Sony phone deal gives Symbian boost

Symbian has been given a further boost with the announcement that Sony is to use its Epoc mobile operating system for its next-generation wireless devices.

Sony will base all its 2.5 and third generation (3G) mobile phone handsets on the software, jointly developed specifically for wireless devices by Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia and Psion.

Mobile phone handsets combining telephone, Internet, and multimedia applications such as music and video, will be available this time next year, Sony claimed. However, the electronics giant said the software could also be used in the future for other consumer devices such as a digital cameras or pocket TVs.

Colly Myers, CEO of Symbian, told Silicon.com: "We want Symbian's software platform to be the standard for next-generation wireless devices integrating computing and communications. Clearly having Sony as a major licensee is a major step towards that goal."

Carey Gray, research analyst at the Butler Group, argued that the deal gives Symbian a competitive edge over its rival Microsoft in the short term. "Although Sony has agreed to use Microsoft's Mobile Explorer, PocketPC still requires too much memory for use on a mobile handset. Although you can't write Microsoft out of the picture altogether this certainly means that the next generation of mobile handsets will be using Symbian."

Sony also announced it will run the handsets on Texas Instruments' (TI's) DSP (digital signal processor)-based Omap (Open Multimedia Application Platform) processor technology.

Gray commented that using TI and Symbian's technology together will give the Sony handsets enhanced quality and functionality. He said: "Using DSP means that the handsets will be able to process and display video signal far quicker. And it also shows Sony has great faith in using a phone to display video."

In an addition to the deal Symbian has agreed to develop device drivers for Sony's Memory Stick storage and data exchange technology, which the electronics giant is trying to make the de facto standard for mobile phone devices. Sony said having Symbian's co-operation is a significant boost to those efforts.