Symbian's reaction to Google Android

Symbian dismisses Google Android

Symbian powers more than 165 million phonesGoogle's dominance of the web will not translate to the mobile phone market, a senior executive at Symbian has said.
John Forsyth, vice president of strategy at Symbian, the platform that powers many of the world's phones, said Google lacked experience.
Google has formed an alliance with 33 firms to develop an open platform for mobile phones, called Android.
Meanwhile, the head of Nokia in the UK said the firm was in discussions with Google about using the platform.
Simon Ainslie, Nokia UK's managing director, said: "We are always open to discussion and debate on that. We were not ready to make any commitment to it or discuss it at the time."
"We are having ongoing discussions with Google."
'Very happy'
Mr Ainslie said the time was not right to make any announcement as to "how we can work with them".
He also said that Nokia was very happy with its partnership with Symbian.
He said: "It's the world's most used platform. It's not a simple solution to make a platform work on a mobile."
It's a bit like the common cold. It keeps coming round and then we go back to business
John Forsyth, Symbian, on the Open Handset Alliance
Mr Forsyth said Google had to be aware that making a "mobile OS is a very specialised form of rocket science.
"It's not search rocket science."
He said the alliance was yet another attempt to launch a Linux-based operating system to drive mobile phones.
"About every three months this year there has been a mobile Linux initiative of some sort launched.
"It's a bit like the common cold. It keeps coming round and then we go back to business. We don't participate in these full stop. We make our own platform and we are focused on driving that into the mobile phone market at large ever more aggressively."
Symbian's recent financial results show it sold 20.4m smartphone software licenses in the last quarter of 2007 and since the company was launched nine years ago more than 165 million phones have been shipped using its platform.
'Deeply unsexy'
Mr Forsyth said there was nothing to indicate that Google's dominance of the web would make it successful as a mobile phone platform provider.
"Search and a mobile phone platform are completely different things.
"It's costly, arduous and at times a deeply unsexy job of supporting customers day by day in launching phones. That's something there's very little experience of in Google's environment.
"if you are a serious phone maker and you are asked to bet your handsets on somebody, you would want to bet on someone with a track record of delivery and support."
Mr Forsyth also questioned whether developers would flock to the system.
"It's very clear what developers want - volume and a stable platform that doesn't keep breaking. You have to have a lot of zeroes in your sales figures before a developer gets out of bed.
"They are talking about having a phone by the end of next year. It's not one that is going to ignite developers."
SOURCE: BBC News

'$100 laptop' begins production

The first machines have started rolling off the production lineMass production of the so-called $100 laptop has begun, five years after the concept was first proposed.
Computer manufacturer Quanta has started building the low-cost laptops at a factory in Changshu, China.
One Laptop per Child (OLPC), the group behind the project, said that children in developing countries would begin receiving machines this month
Last month, OLPC received its first official order for 100,000 machines from the government of Uruguay.
"Today represents an important milestone in the evolution of the One Laptop per Child project," said Nicholas Negroponte, founder of OLPC.
The organisation had reached the critical stage despite "all the naysayers," he said.
Price hike
Since Professor Negroponte first put forward the idea of distributing low-cost laptop to children in developing countries in 2002, the plan has been both praised and mocked.

Intel chairman Craig Barret described the XO laptop, as the machine is known, as a "$100 gadget" whilst Microsoft founder Bill Gates questioned its lack of hard drive and "tiny screen".
Other critics have questioned the need for the laptops in countries which, they said, had more pressing needs such as sanitation and health care.
But Professor Negroponte has always maintained that the project is about education not technology.
However, the green and white XO machines pack a number of innovations which make them suitable for use in remote and environmentally hostile areas.
The machine has no moving parts and can be easily maintained. It has a sunlight-readable display that allows children to use it outside and, importantly for areas with little access to electricity, it is ultra low power and can be charged by a variety of devices including solar panels.
Although OLPC eventually plan to sell the machines for $100 or less, the current price is $188 (£93).
Christmas gift
Initially OLPC has said that it required three million orders of the XO to make production viable.

