Symbian Exec: We Ain't Afraid Of Google's Android
According to a Wednesday report in the BBC News, John Forsyth, vice president of strategy at Symbian, said Google may be a leader in the Web domain, but that doesn't necessarily translate to success in the mobile space.
"Search and a mobile phone platform are completely different things," Forsyth told BBC News.
Forsyth went on to suggest that mobile Linux initiatives are about as surprising as the sunrise, and come along just a tad less frequently. "It's a bit like the common cold. It keeps coming round and then we go back to business," Forsyth sniffed.
Symbian, whose OS powers the majority of the world's smart phones, is owned by Nokia (47.9%), Ericsson (15.6%), Sony Ericsson (13.1%), Panasonic (10.5%), Siemens AG (8.4%) and Samsung (4.5%).
Forsyth may not be concerned about Android, but industry experts believe that Google's mobile platform, combined with the formation of the Open Handset Alliance along with 33 other manufacturers, will have a significant impact on the mobile industry.
Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz said in a blog entry earlier this week that he'd like Sun to be the first platform software company to commit to a complete developer environment around Android.