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#1
I don't speak Finnish, so I can't really judge the source or anything, but still, this is interesting:

Article (translated by Google)
 
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#2
Well, Kauppalehti is respected newspaper in Finland.
 
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#3
Hehe, the guy said just enough to seed holy fear into Symbian management hearts
 
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#4
I guess so

If it turns out to be true (or really happening), I guess they'll try to use Qt to ease the transition between Symbian S60 and the new Linux-based OS? First offer Qt for S60 as soon as possible, convince the app developers to use Qt to design their programs and then switch to the new OS...
 
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#5
Originally Posted by chlettn View Post
If it turns out to be true (or really happening), I guess they'll try to use Qt to ease the transition between Symbian S60 and the new Linux-based OS? First offer Qt for S60 as soon as possible, convince the app developers to use Qt to design their programs and then switch to the new OS...
It is not as simple as just rewriting the UI. UI is almost the easiest part. The cellular comm stack, the real time framework, the bluetooth stack, the power management code are the hard parts. Symbian has them nailed down, but Linux does not. Nokia did have a lot of headstart with Maemo though.
 

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#6
It seems relatively obvious that Nokia is considering moving away from the aging symbian platform towards some linux based device. Why do you think the internet tablets exist in the first place? Should I also point out that the most recent and desirable competition runs on BSD?

The real problem, however, is not the underlying os, be it linux or BSD. The real problem is the user interface and programming libraries. The most obvious and desirable competition took over 10 years building their interface, and they got a big head start from Next. Moreover, they were able to finance the development costs from their traditional computer line. Not so with Nokia (or Sony-Ericson, or Samsung, or Chinese manufacturers like HTC...), whose shareholders are probably much more interested in reaping the short terms benefits of selling cheap, simple phones by the millions.
 
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#7
An english source...

Nokia "definitely" preparing Linux-based phones, flavor unknown
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/20/n...lavor-unknown/
 
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#8
Originally Posted by fms View Post
It is not as simple as just rewriting the UI. UI is almost the easiest part. The cellular comm stack, the real time framework, the bluetooth stack, the power management code are the hard parts. Symbian has them nailed down, but Linux does not. Nokia did have a lot of headstart with Maemo though.
Of course - but nothing stops Nokia from offering Qt bindings or something similar to detach that OS dependency from 3rd party apps, right? I haven't worked with Qt yet, so that's just guesswork on my part though...

I just thought that a move along that lines would make the Trolltech purchase a bit more logical....

Originally Posted by Jerome View Post
whose shareholders are probably much more interested in reaping the short terms benefits of selling cheap, simple phones by the millions.
I don't think they'll stop selling cheap, simple phones by the millions just because they spend money on adapting Linux to be the main OS. Just tell those pesky shareholders that this way, the company can save a lot of money in the long run otherwise spent on royalities for Symbian

I also doubt that Apple worked 10 years of the iPhone OS/UI, and that the synergies between the mobile version and the desktop system are all that great...

Last edited by chlettn; 2008-05-20 at 20:53.
 

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#9
qtopia anyone?
 

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#10
Originally Posted by fms View Post
It is not as simple as just rewriting the UI. UI is almost the easiest part. The cellular comm stack, the real time framework, the bluetooth stack, the power management code are the hard parts. Symbian has them nailed down, but Linux does not. Nokia did have a lot of headstart with Maemo though.
Oh, but it does; look at all the phones Sony and Motorola have that run realtime Linux under the hood, although you'd never, ever guess by looking at them.

With that kind of kernel already available, I'd think the UI (adapting or adding or what have you) is the most important part... that and applications for smartphones.
 
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