Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DOCOMO announced today their intent to unite Symbian OS, S60, UIQ and MOAP(S) to create one open mobile software platform.

To enable the Foundation, Nokia today announced plans to acquire the remaining shares of Symbian Limited that Nokia does not already own and then contribute the Symbian and S60 software to the Foundation.

To make Symbian a royalty-free open platform is smart and possibly the only move to give Symbian a chance in the future. Symbian is here to stay for a while because of the huge install base on mobile phones. I said though before that mobile operating systems without a Desktop life are a dying bread. Users want one eco system as data exchange becomes more seemless and easier. You can already choose between Microsoft, Apple, and Linux.
To make Symbian open is of course a direct hit in the direction of Google Android. Android hit some delays as reported yesterday. The Nokia Symbian announcement is another issue Google has to deal with.
Besides Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DoCoMo, AT&T, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Vodafone are planning to establish the Symbian Foundation.

The Symiban Foundation is expected to start operating during the first half of 2009, subject to the closing of the acquisition of Symbian Ltd by Nokia.
Via the Symbian Foundation site.