RIM to drop BlackBerry OS and go Symbian?

Posted
by
Steve St. Pierre
on October 11, 2006, at 1:36 PM
in News
.
Comments: 16 responses
16 Comments

sybianlogo.jpgWe’ll wait a second while it un-puckers.  Okay.  Out with the old and in with the new?  That could be happening with the OS you’ve come to know, love, and that might be annoying sometimes (sounds like the ideal marriage, really).  The Symbian OS might just be peeking out of your device within the next two years.

“Nomura analyst Richard Windsor contends that a partnership between RIM and Symbian on future generations of the BlackBerry OS could benefit both companies. He feels the Ontario-based mobile email giant has no more than 18 to 24 months to move to a new platform in the dog-eat-dog enterprise smartphone market.”

So if in that span of months they don’t straighten their ties and fix things, will you go elsewhere?  Will you head over to Palm?  Or do you have faith that RIM and the BlackBerry’ll pull through in the long run? Thanks to Robb (two b’s) over at RIMarkable for this heads-up. 

Permalink

Post Comment

  • James Baird

    What basis does the analyst use to say that RIM would move to Symbian?
    I suppose someone else will say that WIndows Mobile will be next.
    I would be willing to bet that RIM will continue to refine the OS and continue to make it the easiest to use PDA/Phone.

  • James Baird

    What basis does the analyst use to say that RIM would move to Symbian?
    I suppose someone else will say that WIndows Mobile will be next.
    I would be willing to bet that RIM will continue to refine the OS and continue to make it the easiest to use PDA/Phone.

  • yargson

    idiots. These analysys keep saying that the Blackberry OS is “dated”. And is unable to sustain Blackberry in the future.

    They are idiots. There is NO REASON the BB OS can’t sustain BB for a LONG TIME. I see NO VALUE ADD in BB switching OSes.

    People don’t buy devices because the OS. They buy them for the applications that run on them. The OS is always overrated.

  • yargson

    idiots. These analysys keep saying that the Blackberry OS is “dated”. And is unable to sustain Blackberry in the future.

    They are idiots. There is NO REASON the BB OS can’t sustain BB for a LONG TIME. I see NO VALUE ADD in BB switching OSes.

    People don’t buy devices because the OS. They buy them for the applications that run on them. The OS is always overrated.

  • Thought

    It is just one analyst’s opinion, and of course, that is subject to being wrong.

    Personally, I don’t see it happening. I think RIM has their act together and will do just fine with their own OS. They are experiencing their greatest success every, and only look to do better with in the future.

    They certainly are not like Palm, in desparate need of a new OS.

  • Thought

    It is just one analyst’s opinion, and of course, that is subject to being wrong.

    Personally, I don’t see it happening. I think RIM has their act together and will do just fine with their own OS. They are experiencing their greatest success every, and only look to do better with in the future.

    They certainly are not like Palm, in desparate need of a new OS.

  • Thought

    It is just one analyst’s opinion, and of course, that is subject to being wrong.

    Personally, I don’t see it happening. I think RIM has their act together and will do just fine with their own OS. They are experiencing their greatest success every, and only look to do better with in the future.

    They certainly are not like Palm, in desparate need of a new OS.

  • Dave

    It’s not going to happen. RIM’s OS has been carefully architected to provide an optimal wireless experience. Going Symbian would be a step in the wrong direction.

    I think there’s a better chance that Symbian would adopt the RIM OS as a standard Java-based layer, essentially building in BlacBerry Connect.

  • Dave

    It’s not going to happen. RIM’s OS has been carefully architected to provide an optimal wireless experience. Going Symbian would be a step in the wrong direction.

    I think there’s a better chance that Symbian would adopt the RIM OS as a standard Java-based layer, essentially building in BlacBerry Connect.

  • Paul

    Moving to Symbian would be a huge security risk. Symbian is not as secure as the BlackBerry Java based OS, a Java application on the BlackBerry is very limited in what it can and cannot do. With Symbian being a C++ based OS, it makes it much easier for the device to be compromised.

    I do agree though that a change will happen. The Safari based web browser on Symbian phones is much more advanced than the BlackBerry browser. RIM will be forced to find a solution to mesure up to the quality of web browsing on Symbian and Windows Mobile. The reality is that web developers write websites that target specific browsers, right now IE, Mozilla and Safari. My prediction is that the BlackBerry will have to run one of these web browsers to stay competitive, and OS change might be necessary to run one of these engines.

  • Paul

    Moving to Symbian would be a huge security risk. Symbian is not as secure as the BlackBerry Java based OS, a Java application on the BlackBerry is very limited in what it can and cannot do. With Symbian being a C++ based OS, it makes it much easier for the device to be compromised.

    I do agree though that a change will happen. The Safari based web browser on Symbian phones is much more advanced than the BlackBerry browser. RIM will be forced to find a solution to mesure up to the quality of web browsing on Symbian and Windows Mobile. The reality is that web developers write websites that target specific browsers, right now IE, Mozilla and Safari. My prediction is that the BlackBerry will have to run one of these web browsers to stay competitive, and OS change might be necessary to run one of these engines.

  • http://www.rimarkable.com/ Robb (RIMarkable)

    Paul,

    You are dead on about RIM needing to overhaul it’s browser. Mini Opera that does run on the BlackBerry is much better as well. I am note sure that the Symbian OS is the answer, however, they need to do something.

  • http://www.rimarkable.com Robb (RIMarkable)

    Paul,

    You are dead on about RIM needing to overhaul it’s browser. Mini Opera that does run on the BlackBerry is much better as well. I am note sure that the Symbian OS is the answer, however, they need to do something.

  • http://www.symbianblogger.com/ Symbian Blogger

    I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

  • http://www.symbianblogger.com Symbian Blogger

    I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

Bad Behavior has blocked 26058 access attempts in the last 7 days.