Symbian Operating System
Symbian OS is the advanced, open operating system licensed by the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturers. It is designed for the specific requirements of advanced 2G, 2.5G and 3G mobile phones. Symbian OS combines the power of an integrated applications environment with mobile telephony, bringing advanced data services to the mass market.
Symbian OS is a powerful aligning force for the wireless value chain, driving the wireless industry. Mobile phone manufacturers, network operators and software developers are assured that they are working with an industry standard, open operating system that allows customization and is focused on the mass market.
Symbian OS is designed to support innovation and customization by licenses. Compact enough to fit in the memory of a mobile phone, Symbian OS was planned from the beginning to be a full operating system in terms of functionality. It includes a robust multi-tasking kernel, integrated telephony support, communications protocols, data management, advanced graphics support, a low-level user interface framework and a variety of application engines.
Features of Symbian system
Integrated multimode mobile telephony - Symbian OS integrates the power of computing with mobile telephony, bringing advanced data services to the mass market. Symbian OS is the operating system of choice for 2.5G and 3G mobile phones.
Messaging - Symbian OS includes comprehensive support for SMS, EMS, MMS, email and fax. Peer-to-peer multimedia messaging is a key revenue generator for 2.5G and 3G networks
Open application environment - Symbian OS enables mobile phones to be a platform for deployment of applications and services (programs and content) developed in a wide range of languages (Java and C++) and content formats
Standards and interoperability - with a flexible and modular implementation, Symbian OS provides a core set of application programming interfaces (APIs) and technologies that is shared by all Symbian OS phones. Key industry standards such as IP v4 and v6, Bluetooth wireless technology, Java, WAP and SyncML are supported
Multi-tasking - Fully object-oriented and component-based, Symbian OS includes a multi-tasking kernel, middleware for communications, data management and graphics, the lower levels of the graphical user interface framework, and application engines
Robustness - Symbian OS maintains instant access to user data. It ensures the integrity of data, even in the presence of unreliable communication, and limited resources such as memory, storage and power
Flexible user interface design - By enabling flexible graphical user interface design on Symbian OS, Symbian is fostering innovation and is able to offer choice for manufacturers, carriers, enterprises and end-users. Using the same core operating system in different designs also eases application porting for third party developers.
With Symbian OS, mobile phone manufacturers and third parties can produce innovative UIs for families of mobile phones such as:
*Mobile phones with a numeric keypad
*Mobile phones with touch screens
*Mobile phones with full keyboards and large color screens