HANDHELD OPERATING SYSTEMS: Symbian Symbolizes Convergence

For a long time, great need has been felt to combine the multiple devices

that a consumer is forced to carry in his pockets. Most notable among them are

mobile phone and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), the latter is also called

palmtop or personal organizer, with integrated web-browsers.

These small devices–coming in many shapes and sizes, and targeting at

different market segments–are also called as Wireless Information Devices (WIDs).

They cover the spectrum between traditional PDAs (handheld devices having

computer-like functions and some with communication feature) and mobile phones

(offering voice communication as well as data capability to support an address

book and basic messaging).

WIDs, being both small and mobile, are faced with high user expectations. For

instance, if one has agenda or planner on a device, which one also uses to make

phone calls and exchange data, one will carry it and use it all the time.

Fulfilling these expectations also demands serious power management, as the

device needs to be responsive in all situations and cannot afford to go through

a boot sequence when it is turned on. In fact, it should never be powered down

at all, since it must always be able to raise alarms or handle incoming calls.

At the same time, a WID must provide many hours of operation on a single charge

or set of batteries. Meeting these contradictory requirements requires that the

operating system is designed for efficiency.

The first results are seen in the form of today’s ‘Nokia’ Communicator

or ‘Ericsson’ R380, among others. The 9210 Communicator is a perfect example

of current devices that can run streaming multimedia applications, allowing

access to services previously only envisioned for 2.5G networks and devices.

What each of them has in common is a unique operating system. Both of them

are based on Symbian OS/Platform earlier called ‘EPOC’ (Nokia 9210

Communicator running on version 6.0), an operating system that required highly

competitive global technology companies to converge together to develop it.

A New Co-operative Approach

Symbian is the start of a new co-operative approach between the world’s

leading innovators in the mobile voice and data market, with the objective to

establish Symbian OS as the de facto operating system for mobile WIDs, and drive

innovation and market growth. As the worlds of mobile computing and mobile

communications are converging, Symbian is positioned at the forefront of this

convergence.

Symbian alliance founded in 1998 and headquartered in London, is a consortium

in the form of a private company. Its partners are Psion, Ericsson, Nokia,

Motorola and Panasonic.

Kenwood, Philips, Sanyo, Siemens, Sony and other manufacturers as well as all

the founding members have taken the licenses for future products. Among other

strategic alliances are Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments,

ARM, Cadence, Sybase, etc.

For licensees of WIDs, Symbian technology provides customizable user

interfaces, color support, fit-for-purpose application suites, advanced Internet

connectivity, and officially accredited and award-winning PC connectivity

software, providing key commercial and technological advantages for

manufacturers of WIDs. The Symbian Device Family Reference Designs (DFRD), on

which mobile computing and cellular phone manufacturers can base their devices,

are optimized for small, portable handheld computers or mobile phones with

wireless access to voice or data services. It aims to give consumer electronics

manufacturers broad scope for differentiation and innovation in user interfaces,

hardware designs and connectivity.

The Needs of WID Market

WID market is quite unlike most other markets, such as PCs or fixed domestic

appliances. Therefore, to meet WID needs scaling down a PC operating system or

bolting communication on to a small and basic OS would result in too many

fundamental compromises. Thus, Symbian has aimed to address following five

unique characteristics to design an operating system without limiting WID

product functionality.

• devices are both small and
  
  mobile;

• target is mass
  
  market, which comprises of consumer, enterprise and professional users;

• devices are
  
  intermittently wireless connected, they can be used both when connected to
  
  the wireless phone network or locally to other devices and also when not
  
  connected to any network;

• manufacturers
  
  need to differentiate their products in order to innovate and compete in a
  
  fast-evolving market;

• the platform has
  
  to be open for third-party application development.

Product Differentiation

According to Symbian, there are three major families of WIDs,

differentiated by the form factor and user interface. These include:

• Smartphones: Their design
  
  resembles today’s mobile phones, with main input via the phone keypad,
  
  with considerable room for variation from one model to another.

