Symbian introduced the latest version of its smart phone operating system on Wednesday, adding support for new wireless technologies and capabilities aimed at pushing smart phones into the mass market. Symbian OS v9.3 features an improved start-up time and quicker responsiveness to applications, the company said. Those are features that handset makers and operators have told Symbian they want in order to make the phones more attractive to mainstream users, said Jorgen Behrens, vice president of product management and strategy at Symbian.It’s difficult to quantify how much faster the phones will boot up, he said, because start-up times also depend on how quickly other elements can start up, like the user interface and other programs. The upgrade also makes it easier for developers to remove features they might not want to include in lower-price phones. Developers could remove features before, but the process could be challenging because the features had greater dependence on each other, meaning that removing one might disturb another, Behrens said. Another notable addition is native support for Wi-Fi. While Symbian phones can offer Wi-Fi today, the phone developer has to write much of the support for it. With the new OS, developers can easily add Wi-Fi, Behrens said.The upgrade also supports unlicensed mobile access, which allows users to make and receive voice-over-IP calls over Wi-Fi, and automatically transfer the call to a cellular network when the phone moves out of Wi-Fi range. Version 9.3 also supports the latest cellular data technology, high-speed downlink packet access, as well as push-to-talk services.Symbian has added new tools for developers, including OS awareness for the Eclipse/CDT IDE framework and Nokia’s Carbide C++ development tools. Licensees are developing phones now based on the new OS, and they should begin to appear next year, Symbian said. The company faces the potential of growing competition from Microsoft, which recently introduced a smart phone operating system that includes push e-mail. Symbian has 74 percent of the smart phone market worldwide, compared to 8 percent from Microsoft, said Nick Spencer, an analyst at Canalys. “Microsoft is still warming up, really,” he said.Phone makers such as Motorola and Samsung Electronics have started offering phones based on the Microsoft OS. Once they start to offer more models, then Microsoft will become a bigger threat, Spencer said.-Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service (Dublin Bureau) Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe