Symbian Unveils Wireless Platform
By HANS GREIMEL
.c The Associated Press
HANOVER, Germany (AP) - An international venture of high-tech powerhouses unveiled a new computer platform Wednesday that aims to bridge programming gaps that stifle communication between different kinds of handheld computers and mobile phones.
Symbian - which is owned by mobile phone giants Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia, and computer makers Matsushita and Psion - announced the project during a press preview the day before doors open at CeBIT, the world's largest technology and computer trade show.
Called Quartz, the operating system's main feature is designed to create easier communication between various handheld gadgets, thereby cashing in on the growing demand for devices - other than personal computers - that can access the Internet.
Within three years, the company estimates that roughly 1 billion people worldwide will be using wireless devices, with about 15 percent of them using so-called smart phones which can transmit voices and data messages as well as surf the Internet.
``Symbian's goal is to set standards and create a mass market for wireless information devices,' said chief executive Colly Myers.
While Symbian's backers account for 75 percent of the mobile phone market, it still faces stiff competition from Microsoft and handheld computer market leader Palm Computing, maker of the Palm devices.
Motorola will be the first to use Symbian's new technology, beginning in the spring of 2001.
The Quartz operating system could eventually be the standard for wireless devices, just like Windows has become the near-universal standard operating system for desktop computers, said Joe Oliver, a wireless analyst with Lehman Brothers in London.
``You've got a system by which the vast majority of fixed-line computers on desktops operate on one standard, the vast majority of which is Windows,' he said. ``But in the wireless world, you have three, four, five standards. Ideally, there would just be one standard there as well, and Symbian is just one company fighting to establish it.'
The software also will be licensed to other companies that make palmtop computers and mobile phones. Its makers say it will allow more fluid Internet browsing using a technology called Wireless Application Protocol, which formats online data such as stock quotes, headlines and sports scores for viewing on the small screens of mobile phones and other handheld devices |
