Here is a nice article from Symbian. As you probably know most advanced cell phones (Smartphones) are using Symbian operating system, BT is the only Symbian platinum partner which has to do with seamless roaming. I wonder why CLYW isn`t mentioned here, if they`re gonna be so amazing? In fact i wonder why, Clyw is never beeing mentioned?
from symbianone.com
"SymbianOne - 2004 In Review
Written by Richard Bloor
Thursday, 30 December 2004
We looks back at 2004 and picks the key events and technologies that have shaped the Symbian OS ecosystem. And no year end review would be without a few predictions for 2005.
2004 has been an exciting year for Symbian OS and the ecosystem building around it. Looking back at 2004 the biggest change has been the degree of confidence in and about the Symbian OS economy. This year's Symbian Expo underlined this growth with the number of exhibitors and attendees increasing significantly, not to mention the upbeat atmosphere. (We must express out thanks to Cognima for helping out with our coverage.) Much of this enthusiasm was also carried through to the Nokia Mobility Conference.
There were several positive indicators of maturity in both device and content development during 2004. Developments in the testing tools market for example. Back in January we looked at the Metrowerks CodeTEST toolset, which still occupies a unique position as the only Symbian OS tool for testing dynamic code quality. Although Mobile Innovation addresses this aspect of quality with the static analysis tool Code Scanner. Device testing tools veteran Test Quest were joined by Mercury in providing Symbian OS testing tools while both Digia and Mobile Innovation updated their device based tools.
In the same area we also saw the launch of Symbian Signed. While the launch met with a few grumblings about locked down devices and the restricted ability to load software, Symbian Signed has established its self as a given in the Symbian OS space. Most of the major sales channels and developers have now embracing it. The core development tools market has not be quite either, the licensing of CodeWarrior by Nokia was perhaps both unexpected and logical. CodeWarrior 3.0 is out, not so long after we were talking about 2.8. Borland also seriously joined the Symbian OS tools game this year with some interesting features such as RAD and model driven development for Series 60. At the same time a number of alternative languages such as Simkin and OPL, along with the just released Python for Series 60, have added to the options for developers who can not afford the time and cost of Java or C++ development.
One development technology SymbianOne will be keeping an eye on in 2005 is Virtio's Virtual Board technology. Virtual Boards promise much in terms of accelerating both device and third party application development.
All of this has been underpinned by the strong growth in application sales, with those reported by Handango on the UIQ platform being particularly positive. Application sales for the Series 60 still do not seem to have taken off, but the introduction of Preminet by Nokia is likely to see the balance start to shift in 2005.
Enterprise solution have also come more into focus this year. They still lag behind were SymbianOne would have picked progress in 2003. All the same some interesting developments have taken place. Intrinsyncs middleware and client holds much promise. Horizontal enterprise applications are also starting to make an appearance, such as Orative's call management system.
More general support for a businesses day-to-day requirements to access documents has improved with solutions from Cerience and MDM's Quickoffice now preinstalled on the Sony Ericsson P910 .
While WiFi only have made it onto the Nokia 9500 all indications are that it will be an important technology, at least on enterprise phones, in 2005. This was certainly the message we got from Taproot, a company who work at the very core of device development and see the market 18 month to two years ahead of the shelves. When the growth really starts companies like Birdstep are ready to step in with the support to ensure the user can made the most of mixed network environments.
Malicious code for Series 60 must take the award for the quantity of largely inaccurate coverage of Symbian OS from the first "discovery" of Cabir by KasperskyLabs. News of METAL and new variants of Cabir have spread across the internet like no other Symbian news. Ironically it is these viruses seem to have an ability to spread through internet news services with much more virulence than they have achieved on the devices, where they rely on the two G's, Gullibility and Greed to spread rather than exploiting any real weakness in Symbian OS.
So that was 2004, what is going to happen in 2005?
For Symbian OS itself 2005 is likely to be the year of the security. A number of SymbianOne's contacts have hinted at significant changes to the OS in 2005 with security being top of the agenda. Indeed several sources have suggested that security will be a key commercial differentiator for Symbian OS in 2005, providing Operators with an unmatched secure, tamperproof environment. 2005 is shaping up to be an even more exciting year for Symbian OS with the fruits of 2004s major investment starting to show.
3GSM in February is likely to be the pivotal event in the first half of the year (and you do not really need a crystal ball to predict that.) SymbianOne expects UIQ to be very much at the forefront with the first UIQ 3.0 devices almost certainly making their debut at 3GSM. SymbianOne also expects that it will not simply be new devices but new licensees too, spurred on by the single handed capabilities in UIQ 3.0.
2005 is also certainly going to see Series 60 licensees becoming more active. Currently none of the licensee outside Nokia have launched more than one phone apiece. In 2005 SymbianOne expects several licensees to launch multiple Series 60 device ranges.
Finally the most important feature for 2005 will be the dominance of the Symbian OS economy. While 2004 has seen much debate on the relative merits of various mobile platforms they have all overlooked the importance of the community of application and content developers creating an economy around the platform. The fragmentation in Linux, uncertainty about Palm and poor performance by Microsoft is likely to see the Symbian economy surge ahead in 2005, building a synergistic powerhouse that will keep the Symbian OS at the forefront of the market for 2005 and beyond.
SymbianOne will be with you throughout 2005 with the latest news and in depth features, we already have a hectic schedule for January and February. We are changing our newsletter format too. From next year it will be bi-weekly with separate issues one featuring Symbian OS applications and the other focusing on our ecosystem features and news. These new format will help you focus on the aspects of the Symbian OS economy which are important to you. The first new format newsletter, covering application will go out 13th January.
We look forward to you joining us in 2005 until then safe and happy holidays."
