Julien Fourgeaud is a Roadmap Catalyst at the Symbian Foundation. FoneArena’s Varun got a chance to interview him where we ask Julien about Symbian – the most widely used smart phone platform in the world.
Here is the text of the interview
Varun: I have been a long time user of Symbian phones. But don’t see much changes on the UI front . This is a reason many people bash Symbian for , more so due to the rise of iPhone and Android. Are you guys working on improving the UI with Symbian ^2 and future versions?
Julien: Symbian^2 UI is mostly based on S60. There are small changes but nothing major. S^2 is an intermediate version that has already been feature completed. We are using it to validate our release process and contribution model. S^3 will start bringing UI and especialy UX improvement, it is a step towards the full makeover that S^4 will be.From kinetic scrolling to single tap (contribution from Ixonos) as well as more gesture support. Qt is also gonna bring a lot more flexibility and we’re definitely looking at more ‘eye candy’ while keeping performances and developers priorities in mind.
Varun: Development on Symbian has always been always seen as an area of infinite possibilities. But also a pain point for developers as there is a huge of learning curve and lot of confusion on how to go about developing an application.Need your comments ?
Julien: As you mentionned, Symbian allows developer to dig really deep in the platform and achieve innovation. Open sourcing the platform will allow even more visibility for 3rd party developers. There is an ongoing effort to enable cross platform development, and many initiatives to allow developer to progress faster towards ready applications. On top of that, runtimes such as WRT (Web Run Time,based on Webkit) or Adobe Flash, offer new possibilities, and increase web data productization speed. A developer can now spend few hours designing a WRT app, defining the UI and basic functionality, release that to the market and get feedback from the community. Do that with 10 apps, spend some time incorporating the feedback and go C++ with the ones that need it, and that bring the best return on investment.
Varun: Maemo and Symbian will mutually survive it seems . How do you draw inspiration from Maemo and what impact would it have on Symbian ?
Julien: Maemo is one of the 6 operating system supported by Nokia, I would recommend connecting with them to get the best views on it. When it comes to the community, I let you guys form your own opinion.
Varun: What are the biggest markets for Symbian globally ?
Julien: With globalization, it is difficult to know exactly where all the 250 Millions Symbian Devices are. India and Europe are definitely amongst the biggest, but other markets are growing and some are opening. The foundation had signed an agreement with CMCC (China Mobile), opening new possibilities
Varun: What is your take on the iPhone OS and how do you see it as a competing platform ?
Julien: From a personal standpoint, I do believe that iPhone OS has been an enabler for the mobile world such as we know it today. Keeping in mind that the pace is picking up exponentialy in the computer world, it is easy to expect the same from mobile computers. Achieing a perfect operating system is near to impossible, but I do believe that it can only be reached with open and transparent communications. Closed operating systems on mobile will definitely meet more challenges in a future of high bandwith and unlimited communication between individuals.
Varun: Don’t you think S60v5 is not a perfect OS considering it evolved from non-touch devices ?
Julien: S60v5, or Symbian^1, is a first step towards touch. It is not perfect, and never was meant to be.It is a transition from non touch interface to touch interface with all that it takes.Nokia needed to learn, and also had to keep consistency with its previous UIs in order to retain customers.The percentage of customers buying Nokia because they know how it works is higher than the one of users who need radical new User Experience.
Varun: Is Symbian willing to listen to consumers / key influencers ?
Julien: Symbian is an open platform. As of now, anyone can contribute on http://ideas.symbian.org and the forum Because of the evolution towards full open source, some packages are still containing protected code. For a 1500USD membership fee (covering legals and registration), companies can join the foundation and access the full source code. They also get other services. Ultimately, we want the community (Device Creators, Operators, Developers and End Users) to define their platform, the way they want it.
Varun: What is the biggest challenge for the Symbian platform ?
Julien: I guess the biggest challenge is the same as for other platforms,providing a compeling offer for all its key stakeholders (listed earlier). Good thing is that being the only open platform with an open governance model, we welcome our stakeholders contributions in defining their own platforms.
Varun: What is the biggest strength for Symbian ?
Julien: The biggest strenght of the OS itself is certainly its proven reliability over time. There are plenty of other strengths such as being compliant with latest industry standard, high level of customization, hardware efficiency (battery life, memory), openess.
Varun: What phone do you currently use and what phone are you looking forward to buy in future?
Julien: As of now I am using an N97. Regarding future device , probably the first S^3 device, as I’d want to make sure that it’s good enough for the market and provide feedback asap to the community.
Varun: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Good luck with future versions of Symbian!
Julien: Thank you for the interview, and if you, readers, want to know more about the Symbian Foundation and the Symbian OS, feel free to follow me on twitter and ask me questions