SYMBIAN ON THE LINE

It's also important to keep in mind that Nokia has a harmonization strategy: the Qt toolkit, which it obtained through an acquisition of Trolltech last year. Nokia is bringing Qt to S60 and plans to make Qt the foundation of the Maemo user experience in Harmattan, the version that will follow Maemo 5. This means that developers will be able to use Qt to build software that can run on both mobile platforms. This addresses the potential fragmentation issues and makes it practical for Nokia to continue using both platforms, targeting each to contexts in which it's appropriate.

Maemo products have traditionally been developer-centric and somewhat experimental, but it's likely that we will see the platform move into the regular consumer market as it matures and Nokia boosts its commitment. If it ends up being a viable and compelling replacement for Symbian, we could potentially see a transition over time. But Symbian is the world's dominant smartphone platform today, and its considerable momentum means that there is still a strong business case for modernizing it and moving it forward alongside Maemo.

I was just about to write something very similar. But great minds, the spirit of copy&paste (with attribution, mind you) and Posterous' amazing bookmarklet have all come together and made me do this instead.

Now chill.

Will Nokia ditch Symbian?
No.

How do I know this?
They promised me. They were thinking about the prospect of me moving this blog to yet another domain. And probably an even longer name too. Cool heads (and practical thinking) prevailed.

But isn't there really some hidden strategy behind this RX-51 move?
Yes, there is. However, it's only hidden if you discarded the past year in mobile because you were too preoccupied with making your phone fart. And thinking it was smart in the process.
Therefore, you most certainly missed last year's announcement of Maemo 5. And Harmattan. And still, right now, you have no idea what those words mean. Your phone requires attention. So please help it fart once more. Thanks.

Back in the real world, Maemo provides certain UX (and supported screen resolution) improvements in touchscreen devices right now, that Symbian will probably only see in ^4 (2011). Which is why it might be seen as the successor to Symbian Nokia's priciest devices.

On the other hand, since the N810, Nokia has added phone capabilities and improved the camera to its 2007 model (camera-wise - first seen on the N95) to the tablet line and increased the price by 150 euros. I wonder if this will sell. I mean, sure, certain geeks will be very excited (although the UI, honestly, is made to very much resemble the S60 you all hate) but an OS update, a phone radio and a 5MP camera are worth 150 euros? I don't know.

But if, and this is a big if, the price will indeed be the 550 euros before taxes that Eldar Murtazin touted, it feels to me like Nokia, for one reason or the other, are kinda missing market share for sheer profit here.

And it's not the first time either. See, the N97 is a perfectly reasonable phone for 90% of the people. But not at that price.

We'll see. These are interesting times, no doubt. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to quickly click Buy on symbianmaemowheredowedrawtheline.com.