Symbian targets enterprises with tougher OS

Symbian has unveiled the latest version of its operating system, promising increased security and better support for music and gaming.

The firm's OS v9 supports the latest generation of ARM processors and uses ARM's RealView compiler to improve the performance of gaming and multimedia applications. Handsets running the OS are expected in the second half of this year.

Peter Bancroft, vice president of marketing communications at Symbian, told vnunet.com: "Clearly the target at this moment is the Christmas market. We can now support any size of megapixel camera."

The revamped OS also supports Bluetooth stereo headsets and advanced audio mixing. The addition of a digital rights management framework and added security aims to encourage operators to offer mobile commerce.

In order to better protect against malware, only applications with specific permissions can perform tasks such as making calls, sending SMS or accessing personal information on the phone.

Bancroft stated that the aim of the new OS is to allow manufacturers to target specific content types, such as gaming or music, to an audience with a device which matches it, and to help mobile operators push these non-voice services.

Symbian has also improved the platform's device management framework to allow network operators and IT managers to deploy applications or diagnose problems over the air.

"We think we've gone a long way towards getting over the hurdles to enterprise adoption," said Bancroft.

According to IDC more than 130 million smartphones will be sold globally each year by 2008, 15 per cent of the total mobile phone market.

See also:

3G mobiles switch on to Linux

Qualcomm chipsets to support open source OS  06 May 2005

Nokia claims half of all smartphone sales

Finns clean up with five million units in the first quarter  28 Apr 2005

Smartphone designers gain interface flexibility

New interface for Symbian smartphones  10 Feb 2005

HP to launch smartphone offensive

BlackBerry and Treo should be afraid, analyst predicts  03 Feb 2005

Smartphones killing off PDAs

Strong sales of smartphones and connected data devices hit unconnected PDAs  31 Jan 2005

Mobile firms target pay-as-you-go users

Monthly contract market approaching saturation, reports analyst  31 Jan 2005

Mobiles under threat from 'airborne viruses'

For once Microsoft is not the target  26 Jan 2005

Worm turns on Symbian mobile phones

Infection spreads via Bluetooth, but does not have malicious payload  11 Jan 2005

Smartphone users offered free antivirus

Software protects against viruses and SMS spam  06 Dec 2004

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