FINNISH PHONE MAKER Nokia has finalized its plans to out source Symbian development and support to the global IT management consulting firm Accenture.
The agreement means that Accenture will develop and support Symbian until 2016. It will also include the transfer of around 2,800 Nokia employees in various countries to Accenture in October.
Jo Harlow, EVP for smart devices at Nokia said, "As we move our primary smartphone platform to Windows Phone, we will look to explore potential opportunities to tap this talent pool as they develop and expand their knowledge and capabilities beyond Symbian."The agreement between the two companies requires Accenture to support and further develop the Symbian operating system and to "become the preferred supplier to Nokia on their transition to Windows Phone."
Nokia announced in April that it would continue to support its Symbian operating system and outsource it to Accenture. What isn't clear is how many users with Nokia handsets like the N8 and E7 will stick with Symbian until its certain death instead of switching to a more dominant player like Android.
The news comes a day after Nokia's announcement of its N9 smartphone. It appears to be a device to fill the gap before its Windows Phone 7 handsets arrive and with Nokia opting for Meego as its operating system it hardly looks good for Symbian.
Nokia also announced yesterday that the next version of Symbian called Anna will tip up next month but Anna doesn't bring anything to write home about, unless you get particularly excited about new icons.
Marty Cole, chief executive of Accenture Communications said, "We look forward to partnering with Nokia as they continue to support Symbian and transition to the Windows Phone ecosystem." µ
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