nokia buys symbian and makes it open source

Nokia to Buy Phone-Software Firm

Finland's Nokia Corp. is acquiring the rest of United Kingdom-based Symbian Ltd., a provider of software for advanced phones, in a move that will likely increase competition for Apple Inc.

Nokia said Tuesday it has launched a cash offer for the 52% of privately owned Symbian it doesn't already own. The deal is valued at roughly €264 million ($410 million). Nokia said investors holding some 91% of the relevant Symbian shares -- including Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. and Siemens AG -- had irrevocably agreed to accept the offer. Nokia said it also expects Samsung Electronics Co. to accept.

In the face of stiff competition from cellphone-industry newcomers such as Apple and Google

Many of Nokia's rivals, who rely on Symbian software, have been concerned about the Finnish handset maker's influence in Symbian and the degree to which Symbian software is being developed to suit the needs of Nokia alone. But they appear to have put those concerns aside. "We service all of our customers equally," said Symbian Chief Executive Nigel Clifford.

The acquisition by Nokia is part of a broader move toward cooperation among several handset makers and cellphone-service providers under the auspices of a new group called the Symbian Foundation. Participants include the four other largest handset makers after Nokia: Motorola Inc., Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics. Symbian's more than 1,000 developers will become Nokia employees and the non-profit foundation will be responsible for marketing and coordination for developers everywhere.

Symbian also will blend its several different flavors of cellphone software into one, to create one open-source software platform. That includes folding in user-interface software from UIQ Technology, a joint venture between Motorola and Sony Ericsson that was spun off from Symbian. UIQ's know-how includes touch-screen technology, which has been made fashionable by Apple's iPhone cellphone.

The efforts will enable "faster, better products," says Kai Öistämö, head of Nokia's devices unit.