Web site: symbian.org (not active)
Origin: United Kingdom
Category: Mobile Phones
Desktop environment: GUI
Architecture: x86, ARM
Based on: EPOC32
Wikipedia: Symbian
Media: Install
The last version | Released: October 2, 2012
Symbian – an operating system with its associated libraries, user interface solutions and specifications for utility programs produced by the Symbian consortium, which included the largest manufacturers of mobile phones (Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, Sony Ericsson). In later years, only Nokia remained in the consortium. Symbian was created based on the EPOC system, used in PDAs by Psion PLC.
This operating system is used in many types of portable devices, including mobile phones (first on the Ericsson R380 phone) and palmtops.
Applications for the Symbian platform can be written in many languages (mainly C++ and Java), thanks to the SDK available on the manufacturer’s website.
After the abandonment of Symbian (forced by the takeover of the company), Nokia’s shares fell by over 70 percent. The last phone using the Symbian system is the Nokia 808 PureView.
Several user interface platforms were created based on Symbian, including:
– Series 60 (most popular on Nokia smartphones),
– Series 80 (designed for Communicator devices),
– Series 90 (designed for MID devices),
– UIQ (used mainly in Motorola and Sony Ericsson smartphones).
Symbian 3 and older versions are based on WebKit. Symbian was the first mobile platform to use WebKit (in June 2005).
Despite Nokia officially abandoning the platform and limiting support by blocking new content (since 01.01.2014) and later completely closing the Nokia Store, some developers continue to support the latest versions of the system: Symbian^3/Anna (S60 v5.2, Symbian OS v9.5) and Nokia Belle in its original version (S60 v5.3, Symbian OS v101), as well as with Feature Pack 1 (S60 v5.4, Symbian OS v101) and Feature Pack 2 (S60 v5.5, Symbian OS v101).
The group of developers is mainly gathered around the All About Symbian website and alternative software stores AppList and SIStore. There are new third-party applications supporting services such as Instagram (InstaPro for Symbian) and Facebook (fMobi), as well as updates to existing ones (e.g. StarBrowser). Nokia’s Here Maps division continues to release updates for the Nokia Maps for Symbian application.
