16 July 2008

Symbian says could expand
its collaboration with Google Inc

UK-based smartphone software maker Symbian said on Wednesday it could expand its collaboration with Google Inc to the operating system level as it moves to grant free and open access to its software platform.

"We already work together and so whatever collaboration, if there is an opportunity, we will be happy to collaborate with them," Symbian chief executive Nigel Clifford told reporters in Tokyo.

"And that could be on the application level or that could be on the more fundamental operating system level."

Symbian currently uses Google applications such as maps and search engines on its platforms. Symbian software is used in some 60 percent of smartphones -- mobile handsets with computer-like capabilities -- but Apple Inc's iPhone or new categories of phones based on Google's Android software could challenge that dominance.

Symbian's closest rivals are Linux-based phones and Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, but they occupy only 12 percent and 11 percent of the market, respectively, according to data provided by Symbian.

Nokia, which holds 47.9 percent of Symbian, said last month it would buy out other shareholders of Symbian for $410 million and make its software available to other phone makers without charging royalties, in response to new rivals such as Google.

Nokia will contribute Symbian's assets to a new not-for-profit organization, Symbian Foundation, in which it will unite with leading handset makers, network operators and communications chipmakers to create an open-source platform.