Symbian Developer Fast Facts

Symbian is the market leading OS for smartphones. With 72% of the smartphone market and an open platform, developers are fundamental to the success of Symbian and the future of Symbian OS. Symbian and a vibrant ecosystem provide support for UI developers, device creators, commercial developers, hobbyists and freeware developers with appropriate levels of developer tools and support.

Largest commercial opportunity

Symbian has the largest installed base of smartphones
126 million+ Symbian smartphones shipped worldwide in multiple market segments
Symbian smartphone users love applications
Over half Symbian smartphone owners have bought and downloaded at least one application (source: Yankee Group)
Average selling price of a Symbian applications is $20.35 (MS is $15.70 – Source: Handango yardstick)
Symbian smartphone users are data-hungry
Symbian smartphone users generate 20-100% higher ARPU than other 3G users (Source: m:metrics)

Growing developer community

55000+ developers in the Symbian community (based on newsletter registrants and unique users at developer.symbian.com)
70000+ downloads of the Symbian OS Getting Started Guide in the last 12 months
500% growth in hits to developer.symbian.com in the last three months
Free developer environment, Carbide.c++, for entry level developers

The browser and beyond

Symbian OS provides the broadest choice of development environments. Developers choose their environment according to their skillset and the application being built. Each language has benefits for different situations.

Symbian C++ for “native applications” provides the richest set of capabilities
- Access: to over 20,000 APIs to provide compelling applications using technologies such as WiFi, GPS, DVB-H, HSDPA, IMS, multi-megapixel cameras, multi-GB storage, biometrics, industry leading security, 3D hardware accelerated graphics, tilt-sensors, DNLA and uPnP (Universal Plug and Play), demand paging, VoIP and much more…
- Integration: complete integration into the phones user experience
- Performance: native applications span a much wider range of categories and command a higher price
P.I.P.S. is POSIX on Symbian OS provides Standard C libraries for enhanced portability and re-use of existing C code and components
Java, Ruby, Python, Perl, OPL, and FlashLite sit on top of the existing architecture with limited access to the code libraries.These programming languages allow for porting between the various user interfaces that are based on Symbian OS and therefore allow for a larger audience reach.Additionally the graphics capabilities are highly suited to games and entertainment applications
.NET is C# and Visual Basic on Symbian OS and popular for enterprise applications
Browser based applications (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, Widgets) and improved browsing experience on latest smartphones, allow information (e.g. standard pages and RSS feeds) as well as Web 2.0 applications to easily be targeted to mobile devices as well as the desktop
Browser based applications (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, Widgets) allow access to pop mail as well as online calendars and applications such as m.facebook.com and goosync which will match your Symbian Smartphone calendar with your gmail calendar. All Symbian smartphones can support a full web browser with rich ‘full web’ functionality

From the Symbian Ecosystem

"We needed to develop SlingPlayer Mobile for a mobile OS that would allow us access to a wide range of native APIs. Symbian OS provided us with this opportunity and at the same time, access to the largest potential customer base." Blake Krikorian, co-founder, chairman and CEO, Sling Media.

“Leveraging the power of Symbian OS, Adobe FlashLite technology has unlocked the potential for operators and mobile handset manufacturers to successfully deploy engaging mobile experiences.” Gary Kovacs, vice president of Mobile and Device, product management & product marketing, experience, Adobe.

“Symbian OS is the only mobile phone platform that enables developers to utilize the full potential of smartphones to deliver compelling applications for business and consumers.” Scan Buy Product: scanLIFE” – a mobile 1D and 2D Barcode Reader more information

"We decided to develop our one-X Mobile Dual Mode product first on Symbian OS because it gave us great flexibility in terms of the APIs we could access which enabled us to offer leading edge features" Lawrence Masih, Mobility R&D Manager, Avaya

Product: one-X Mobile Dual Mode more information

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