Uruguay is the first country to order the machines
Governments were originally offered the machines in lots of 250,000.
So far, however, the organisation's only confirmed order is from Uruguay. The South American country has ordered 100,00 of the machines with an option to purchase a further 300,000.
Other governments have expressed interest in the machines.
For example, the government of Mongolia has announced that it plans to launch a pilot project providing 20,000 laptops, to children aged six to 12.
OLPC has also allowed a limited number of the machines to be bought by people in North America through its Give 1 Get 1 programme (G1G1), which will allow members of the public to buy a machine for themselves as well as one for a child in a developing country.
The programme will offer laptops between the 12 and 26 November. OLPC said that the start of production means that people participating in the scheme will receive their XO by December this year.

Google Android

As Google quotes,

"Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we're not announcing a Gphone. However, we think what we are announcing -- the Open Handset Alliance and Android -- is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, we hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today.

Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications -- all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities.

We see Android as an important part of our strategy of furthering Google's goal of providing access to information to users wherever they are. We recognize that many among the multitude of mobile users around the world do not and may never have an Android-based phone. Our goals must be independent of device or even platform. For this reason, Android will complement, but not replace, our longstanding mobile strategy of developing useful and compelling mobile services and driving adoption of these products through partnerships with handset manufacturers and mobile operators around the world.

It's important to recognize that the Open Handset Alliance and Android have the potential to be major changes from the status quo -- one which will take patience and much investment by the various players before you'll see the first benefits. But we feel the potential gains for mobile customers around the world are worth the effort. If you’re a developer and this approach sounds exciting, give us a week or so and we’ll have an SDK available. If you’re a mobile user, you’ll have to wait a little longer, but some of our partners are targeting the second half of 2008 to ship phones based on the Android platform. And if you already have a phone you know and love, check out mobile.google.com and make sure you have Google Maps for mobile, Gmail and our other great applications on your phone. We'll continue to make these services better and add plenty of exciting new features, applications and services, too."

This very prospect of having a google mobile platform amazes me and no doubt it will be creating a storm the day it is released.

In Layman's terms

Android is a series of software tools built by Google designed to power a next generation of mobile phone handsets.

The tools are based on Linux - and so are open source and free to use. It means any one can develop software for the platform and that Android itself can be tailored for individual phones, networks and potentially users.

The open nature of the platform sets it apart from its competition. Operating systems on current phones - such as Windows Mobile, RIM, Symbian and Palm - are proprietorial and have to be licensed for use. Google believes it will be easier and quicker to develop new applications for Android than the other systems.

Why is Google doing this?

There are more people with mobile phones with access to the net right now than there are PCs with online connections.

This is a massive potential market for Google - and every other online firm - that is yet to be tapped and developed.

Improving the mobile web for all is a rising tide that will float all boats, including the Google battleship.

More people online means more people using Google's services, which means more advertising revenue for the firm.

Del those Moblie games!

Many of us who own respectable enough mobiles have atleast 2-3 games installed on our cell. Btw have you ever removed them from your mobile?..
I was a mobile phone gamer till now nd still am..but as i found out what harm it was doing to me..i quickly removed them all.
I had around 30 good games installed which i used to play all the time...durin free time..study time..and coaching.!
Some games like Real Soccer,Tomb Raider,Asphalt 3,tennis are really addictive and keep you glued till you either finish the game or die of hunger!
On a more serious note, these games have the ability to do things which even girls cant do--bring down nerds!..
I seriously went down in studies and was so engrossed in games that i even skipped my meals trying to finish a level!..Then one day, fortunately i had the feeling that sumthin was not goin good and as my exams were approaching, i realized that what was really my enemy were those games!..n bein a sensible guy, i immediately deleted all those games except soccer and chess..[which i still play...;)]
So hope you all play well, play safe, and enjoy life in a better way!