FAQ’s

S60 software on Symbian OS is the world’s most popular software for smartphones.

As mobile phones have evolved from devices that simply make calls into life-enhancing tools that deliver the internet into our pocket, music into our ears and brilliant photographs for our eyes to enjoy, the software that our mobile devices run becomes ever more important.

With S60 you can run your favorite applications, all at the same time, without having to worry about shutting down what you’re currently doing just to start up another task. A wide variety of built-in applications are available to manage the tasks of business or personal routine: advanced telephony, multimedia applications handling images, music, and video, internet applications – just to mention a few. This powerful multitasking capability that all S60 devices possess is just one of the things that have made it the most widely used mobile platform today.

What is the S60 platform?

The S60 platform, built on Symbian OS, is the market-leading smartphone platform. It incorporates all key mobile technologies expected by todays sophisticated enterprise users and consumers, and it provides revenue opportunities for the full range of stakeholders in the mobile marketplace. As the S60 platform has developed, it has raised the bar on smartphone features by taking the lead in implementing many innovations.

What are the main features available on S60 devices?

Most S60 devices feature: Advanced telephony. A Quarter Video Graphics Array (QVGA) color screen. Innovative form design and keypad layout. Personal information manager (PIM) applications (including Contacts and Calendar).

Internet browsing. Many S60 devices also feature: Flash Lite Player from Adobe. Nokia Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC). Music player. Digital camera. Video recorder. FM radio. Viewer and editor for Microsoft Office documents. Over-the-air (OTA) synchronization.

What do the different editions of the S60 platform represent?

The S60 platform is continually developing and adding new features. Stakeholders must be assured that they are buying into the biggest and best platform. A new edition of the S60 platform represents a collection of significant feature updates and additions, often accompanied by a version change in the underlying Symbian OS.

What are feature packs?

Feature packs are important releases of additional features that become available between releases of new editions. For example, for S60 3rd Edition, two feature packs  both of which bring enhanced capabilities to the edition  have been released. The ongoing release of feature packs allows the S60 platform to develop continually, while maintaining a common baseline across the editions.

What does the S60 platform mean for developers?

Developers are continually looking to maximize their total addressable markets at the lowest possible cost. The development of a new application or new content for a target device always introduces a trade-off between the costs of moving the product to new devices and the benefits of having a bigger target audience. The S60 platform allows developers to have the best of both worlds. It provides for software to be delivered across all devices that are based on a particular edition of the platform. Developers can be certain that applications created using only platform-edition features will be easily transferable to any device based on that edition.

How is the S60 platform deployed?

The S60 platform is licensed by a number of mobile phone manufacturers that are already shipping devices. These licensees are Lenovo, LG Electronics, Nokia Mobile Phones, and Samsung. The range of S60 devices is constantly growing, and detailed information on the current range of devices can be found in the S60 phones section of the S60 Web site (http://www.s60.com/phones ).

What are the different editions and feature packs of the S60 platform?

The main editions and feature packs of the S60 platform are:

S60 1st Edition. – S60 1st Edition, Feature Pack 1.

S60 2nd Edition. – S60 2nd Edition, Feature Pack 1. – S60 2nd Edition, Feature Pack 2. – S60 2nd Edition, Feature Pack 3.

S60 3rd Edition. – S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1. – S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2.

S60 5th Edition.

What user interfaces are available on S60 devices?

The S60 platform does not mandate particular UI characteristics  such as icon styles, screen resolutions, or input methods  as part of its specification. Thus, it allows manufacturers to create devices with individual UI customizations. The S60 platform does have a UI style and APIs as part of its specification; therefore, it is expected that the common UI style will be adhered to in any UI implementation. This is reinforced by the Avkon UI libraries on which all UI implementations are based.