19 November 2008

UIQ Company May Be Rescued!?

Several weeks ago at the Symbian Smartphone Show it was finally and officially confirmed that UIQ is first victim of the Nokia’s purchase of Symbian and making the Symbian Foundation!

Sony Ericsson's Patrick Olson said in London that "UIQ didn't attract the operator, manufacturer or consumer interest needed to stop it from failing".

However, the Inquirer reports that all may not be lost at UIQ and that there's a good chance that the company may be taken over by another business after its owners decided to merge its software with the Symbian.

While the company has talks with potential buyers, its day-to-day operations are being funded by Sony Ericsson. Although Motorola, BenQ and Arima have UIQ phones, Sony Ericsson is the main customer.

UIQ's days looked numbered when it became obvious that the 'open' version of Symbian to be made available from the Symbian Foundation was going to be heavily based around Nokia's Series 60.