Symbian Foundation in anti-Android recruit drive

The Symbian Foundation is limbering up to face the Open Handset Alliance next week, announcing a raft of new members to take on the Android threat, while LiMo and Access Linux lurk nearby looking for scraps. Realising that the battle of operating systems is all about applications, Symbian has announced a load of new members …

[Danny Thompson]

Horse, door, stable

Its not as if the Symbian camp had sufficient years to get their act together. Now, however, two upstarts open their stall for business within a year or so of each other and its the time to panic? I think not. The best that Symbian can do is to shut the door as they leave. The horse has well and truly left the stable - Symbian will have to grow up compete.

Paris - because she doesn't like a bit of competition either

[Tris Orendorff]

Laptots¿

What is a laptot in the context of this article¿

[TeeCee]

Re: Laptots

I think that it's something to do with Extreme Pornography.

<sigh>

I guess we'll be missing El Reg for a bit once NuLab's Jackbooted Stormtroopers have kicked the doors in and seized the servers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Give me the tools and I'll finish the job

I've been working with Symbian programming for nearly 9 years and Android for 3 weeks.

On device debugging is my hobby horse. After 9 years it's very hit and miss on Symbian devices - sometimes it works other times the devices will sulk and not allow me to debug.

On the G1 it worked after a minute or so and carries on working - brilliant.

[Mage]

Smart phones

So how many Symbian, RIM and OSX are there sold last 6 months compared with

Limo

Android

Access

WinMobile

Symbian hasn't too much to worry about. But WinMo/Ce is doomed.

[Goat Jam]

Desktop Windows?

On phones? Surely you meant Windows Mobile?

[Markie Dussard]

@Danny Thompson

"The best that Symbian can do is to shut the door as they leave." Precisely.

As an ex-employee of Symbian's I have had the dubious benefit of watching the complacent arrogance of some of the numpties trying to manage the company as if it was a small business.

The internal culture is one of patronage and reprisal. Mention to your Technical Architect that you are about to call a colleague for the first time and, invariably, you would receive a judgement on whether they were a 'good guy' (i.e. one of his mates) or not (i.e. an internal foe), with a heavily implied assumption that this verdict should guide your conversation. Even code reviews were politicised. These guys actually give each other marks for neatness :-)