Word: symbian
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...last year's CeBIT technology exhibition in Hanover, Germany, Juha Christensen spoke about Microsoft as if it were the Evil Empire. As a cofounder of London-based Symbian, he saw himself as a Jedi Knight, intent on European technology winning the day and becoming the Windows of the handset market. Several months later the 36-year-old Swede switched camps. Now, he is helping design the mobile strategy for Symbian's nemesis out of the U.S. as vice president of marketing and services for - you guessed it - Microsoft's mobility group...
...Prohibitively expensive third-generation mobile licenses have made the entire industry question business models. And delays in the introduction of next-generation services mean that time to revenue is being pushed back, killing many start-ups and opening the door to big and well-funded U.S. companies like Microsoft. Symbian, on last year's list as one of Time Europe's 50 Hottest Tech Firms, will take longer than expected to be profitable because of the delay in next-generation networks. And it has had to put off its planned initial public offering. But to Christensen, the problems are deeper...
...dominant OS--the Windows of the handheld world. Early evaluations of Microsoft's Pocket PC say it's good but not likely to be the "Palm killer" some were expecting. There's also a joint venture of the software firm Psion, Nokia, Ericsson, Japan's Matsushita and Motorola called Symbian that was designed to keep Microsoft at bay. Although there have been some cracks in the alliance--Ericsson has said it will put a Microsoft browser in its phones--Symbian will probably remain a counterweight to Gates & Co. Also crimping Microsoft's plans: AOL, whose newly released Netscape 6.0 browser...
...whose palmtops are especially popular outside the U.S. The 12.5-oz. device is the Psion 5mx ($549, list) and runs on a clever 32-bit operating system called Epoc, which has legions of devotees, just like Palm's OS. Epoc, you should know, was developed by a consortium called Symbian (which includes Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola), and is being positioned as the standard for next-generation cell phones--a distinct possibility since those manufacturers produce 80% of the world's mobile phones. That's probably why Microsoft referred to Psion as its "No. 1 global threat" in an internal memo...
...then, the battle between Microsoft and Symbian may have been resolved by the marketplace. Hand-held-computer makers could offer machines with Symbian's software in hopes of making them more appealing to consumers with mobile phones. Or the mobile-phone industry could beat a retreat and adopt Windows CE to ensure that their devices link up easily with existing desktop PCs. Either way, it's likely that the nations of Europe will be communicating with a single standard-- even if they are not yet talking with a unified voice...