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1998 - 2014
Symbian
“The smartphone before smartphones were cool.”
- Birth year
- 1998
- Shutdown year
- 2014
- Lifespan
- 16 years
- Peak era
- 2004-2010
- Company
- Symbian Ltd. / Nokia
- Category
- Operating Systems
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What Was It?
Symbian ran the smartphones of the 2000s, most famously Nokia's. It grew out of Psion's EPOC system and was developed by Symbian Ltd., formed in 1998 by Psion and major phone makers. On Nokia's S60 phones it brought apps, themes, cameras and early mobile internet to millions of people.
Until the end of 2010, Symbian was the most popular smartphone operating system in the world. Then the iPhone and Android changed what people expected from a phone, and Nokia moved to Windows Phone in 2011.
The Nokia 808 PureView in 2012 was its last Symbian smartphone, and from January 1, 2014 Nokia stopped accepting new or updated Symbian software in its store.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Installing .sis files
- Themes for the Nokia menu
- The Ovi Store
- Snake on a phone that could also browse the web
The Story
- 1998 Psion Software became Symbian Ltd., a joint venture with major phone makers.
- 2010 Symbian remained the most popular smartphone OS until the end of the year.
- 2011 Nokia chose Windows Phone and outsourced Symbian work to Accenture.
- 2012 The Nokia 808 PureView became Nokia's last Symbian phone.
- 2014 Nokia stopped accepting new Symbian software on January 1.
How It Died
Nokia moved to Windows Phone in 2011, released its last Symbian smartphone in 2012, and stopped accepting Symbian app updates from January 1, 2014.
What Replaced It?
Memories
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