Symbian

Chinese network company Huawei Technologies is planning to launch smartphones based on the Android and Symbian operating systems in the first half of 2009, according to James Chen, director of marketing for the company's terminals division. It will also launch a new embedded 3G module at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress this month, he said.

As wireless computing mushrooms with new devices, applications and a global move toward "openness," one analyst is suggesting some contraction is in order.

Chip designer Arm Holdings released on Tuesday its first application profiling tool for the Symbian OS.

Research and development efficiency, and not competitive concerns about the Google Android or Linux Mobile (LiMo) initiatives, was a chief driver in the decision to make the Symbian mobile platform open source, a Symbian official said Monday afternoon.

Nokia confirmed Thursday its widely used Series 40 operating system has security vulnerabilities that could allow stealth installation and activation of applications.

The Symbian Foundation is growing, with another nine companies joining the organization, including mobile operators 3, America Movil and TIM.

As if "openness" wasn't already the key word of the year for mobile communications, Nokia took the concept a step further Tuesday, announcing plans to create an organization called the Symbian Foundation, which will make the Symbian mobile operating system an open platform, with licenses to be offered royalty-free.

Symbian, which has made most of its money providing software for high-end, feature-rich phones, has got the mass market in its sights. Upcoming handsets from Nokia are proof that it's moving in the right direction, according to Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight.

Microsoft said this week that it will deliver a version of its Silverlight media player for Nokia's market-leading S60 platform for smartphones by the end of this year.

TapRoot Systems this week began offering a freely downloadable version of a recently launched carrier product that turns Wi-Fi-equipped 3G smartphones into wireless hotspots, in an effort to simplify mobile Internet access.