The Financial Times is reporting that Nokia will finally kill off Symbian once and for all in the third quarter of 2013. So long, underpowered Nokia smartphones.
While Nokia still shipped 500,000 Symbian handsets in the first quarter of this year, it seems to be over for the ageing OS. Sure, it’s taken a while for its Windows Phone handsets to gain traction, but the processes involved in developing for the platform is apparently worth the move. A Nokia spokesperson explained:
“It took 22 months to get a Symbian phone out of the door. With Windows Phone, it is less than a year. We spend less time having to tinker with deep-lying code and more time on crafting elements of the experience that make a big difference, such as around photography, maps, music and apps in general.”
It’s almost certainly the right decision for Nokia. But that shouldn’t stop us shedding a tear at the departure of an OS that powered the likes of the sliding N95 and the BlackBerry-alike E71. Symbian, in your own special way, you’ll be missed. [Financial Times via WM Power User]