Nokia acquires Symbian: Start of something new for UIQ?

Yes, I may be a day or two late in posting this press release from Sony Ericsson on Nokia acquiring Symbian and forming the Symbian Foundation to create one "open mobile software platform", but there is much to mull about in this big announcement.

What does this mean for the UIQ platform?
Now that Symbian and all of it's different 'flavours' or 'variations' are under the Symbian Foundation, we're going to see more of a common core between all Symbian platforms. As stated in the press conference:

From these contributions, the Foundation will provide a unified platform with common UI framework. A full platform will be available for all Foundation members under a royalty-free license, from the Foundation's first day of operations.

So yes, there would be a lot more in common between the Symbian S60 platform (which Nokia is known for) and the UIQ platform in the future. Perhaps in the long term we may see applications and programs that can be easily ported from UIQ to S60, and vice versa?

How does this relate to the dropping of Beibei and the 'Paris' P5 from SE?
Good question. Under the Symbian Foundation's guidance, UIQ is definitely a winner in this case, as the press statement claims:

Contributions from Foundation members through open collaboration will be integrated to further enhance the platform.

The UIQ platform could be so much more with open collaboration with other Symbian flavours, such as S60 or the Japanese MOAP platform. By taking the strengths and shunting out the weaknesses, there is just so much potential for future Symbian phones and the UIQ platform in particular.

However, with SE deciding to dump both of it's upcoming flagships and focus on the Xperia X1, this may mean that it's ready to jump ship to embrace Windows Mobile for its business devices and give up UIQ entirely. The SE P5 was destined to be the successor of the current P1 business flagship - but now it seems that the big man at the top has intervened to change the successor to the Xperia X1. So it seems like along with the Xperia's release, the P-series will be slowly and quietly pushed to the fringes of the SE family.

This Engadget article states that both Motorola and Sony Ericsson have signed up to contribute UIQ assets to the Foundation, but how long do you think SE will commit to it's promise? 10 quid that SE will have 'nothing left to contribute' by the end of 2008.