Elop: Symbian will be updated “at least” until 2016

By Geoff Duncan Published May 27, 2011

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (May 2011) — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is making what many consider a hail-mary move to restore his company’s fortunes in the mobile industry by betting heavily on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform. However, seeking to re-assure Nokia’s long-time partners and developers, Elop is now taking steps to emphasize that Nokia’s existing Symbian platform won’t be going away overnight. In China, speaking with Nokia’s own Conversations blog, Elop said Symbian will be receiving updates “at least up to” 2016.

The promise is important for Nokia’s existing development and channel partners: although Nokia has yet to be a serious competitor in the post-iPhone smartphone market, the company is still the largest maker of mobile handsets in the world, based largely on its sales into emerging markets. Most of those handsets run Symbian, and it will be some time before operators and channel partners can shift their operations over to a Windows Phone or MeeGo operating system.

Recommended Videos

Elop also emphasized that Beijing will be one of Nokia’s four major R&D bases for Windows Phone, but also the global R&D center for Nokia’s Symbian S30 and S40 systems. That means China will become the heart of Nokia’s Symbian development efforts and that if Symbian programmers are looking for work—as Nokia cuts 7,000 jobs and shifts the operating system to Accenture—China might be the place to look.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Mobile

Everything you need to know about the OnePlus 13

Official OnePlus 13 product renders showing rear panel colors.

OnePlus is an excellent brand that offers powerful flagship phones at a great value compared to some of its competitors. We followed every rumor about the OnePlus 13 for months, but now it's here — and it's everything we hoped for. It might not be available in the Western market yet, but it will be soon.

So, what makes the OnePlus 13 so special? Here's everything you need to know about OnePlus' latest flagship.
When is the OnePlus 13 being released?

Mobile

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. MediaTek Dimensity 9400: the race is on

Comparison of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite and MediaTek Dimensity 9400 processors.

The flagship mobile silicon race has entered its next phase, one that will dictate the trajectory of Android hardware heading into 2025. Merely weeks after MediaTek wowed us with the Dimensity 9400 system on a chip (SoC), Qualcomm also pulled a surprise with the reveal of the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

But this time around, the battle is not as straightforward. Where MediaTek is working closely with Arm and adopting its latest CPU and graphics innovations, Qualcomm has firmly put its faith in custom cores. These are no ordinary cores, but a next-gen iteration of the same fundamental tech stack that powers Windows on ARM laptops.

Mobile

Discolored line on your new Kindle? You aren’t alone

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition on a table.

The new Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is the first full-color e-reader, and a lot of bookworms couldn't wait to get their hands on it. Sadly, many people are reporting the display has a discolored yellow area at the bottom of the screen. The problem is so widespread that the Kindle Colorsoft dropped to an average review rating of 2.6 out of 5, although it does remain the bestselling e-book reader at the moment.

The cause of the discoloration isn't clear. Some users report that it only happens when using the edge lighting feature on the Kindle, while others say it appeared after a software update. Either way, the yellowing is a problem, especially on a device that Amazon has marketed as being great for comics and graphic novel fans. It's hard to enjoy the colorwork in a comic when it's distorted.