Having seen the press release and videos during the day I was excited to speak to the S60 folks last night about the detail, but they were being very tight lipped… Key comments of note I thought were:
- This isn’t driven by the iPhone – that’s a ‘closed device’ and this is about a broad range of devices.
- There’s around 50 devices in the works already.
- The first touch devices will be available to consumers in 2008.
- The backwards compatability will enable a smooth transition for existing S60 users and leverage the huge (tens of millions) existing install base.
- The UI isn’t supposed to look hugey different – it’s a natural progression and users will be familar with using the interface.
- S60 won’t become touch only and there will still be traditional form-factor devices – not all will use touch.
- Adding these capabilited enhances the platform – the licensees (including Nokia and Samsung) will inovate in their implementation.
- The devices shown so far are mock-ups not actual products.
I’m not sure I agree with all of that – I’m particularly skeptical that the existing users and applications will travel well… most applications already need to be customised for each handset to cope with the particular niggles or display issues. Adding touch screen or moving to a iPhone-like touch only device is going to be a challenging transition. Also the general air of ‘we were going to do this anyway’ doesn’t really ring true – sure Apple might not be about to steal the entire mass market, but they have raised the bar for what consumers will expect their interface experience to feel like in the future and S60’s been around long enough that this sudden ‘overnight change’ in so many areas feels like a reaction.
The absence of detail is also a little disappointing – the repeated explanations that these are capabilities being added to the platform, whilst true, avoided the detail of how and what. This coupled with all of 2008 as a time-frame feels like there’s still plenty to be decided and the first of the handsets will just scrape that 2008 deadline.
At least this is a move in the right direction though… better late than never S60 is the most open and useful platform I’ve found to-date (it enables all the X-Series apps for instance – the UIQ versions are still lagging way behind) . I just hope it isn’t allowed to get this far behind the cutting edge again.
