Symbian OS now Open Source

The Symbian Foundation has announced that as of the 4th of February 2010, the Symbian OS is now completely Open Source and available for anyone to freely download and modify to their needs. The Symbian OS mainly powers mobile phones from Nokia based on the S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition platforms. The current version of the Symbian OS is Symbian^1, commonly known as S60 5th Edition. This version is currently featured in the Nokia N97, Sony Ericsson Satio, and Samsung Omnia Icon HD.

What this announcement means is that any individual developer or organisation can now freely download, modify the OS and distribute it with their changes as they see fit. This will potentially lead to greater innovation and faster time to market for new devices based on the OS. It will also allow for faster development time of third party applications that can take full advantage of all aspects of the OS.

The source code that the Symbian Foundation has released seems to be for Symbian^3, the next major release of the OS. Symbian^2 development has ceased and will not be released. Symbian^3 will add new and enhanced multimedia features including HDMI TV output, 3D graphics hardware acceleration, and better networking support to allow for High-Def video and audio streaming. It will also improve the current user interface and make it easier to use and faster.

Devices featuring the new OS will be released by the end of 2010 or early 2011. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

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