HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will license its Series 60 software platform, which Nokia licenses as a source code product to other handset manufacturers, for its next generation of smart phones.
The deal quiets any rumors that Microsoft Corp. was on the cusp of a major win for a manufacturer to offer a smart phone that ran on Microsoft’s Smartphone 2002 software. Industry watchers thought Microsoft reached a turning point in its bid to become a major player in the smart-phone market after the Federal Communications Commission approved several weeks ago a clamshell-design Samsung smart phone based on its platform.
Now it seems Samsung, the third-largest mobile-phone maker in the world, was just testing the waters.
“Series 60 is an ideal software platform for the advanced smart phones,” said ByungDuck Cho, senior vice president of the mobile communications research and developments team for Samsung Electronics. “The licensing model with access to the source code will give us the opportunity to contribute to, and influence, the platform development. The platform’s flexibility will enable us to maintain in our product portfolio a high competitive edge associated with the Samsung brand.”
Although Series 60 has been licensed to Siemens AG and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. Ltd. as well, Nokia is currently the only manufacturer with a handset on the market that uses the software platform. More Series 60-based devices are expected to launch in the coming year.
Pertti Korhonen, executive vice president of mobile software for Nokia, said that Nokia’s aim in distributing the software platform is “to increase the compatibility between smart phones, since ultimately that will lead to seamless and easy-to use mobile services for consumers and corporations to enjoy.”
