Symbian OS which has ruled the mobile operating system industry for ten-years is now announced completely free. Nokia which has acquired Symbian in 2008 turned Symbian Platform from proprietary code to open source, anyone can use it for free. Nokia has finished the transition of Symbian from proprietary code to open source four months in advance than anticipated.

Till the introduction of Google Android, Symbian was the number one mobile OS which has shipped in more than 330 million handsets worldwide. With the introduction of Android which is also open source platform based on Linux kernel, it has gained interest of major mobile manufactures like Motorola, HTC, etc.

Now anyone can take, modify and use Symbian code for any purpose or on any device right from mobile phones to computers or tablets. This has opened new dimensions for developers to innovate new ways to develop and use the code for free.

The Executive Director of Symbian Foundation, Lee Williams, says that making Symbian open source has added advantage over Android. He says, “About a third of the Android code base is open and nothing more. And what is open is a collection of middleware. Everything else is closed or proprietary.”

It is expected that Symbian may again take over its position over Android as developers can modify the code to create innovative ideas and applications. Though most of the mobile manufactures have already ditched Symbian and adopted Android OS for their latest models like Motorola Droid, etc. Symbian Foundation hopes that mobile manufactures again come back to Symbian, to excel with this open source, again.