Nokia Nseries ditching Symbian by 2012?

By on Nov 18, 2009 at 8:09 AM
General November 18, 2009

maemo

According to the Maemo marketing team, it looks like it’s already in motion. Apparently Nokia still has some Nseries devices in the pipeline which will still use S60 as the operating system, but after those are out of the factory, it seems like Maemo will be the OS of choice for Nokia’s Nseries. That doesn’t mean that Nokia has plans to ditch Symbian altogether yet, as the enterprise-friendly Eseries and new Xseries will still run Symbian for the foreseeable future.

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  • Jason Bourne

    Now how about a hands on review of that epic N900 Maemo device?…

  • jonathan

    yeah, waiting on that review myself.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • craig

    I am a big user of S60 (writing this post on the E71 even), but even I can say “good riddance”. Symbian as a kernel is a VERY advanced OS, but UI has become stale as we all know. Nokia makes great hardware, but theres so much baggage associated with the S60 UI that as far as high-end consumer devices go, a new start on the N-Series with Maemo is just what the doctor ordered.

  • Srki

    Love your mobile site!

    Im waiting for N900 too, hope it will be good as we all hope.

  • tome

    help!!!!!!!!!! what’s wrong with my Verizon BlackBerry Storm, but the BlackBerry Storm Voice Activation Not working!!!!!!!!!!!!
    http://www.verizon-cellphones.org/verizon-blackberry-storm-voice-activation-not-working.html

  • Anthony

    Droid sucks

    • Fireball

      GET A LIFE OUTSIDE OF BGR ANTHONY!

    • a

      droid hardware and software was too ambitious for motorola’s quality control.

  • Abdel

    Why not in 2009? S60 sucks.

  • Noel

    About time…wish that will happen sooner. Maemo is better suited to withstand the Android onslaught..S60 doesn’t stand a chance to compete w/ Android bcz of its limitation. I love Google Android and i love Nokia Maemo..both platforms will do us well…the era of the POCKET MOBILE COMPUTER PHONES is upon us…love it love it love it. Most ppl are on the road most of the time..so an all in one device on my hand works gr8. Just make sure it has internet, Gps, good cam say 5Meg or up, multimedia, tons of storage, ofcz a large enuf screen abt 3.5 to 4 inches, Wifi, 3G, a faster processor 1Ghz, more battery power and all the good stuff that cell phones offer these days…

    • jonathan

      Most of what you listed as a desire has been in a nokia phone for at least 2 – 3 years. n95 anybody?

      I had WIFI in my n80. How many other phones had that? Nokia has been ahead of the curve for so long, and now everyone has finally caught up. It is about time.

      But I agree to a point, I believe this is the spark Nokia needs to start putting breakthrough ideas on the market. If they feel this is more achievable with Maemo, count me in! I wish the n900 had the AT&T 3g bands. I’d sell my n97 for it!

  • phonejunkie30

    @Jason Bourne,

    definately waiting fir that review bring it in bgr.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Grand Prairie North America

  • phonejunkie30

    @Anthony,

    you suck anthony you toad. ๎š

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Grand Prairie North America

  • Dara

    Symbian peaked with the N95 (or E71 if you qwerty). Everything else from Nokia has been a slight variation on these phones. Samsung’s Omnia HD and Sony’s Satio are awesome, but neither is a real groundbreaker.

    Sadly, no other manufacturer has come up with an “across the board” better solution in the past 2 years. Everything else seems to be crippled in one way or another. Windows Mobile is sad, BB is locked down, and Android is just catching up now but raises some issues about data ownership. iPhone’s are pretty, but no matter how many cool “features” a nerf football has, it has no business in the hands of a grown man.

    Maemo seems to be everything that Android promised but more open, powerful, and gives full ownership to the guy buying the phone (that would be me, not a carrier or a content company).

  • StevenGlansburg

    I will chime in and also request the review. We all know you will hate on the resistive touch screen, but other than that I’m curious how you will like the Maemo 5 OS and overall experience using it on American soil.

  • http://cartoonvixens.blogspot.com Aaron Martin-Colby

    I, for one, am sad. I love Symbian. Yes, the interface has become less-than-ideal for the world of touch screen phones, but the core of the OS is still fantastic.

    I would have preferred further work on Symbian, even though I understand the decision to move to a new OS.

  • jonathan

    @jonathan, yeah I still have my N95 8 gb and now my wife uses it and I fear she might lose it someday. Still the best phone I ever owned. Looking forward to the Maemo OS. I too wished the N900 supported ATT 3g band.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • Jim

    I can’t predict how Maemo will develop over the years, but at this point in time, Android>Maemo. It’s not even a contest.

    Android takes both Maemo and Symbian and publicly gives them a wedgy.

    Sorry, but it’s true.

  • ysleiro

    Why doesn’t Nokia use Android?

    Do any of you guys know?

    • travis

      because maemo is more open than android.

    • Raymond

      I know this comment will go down like a lead balloon since BGR is populated by a horde android apologists.

      One need only look at the Windows PC market to what a bad deal a generic OS has turned for the hardware makers. It’s a race to the bottom with razor thin margins as companies struggle to differentiate themselves from the competition and consumer loyalty is almost non-existent. You can hardly expect Nokia as the biggest handset maker to run with open arms to turn itself into a generic hardware outfit.

      Nokia is not alone, Samsang is also trying out it Bada OS so that it does not commit itself completely to android.

  • Rofa

    What baffles me with all this is: Whatever happened to Symbian^3 and forward? Wasn’t that supposed to be the way towards modernizing the platform?

    That being said, I must agree with most other comments here — it’s about time to leave that sinking ship.

    What bothers me, however, is that they’re still going to stay with S60 for E-series. This means that E-series users will not be seeing many new apps developed for their phones, as most developer focus will be on the significantly more mass-market N-series.

    One of the strong points of Nokia smartphones has, imho, always been the fact that they’ve all ran the same OS, meaning application cross-compatibility between models. Now with two separate smartphone platforms in parallel, at least one of them is bound to suffer…

    • Dara

      One of their big moves is to transition Symbian apps to the Qt architecture which is also supported by maemo (as well as having an existing developer base).

      This means that down the road, the apps will be almost interchangeable.

  • Nico

    Maemo is the only OS that interests me besides Android. I think Nokia is making the right move on this one. But why change N Series from S60 to Maemo? Why not create a new series name that is 100% Maemo and doesn’t have previous devices of a inferior OS?

    • jonathan

      I am interested in Maemo too, but there really is no buzz at all here in the States. It seems like Nokia is getting non-existent here with all the attention centered around the Android OS and of course Apple’s iphone. Whats going on? I know Nokia is worldwide but they have to be concerned about not having the presence it needs in the US.

  • David

    First, Nokia needs to understand that Symbian is not the problem. Its ancient and unpolished UI is.

    S60 was mostly fine until they tried to put touch on it.

    Second, Nokia needs to think about its huge portfolio. They should concentrate the efforts on a few models over their line, or they risk putting out many platforms and having none that can gain developers and a good user base.

    My .02c

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