2006 proofed to be an interesting year for the Symbian world. A large number of devices based on the Symbian OS version 9 with enhanced security became available. As usual Nokia was leading the way with S60 3rd edition with more than 10 devices launched in 2006. The real headline however was the reemergence of UIQ with Sony Ericsson launching 3 devices based on UIQ 3 : the P990i, the M600 and the W950.

A common trend observed with the launch of new Symbian devices were the long delays - often not meeting previously communicated launch dates by several months- combined with a high number of imperfections. It is clear that both Nokia and Sony Ericsson have struggled to get their first Symbian Version 9 devices finalized. The high number of firmware upgrades closely following the launch of these devices only confirms that most devices were not really ready to launch - often to the increasing frustation of early adopters. Fortunately Nokia has now made it possible for users to upgrade the firmware of their phones via the web avoiding visits to Nokia service centers, though it seems that with the high number of problems this was rather a mere necessity than a voluntary act towards the customers. Letting customers upgrade their firmware remains a risky operation which Nokia has wanted to postpone as long as possible. Sony Ericsson however have allowed firmware upgrades over the internet since a long time.

Another trend was the launch of Symbian devices for the business market. Both Nokia with the e-series - especially the E61 - and Sony Ericsson with the the M600 have made a succesfull entry into the business market, mainly with full keyboard devices targeted at heavy email users.

It was also the year when WIFI was integrated into at least the high end Symbian smartphones (despite operator pressure) and when built-in cameras reached a quality level comparable to standalone digital cameras in terms of resolution and optical quality.

Symbian still basically remained limited to devices from Nokia and Sony Ericsson, though their was a surprising announcement of the first ever device by long time S60 licensee LG. Samsung continues to follow Symbian at a distance, also announcing a first S60 3rd edition device. And of course there is the huge success of Symbian in Japan, though most Symbian phones over there are still not open for 3rd party developers. Sony Ericsson still remains the only vendor having launched UIQ 3 devices, though the acquisition of UIQ by Sony Ericsson could revitalise the licensing of UIQ to other vendors. In any case, Sony Ericsson has confirmed a large number of new UIQ devices will hit the market in 2007!

When looking at the symbian software applications from 3rd party developers the story is rather gloomy. Symbian software developer companies struggled even more than the device manufacturers trying to cope with a full binary break caused by Symbian OS 9, a lack of available devices and a high number of innovations such as the new security framework, SVG icons, scalable UI, … This resulted in a very limited number of available applications even months after the launch of the first Symbian OS 9 devices. Though all main titles and categories are now available, the choice certainly remains very limited compared to e.g. Windows Mobile. Finally, the compulsory Symbian Signing for all but the simplest of applications has clearly put a barrier in place which has been difficult to overcome for small developers , despite the free signing service offered for freeware.

Looking at the (Symbian) smartphone market in general a new sense of reality has emerged. The overoptimistic marketing talk has disappeared and made place for a more realistic view on growth and uptake of the smartphone category. The promise of the ultimate converged (symbian) smartphone device enabling users to fulfill all their needs with one device (e-mail, web-browsing, navigation, music, digital camera, video camera,…) has not fully materialized. Separate PND satellite navigation devices and music ipods are more popular than ever before. Somewhere the ultimate converged device got stuck between being too average on each task individually and too complex to configure, install and maintain by the end user. Consumers still clearly prefer dedicated devices working out of the box and requiring little or no installation or configuration. For this, they are happy to pay the price of having to carry several devices with them. There is still a long way to go for the converged smartphone!

Looking forward to 2007 it is clear that Symbian - and especially Nokia - are taking a breath. Far less devices have been announced than ever before - currently only the N95 and the 6290 being due for launch. This break will be much needed by developers still catching up with Symbian OS9. What is needed now is stability and reliability. Changes will be more incremental e.g. adding GPS hardware and software to a device.

2007 will be a year with many challenges. Will smartphones become an established consumer category? Will symbian smartphones reach a price level attractive for the mass market? Will smartphone owners find the way to 3rd party software? It is unlikely all of these issues will be solved soon, but at least some breakthroughs are badly needed to keep the smartphone momentum going in 2007!

Soure: http://bonte.co.uk