by Don Burnett
The CAT is out of the Bag on Silverlight Mobile
Well as with most all Mix announcements that "cat is out of the bag" quite early. Yesterday this long announcement appeared on Nokia's Website.. It suprised me a bit because I expected to see this on Windows Mobile devices (those with a portable IE implementation first).. Though I am very happy to see this if I am reading this correctly this means in the Mobile space that Silverlight will be a full "applications platform" across many devices. As we already know "Moonlight" the Linux implementation of Silverlight can run Silverlight stand-alone outside of a web browser (or at least could with test versions). Nokia's Silverlight support will probably include support for Nokia Internet Tablets. Aren't those based on Linux? (wink)! Wow it's a new day and an open world.
I think this announcement underscores a huge change of thinking towards openness from Microsoft and signals that Silverlight will indeed be a very open multi-vendor supported product. This is very very exciting to hear... That along with IE 8 defaulting to "super-standards" mode, really underscores Microsoft's willingness to be open and compete on a level playing field with the many other vendors our there..
This represents a huge win for consumers choice, and a huge turning the corner for Microsoft. You can't not love the fact that they are working closely with others and forging very unexpected alliances..
-Don
PS Here's the announcement below..
"
Nokia to bring Microsoft Silverlight powered experiences to millions of mobile users
March 04, 2008
Extends choice for developers on the world's leading mobile platforms
Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced plans to make Microsoft Silverlight available for S60 on Symbian OS, the world's leading smartphone software(1), as well as for Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets. Adding support for Silverlight will extend opportunities for developers to create rich, interactive applications that run on multiple platforms in a consistent and reliable way.
"Today's consumers are very clear in what they want: easy access to tightly integrated services and data on any device," said Lee Williams, Senior Vice President in Nokia's Devices software organization. "Nokia's software strategy is based on cross-platform development environments, enabling the creation of rich applications across the Nokia device range. Nokia aims to support market leading and content rich internet application environments and to embrace and encourage open innovation. By working with Microsoft, we are creating terrific opportunities and additional choices for the development community, S60 licensees and the industry as a whole."
Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications. Silverlight is already powering thousands of applications around the world and organizations including Entertainment Tonight, the NBA and NBC Universal to deliver superior Web-based experiences to their customers. The arrangement with Nokia will substantially extend the reach of Silverlight by making the platform available for hundreds of millions of devices, including S60 on Symbian smartphones from a range of manufacturers, as well as Nokia Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets.
Microsoft will demonstrate Silverlight on S60 during the opening keyote at Microsoft's MIX08 conference on March 5 in Las Vegas. Silverlight is intended to be available to S60 developers later this year with initial service delivery anticipated shortly thereafter for all S60 licensees. This will allow S60 application developers to use an even wider range of development environments for S60 on Symbian OS than today. Today S60 developers can use: C++ (using native Symbian OS APIs and Open C providing subset of standard POSIX libraries), S60 Web Run-time (supporting standards-based web technologies such as Ajax, JavaScript, CSS and HTML), the Java(TM) language, Flash Lite from Adobe, and Python.
Microsoft Silverlight availability for Nokia Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets will be confirmed later.
(1) S60 has already shipped on more smartphones than any other platform, enabling users to access and enjoy the Internet and Internet services. S60 covers the broadest product portfolio, with devices for a variety of segments and needs from different audiences. S60 is the clear leader in converged device software with over 53% market share globally in Q4 2007 according to the latest Canalys report (January 2008).
About S60
S60 software built on Symbian OS is the world's leading smartphone software, and is licensed by some of the industry's foremost mobile device manufacturers. More than 150 million S60 devices had been shipped by all licensees by January 2008. The flexibility of the S60 software allows for various hardware designs and software configurations, as evidenced by the multitude of S60 devices already available on the market. Through its award-winning user interface, extensive support for new mobile services and the innovation potential for partner solutions, the S60 provides an open and scalable business opportunity for mobile operators and 3rd party developers. For further information and news about the S60 and the S60 community, please visit www.s60.com.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks. "
