White papers

Symbian provides a wealth of thought-leadership across the value chain of the smartphone industry and a small part can be found in these white papers and cases studies. Written by us or with our partners, these resources express a clear picture of the challenges and successes of global mobile technology.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems allow content owners to specify and control the usage policy for their content on mobile phones. Such systems are crucial for the entertainment industry and for secure information handling in corporate environments. In this white paper, we discuss how a system that integrates Symbian OS v9 with hardware-based security can take smartphone security to a new level. Download (0.12 Mb)

What Symbian Development Kit Do I need?

Symbian Development Kits enable earlier and deeper access to Symbian OS than is possible with phone manufacturer SDKs. There are several development Kits and this white paper provides an overview of which is most appropriate for different development tasks. Download (0.33 Mb)

Symbian Signed

This white paper outlines the scope and context of Symbian Signed, an industry-wide application signing and verification process for all Symbian OS third party applications. Download (0.28 Mb)

Symbian in the Enterprise

Symbian OS is the world-leading open operating system that powers the most popular and advanced smartphones from the world’s leading handset manufacturers. Symbian OS is the industry's standard choice for smartphones that not only feature calendars, contacts, messaging, push email and web browsing, but can also extend easily to any enterprise information system. Download (0.11 Mb)

Symbian Smartphones for the Enterprise

Supplying operating systems that enable a mass market for enhanced communications and information services based on mobile phones. Download (0.56 Mb)

Why a different operating system?

This white paper describes the key characteristics required of an operating system designed for mobile phones and explains why Symbian OS is the best-in-class mobile operating system. Download (0.07 Mb)

Creating the mass-market for Symbian OS

An advanced, mobile, operating system is required for the evolution of applications and services that will increase revenue streams for mobile operators. This paper explains the need for an operating system that supports data-enabled mobile phones in next-generation networks. Download (0.04 Mb)

Symbian OS: supporting packet-switched networks

This paper examines the opportunities for new revenue streams in packet-switched wireless networks and the key role played by Symbian OS phones in driving this market. Download (0.03 Mb)

Symbian OS v7.0 for 3G mobile phones - functional description.

Symbian OS v7.0 supports robust multi-tasking, integrated telephony, communications protocols, data management, advanced graphics support, a UI framework and a variety of application engines in 3G mobile phones. Download (0.23 Mb)