
10. Finally, Symbian OS is NOT a Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s product.
Have I missed something? Don’t hesitate to comment.
Yes you have missed out the fact that symbian is a small os that developers hate.It’s construction is woeful,someone forgot to tell you guys the ui is the os LOL s60,uiq how bizarre!OS X is a full os not a toy one.Symbian is ok for semi smartphones.WindowsCE os x and linux are for true powerhouse devices.
Yeah I agree that developing for Symbian could be a not-that-easy task.
But, UI is NOT the OS! Linux has GNOME and KDE as UIs. Even Mac OS licences the core of the OS – some version of UNIX. Symbian just does that core for handling the device (drivers), the media, carrier’s things etc. S60 and UIQ, as well as MOAP (big in Japan) are software platforms that work on TOP of the Symbian OS.
Regarding your comment that Symbian is ok for semi-smartphone – I disagree 100%. Nokia N95 has way more features than the iPhone has. Can you see Flash on Safari in iPhone – no? Can you start Java apps on iPhone – no? Does iPhone has a GPS – no? What camera does iPhone have – 2 MP, versus N95’s 5 MP. Also, maximum camera for some Windows Mobile smartphone is 3 MP so far. Who’s “semi” then?
The fun part is that Nokias web browser is based on some of the same core open source components….but Nokia beat Apple to market with their browser by a good year or so…
See: http://opensource.nokia.com/projects/S60browser/
lol. i want to belive that you are NOT an idiot. how in the hell can you say such a thing? have you EVER seen an iphone? have you seen how FAST it is? and how 1000 times faser than symbian is? you suck. your reviews as well. keep it up, moron!
As a developer who has spent time working with various incarnations of the Symbian platform I would have to disagree with the views of this blog. Having now spent only a short time working with the both iPhone SDK and its alternative open development path for jail broken phones, I would have to say they are like chalk and cheese. Please don’t make sweeping generalisations for developers when you obviously have no concept of what you are talking about. Working with the iPhone platform is a dream when compared with Symbian. Spend some time trawling the web and I think you will find the general consensus from many developers is on the whole vary positive towards the iPhone. And I find it interesting that cell phone manufactures have spent some 15 years attempting to get their craft right and in one fowl swoop Apple have come in, dramatically shaken up the domain, and have done so in as little as a year… All I can say is thank god, finally we may actually begin to see some real improvement in usability standards on mobile devices.