Sony Ericsson opens up UIQ

IN A BOLD MOVE to bolster the independence of the UIQ Symbian interface, new owner Sony Ericsson has invited other companies to invest in the company.

The handset manufacturer is hoping to emulate the setup which Symbian enjoys with ownership shared amongst several leading vendors.

The INQ's not so sure this ploy will work. Besides Sony Ericsson, the other two major licensees are Benq-Siemens and Motorola. Benq has suffered financially from trying to swallow old Siemens and Motorola previously sold up its share in Symbian.

Never mind, because UIQ head honcho Johan Sandberg told the INQ that Sony Ericsson's funding is allowing the company to invest in building its developer community.

Not only does this involve building new developer tools and improving the documentation, it also means there are new people around to provide help and support.

In particular Sandberg suggested that it is a lot easier to port apps written for Nokia's Series 60 platform over to UIQ than most people expect.

Better still, UIQ can now offer advice on how to port from Microsoft's platforms over to UIQ.

"We're building on the ecosystems that already exist around Sony Ericsson, Symbian and now Motorola," Sandberg proclaimed. "We're helping people to see there really is a good business case [behind UIQ apps]." µ

L'INQ<<BR> UIQ