• Tablet-style Communicators:
  
  Communicator can be operated single-handed with a stylus (typical screen
  
  size 240x320 pixels).

• Keyboard-based Communicators:
  
  These communicators (with half —VGA screens typical size 640x240 pixels,
  
  though could be smaller or larger) devices have small keyboards (for example
  
  Nokia’s 9210 Communicator). At the high-end, they merge with sub-notebook
  
  PCs.

The different input mechanisms and form factors are dictated

by the intended use of the device. With a very small screen and just a keypad,

the main use tends to be voice calls. With pen input, browsing is quite

convenient but data entry is not. A keyboard may be the most practical mechanism

to enter large amount of data. The operating system should allow an OEM to

clearly brand the software splash screens, browser homepage and shortcuts, and

the like, so as to differentiate its own products from those of its competitors.

Open Platform

An operating system for the mass market has to be open for

the third-party development by the independent software vendors, OEMs, network

operators and enterprises. This implies a manageable learning curve, standard

languages such as C++ and Java, and rapid application development languages,

along with freely available/downloadable SDKs, tools, documentation, books,

technical support and training. While traditional standards such as Unicode for

font support, a POSIX API, and Java are a must, open standards such as TCP/IP,

Bluetooth, OBEX, WAP, JavaPhone, SyncML and MExE should also be supported.

With its mission being to set the standard for mobile

wireless operating systems and to enable a mass market for WIDs, such as

smartphones, communicators and handheld computers. Symbian aims to deliver open

platform to power WIDs with robust versatility building on its relationships

with the prominent members of the wireless community to bring better products to

light inline with the market needs. With its commitment to open standards,

Symbian platform has a POSIX-compliant interface and a Sun approved JVM, and is

actively working with emerging standards, such as J2ME, Bluetooth, WAP, MExE and

GPRS. With its own developer support organization, books, papers and courses,

Symbian delivers a global network of third-party competency and training

centers.

Convergence of Wireless Technologies

Besides the leading wireless technology companies mentioned

above, Symbian has also been working closely with the world’s largest mobile

network operator, NTT DoCoMo, to develop designs for wireless devices and

solutions based on the next generation telecommunications standard, W-CDMA.

Symbian is actively working with emerging wireless standards like GPRS and

Bluetooth.

• Symbian and GPRS

With the far superior data speeds of GPRS, these WIDs could

not be better timed for an enriching user experience. However, there are many

GPRS settings that may need to be configured for user to be able to use GPRS.

Symbian devices keep settings to a minimum and provide sensible defaults for

the user to enable a positive ‘out of the box’ experience.

GPRS service will need to be pre-set on devices in order

for them to run GPRS services. The user will need an Access Point Name (APN)

that allows the device to use GPRS services. The APN will be provided by the

network and could be setup manually or over the air with a smart message. The

device may be sold with GPRS enabled in the same way as GSM phones i.e. ready

to ‘switch on and work’. In case of GPRS, the users could be either billed

on a subscription basis, or by the amount of data traffic they generate.

• Symbian and Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a key technology for the WID market, which has

generated a significant industry interest since its arrival in 1998. The

Personal Area Network (PAN) will be a key feature of WIDs and Bluetooth will

be an enabling technology. With such potential, it is not surprising that many

of Symbian’s licensees see Bluetooth as a central WID technology.

Market Estimates

475 million cell phones are expected to be produced this year as against 12

million palmtops. However, the European market for palmtops showed a growth of

129 percent last year, as per Dataquest. The trend shows increased inclination



towards ‘Wireless access to the Net’, more so with the arrival of 2.5G i.e.
GPRS. Many believe that within a year, all PDAs will incorporate mobile phones.

The number of mobile devices worldwide is estimated to grow to over one

billion by 2002-2003. 10 to 15 percent will be smart phones or smart organizers.

50 percent of Nokia’s 3G phones to be sold in 2004 will be based on Symbian

platform.

These predictions set the urgency of timeframe for the operating systems for

WID devices.

Niraj K Gupta



www.telecombyNirajGupta.com