Why is Samsung leaving Symbian at the moment?
We were not shocked when we heard the news about Samsung pointing out that they are not currently interested in getting Symbian platform in their mobile devices. As the company also noted that Bada and Android OS are their preferred platform as they see great potentials and benefits from these. The proof is that they already didn’t made another Symbian phone after the Samsung Omnia HD i8910.
Further more, there is only one big reason for this, though, and that was the slow pace of Symbian Foundation’s development on a competitive UI for the last couple of years. The reaction was also drastic not only to Samsung, it’s also seen to other manufacturers who used Symbian platform like Nokia and Sony Ericsson long before Samsung. And it seems that Symbian’s growth in market for the next months would be the vital key on Samsung’s decision on getting back for Symbian.
Finally it’s the Symbian^4 that would fit the company if ever they will be back in making devices in the said os platform. Determining of Symbian’s growth in market will surely be based on Nokia’s approach to mass offering Nokia N8 as the start-off flagship. And if ever it would be good feedback then watching this S. Korean company getting work with ‘rubber ducks’ on their lab is not surprising news.
What do you think of this move by Samsung? It’s just a right timing or it’s just making their selves late on the upcoming Symbian^4?
Samsung has made the right move. No one prefers symbian these days for a high end device. Sony Ericsson has announced that they wanna be the largest android handset maker which means lesser or no symbian device anymore 😉
@Sachu People keep forgetting there are still people in the world buying mid range and low range phones where symbian lands these days. Even Nokia is not using Symbian on their ‘high end devices,’ even N8 does not quite fit that criteria. Samsung seems to be pushing androids while they are developing Badu, or whatever it’s called, from low end and pushing it up.
Yes there realli is no hype on S^3 at the moment and trying to beat Nokia by using the same OS as them would be foolish at the moment. It all comes down to which OS right now has the most hype to help Samsung build marketshare and make money to develop their own OS. Samsung is getting too big to just use whatever OS other companies put out there. They need more controll.
Once you’ve played with an Android device, you understand Samsung’s choice. I’ve had an E61i, an E71, 2 XM5800s (my wife and I), and an N97 Mini… I loved each of these phones, and each of these phones convinced me that getting the next phone would also be a Nokia.
Then I tried a Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 on Android. And I discovered what it is to have a device REALLY connected to the internet. And that’s what today’s people want.
Android has features like “disable data when roaming”… which I have never seen on any of my devices.
Android connects in priority (without ME having to decide that) to WiFi… and only if no WiFi to cellular data (except when necessary for MMS, or for applications that specify it – accessing my cell phone operator’s voice mail).
Android has ONE network stack. When that stack is connected, EVERY application sees it. I don’t have to tell EACH application what network connectivity to use when they start (unlike my Nokia apps which each ask me what network to use – granted, not on the N97 which has the notion of a default connection, and I can tell apps to use the default – but what a hassle compared to the Android phone).
What this all means is that Android is not an evolution of an old phone OS to accomodate modern needs (Nokia has done that VERY WELL, by the way – not criticizing) but a complete creation of a MODERN OS without some of the legacy that comes from evolving something older.
From a developers point of view, Android is interesting also because there is zero cost associated to becomming a developer. Everything is free. You don’t even NEED a phone… the free SDK comes with an emulator. Makes it easily accessible.
Then there’s the eye candy part. An fancy Android phone behaves like an iPhone. Not when it comes to louse cellular reception, of course! Rather in terms of user interface. And that’s the “me too” factor. People look quickly at my phone and say “Oh! You have an iPhone!”. And I spend a happy moment telling them why I would never get a phone where the phone vendor decides for me what I’m allowed to install on my phone by making mandatory the use of a “store” to install apps. Android (like Symbian) lets me use a store… AS WELL as install from manually downloaded packages.
All in all, for me, Android is taking my phone experience where it was with Symbian, and adding all the features I was missing, and fixing the small glitches that were making my Symbian phones “just phones with fancy smart features added” and turing my Android device into a “connected computer that happens to also be a great phone”.
Methinks Symbian missed a boat here…
@Gilles
I hope this one can help you with the connections issues in your Nokia devices: http://symbianworld.org/5985-how-to-organize-internet-access-points-in-you-phone/
Look,Samsung can make there own choice but Symbian3 an 4 soon an Meego on the way,an Samsung keep trying the Best to Outshine Nokia but they will soon realise that Symbian is advancing an better the Android
Gilles the function you hate is the function I admire, I really like being in control of what application does what, with Symbian.
I also love the fact that I -mostly- have the option to choose a “default connection point” for connected applications I use, in Symbian.
@Gilles – It’s a security flaw if all the applications can use the same connection without informing the user. Imagine a virus app running in background which sends your phone data through internet. It would be a disaster..isn’t it??