Nokia to drop Symbian for smartphones
Nokia will stop manufacturing smartphones using Symbian, the world’s most commonly used handset operating system, in favour of the Linux-based MeeGo, according to reports.
The world’s largest handset manufacturer developed MeeGo with US hardware giant Intel and the pair unveiled the OS at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
The move was seen as a reaction to the growing popularity of Google’s Android and criticism from mobile developers who claimed writing apps for Symbian had too may fragmentation problems.
Press reports claim a Nokia spokesman confirmed that its upcoming N8 handset will be the last of its N-series devices to use Symbian and that future devices in the series would run on MeeGo.
Nokia claimed it would continue to manufacture and ship Symbian handsets as part of its mid to low-end devices, but the move casts further doubt on the future of the OS.
It has manufactured the bulk of the word’s smartphones using Symbian and these are more widely deployed than devices using the high-profile Apple and Android OSs.
Meanwhile, Ash Choudhury has been appointed as head of digital marketing, Nokia UK & Ireland. The appointment is effective immediately. He joins from Fiat Group and has previously worked for Xerox and Canon.
Ash will report to head of marketing at Nokia UK John Nicholls.
This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk
