Nokia Assures Symbian ^3 Community it's Not Abandoning Them

In case you’re wondering about the fate of Nokia’s Symbian ^3 platform what with the entrance of Microsoft’s WP7 into the picture, Nokia’s first lady Purnima Kochikar Vice President, Forum Nokia has just revealed the company’s plans. In a letter to the Nokia developers of the globe, she has assured contributors not to worry about the direction the company was taking.

Don’t be afraid Symbian fans

While stating that WP7 was to become the company’s “primary smartphone platform” (what a shocker) Symbian ^3 was not going to be out of the picture entirely. Nokia will continue to develop handsets running their beloved Symbian platform and still intend to encourage the developer’s community to continue creating apps etc. for the platform. It seems the company is quite positive abut Symbian still retaining a large and loyal following even though it seems quite evident it was on it’s way out.

Kochikar has made it abundantly clear that Nokia fully intends to launch a slew of Symbian infused devices soon which will be more powerful than previous devices. “GHz+ processing capabilities and faster graphics speeds” is what was promised. Regular updates for the platform will continue to be doled out starting this summer and we could see updated features like - a new home screen, new flexible widgets, new icons, a faster browser, new Navbar and a fresh look and feel to Ovi Store and Ovi Maps, including integration of social media services in Ovi Maps.

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For countries like India where Symbian still has loyalists Kochikar stated that the company’s portfolio in that series of devices will continue to expand. Though there did seem to be a hint of despair in a statement that said - we cannot give you the date when Symbian will no longer be supported. Does this mean there is a date on the horizon? Or Is it simply speculation that a date will never come? It’s anyone’s guess. But I do belive there’s no way they’d let it go too easily if at all.

The company also changed their logo with the announcement of a while new typeface – say hello to Nokia Pure -

Nokia Pure, simple yet tasteful

Qt, the development platform for Symbian and future MeeGo technology, is already making itself known as only recently MeeGo was announced getting into the SmartTv business. So Nokia/Symbian loyalist, as glum as things may look, it seems like there’s a faint silver lining on this cloud. You could be assured of continued development for the Symbian ^3 platform or you could still stay loyal to the company and simply choose to go with their WP7 devices. It’s great to have choices.