|
Newsletters
|
|
|
|
|
|
WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Sony Ericsson Unveils Plans for Opening up UIQ
3GSM, Barcelona - