[Ben]

Given that Symbian is the biggest 'smartphone' OS on the planet, the announcement that Symbian^3 is here couldn't really be more significant. Ironic, then, that it has been given such a rubbish name. What was wrong with just Symbian 3, which is, I believe, how it is pronounced anyway.

Symbian^3 brings multi-touch to Symbian, along with a host of other improvements such as seamless cellular/WiFi switching.

We'll be 5 years down the line before we know whether Symbian^3 was successful in either sustaining or growing market share. Any predictions?

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-phones/news/2010/02/17/MWC-2010--Nokia-Launches-Multi-touch-Symbian-3/p1

[Hands0n]

I personally think that Symbian has had its day. That it is on pretty much all Nokia kit and then some is not particularly relevant. It is merely a milestone in historical terms. Five years down the line is quite a lot of technology shift opportunity.

[hecatae]

I dont see any difference between that and what is currently available as a firmware update for the 5800 and N97

[solo12002]

I agree with your views lads, I think its had its day, to little to late and for that still months away, they say a picture paints xx words and from the screen shoots i see its tacky looking, out of date and tottaly dead

[The Mullet of G]

Yeah Nokia are totally doomed, if only they held the lions share in the market...oh wait they do. Seriously you folks should probably look at some market data, Nokia are already crushing the competition in the smartphone sector, a new slicker version of its OS is hardly going to hurt the company. Take into account that Nokia have only lost about 8% smartphone market share since 2006 and you can see why talk of Symbian having had its day is somewhat laughable, its akin to those crazy people that keep saying this is the year of Linux, and Windows is dead.

Also to the guy saying its just like the latest firmware for 5800 or N97, are you huffing glue? I own a 5800 on the latest firmware and it looks nothing like Symbian^3, not to mention hardware wise its certainly nothing like what the Symbian^3 platform will be built on, the N97 and 5800 are built on shoddy hardware and no amount of firmware will change that.

I predict that over the next 5 years Nokia's market share will remain fairly constant, it would be quite silly to think that its suddenly going to go from only losing 8% market share in the face of stiff competition, to just completely collapsing, if I'm being honest I suspect thats wishful thinking on the part of some posters here. :)