The Symbian Smartphone Show, London, UK, October 16 2007 Symbian Limited, developer and licensor of Symbian OS, the market-leading operating system for advanced data-enabled mobile phones known as smartphones, today announced its ongoing efforts to make developing easier and more economically viable for developers worldwide.

Symbian Signed made faster, easier and cheaper

Symbian Signed, developed in partnership between Symbian, its licensees, network operators and developers, promotes best practice to test and sign applications for Symbian smartphones. Based on developer feedback, the Symbian Signed process has been improved to make signing faster, easier and cheaper for developers driving growth in the number of Symbian applications. Developers are now more easily able to access device capabilities that were once restricted, enabling further innovation.

Symbian is pleased to announce a new set of test criteria and procedures for testing and signing applications:

Open Signed provides a signing process using Developer Certificates enabling an application to be installed on a limited number of devices controlled by declared IMEIs (unique phone identification numbers). Open Signed is designed to support the developer community, open source and educational communities. The maximum number of devices that each application can be installed on has now been increased tenfold, from 100 to 1000.

Express Signed an entirely new process to allow software developers with Publisher IDs to instantly sign all applications that do not require access to the more sensitive device functions, allowing faster time-to-market. Developers can now sign applications on Expressed Signed for as little as $20.

Certified Signed for those applications that require access to the sensitive device manufacturer capabilities and/or where independent testing is required.

Symbian
We have re-designed the application testing and certification process following developers concerns about ease of use and time-to-market, said Bruce Carney, Director of Developer Programs and Services, Symbian. The improved Symbian Signed process has increased the speed and efficiency of application signing giving developers more time to innovate, which is good news for all.

Press Books

Symbian has released two new books from its publishing department, Symbian Press. Mobile Python, written by Jrgen Scheible and Developing Software for Symbian OS, Second Edition, written by Steve Babin.

Mobile Python Rapid Prototyping of Applications on the Mobile Platform is a practical hands-on book that introduces the popular open source programming language Python to the mobile space. It effectively teaches how to program your own powerful and fun applications easily based on the Symbian OS and S60 platforms.

Developing Software for Symbian OS, Second Edition helps software developers new to Symbian OS to create smartphone applications. The original book has been updated for Symbian OS v9 and now includes a new chapter on application signing and platform security with updates throughout for Symbian OS v9 and changes to the development environment.

About Symbian Signed

Symbian Signed is a testing and signing program for Symbian applications and content. Symbian Signed is developed in partnership between Symbian, its handset manufacturer licensees including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung and LG, network operators T-Mobile and Orange as well as several independent software test houses. The GSM Association recommends its member operators to certify third party applications and content, and to use Symbian Signed specifically for the certification of applications and content for Symbian OS.

Symbian Signed has continued to evolve since its initial roll-out in February 2004, responding to the changing technological and commercial environment as well as in response to feedback from leading developers, network operators, application and handset vendors. Today, over 10,000 Symbian applications have been Symbian Signed and are commercially available.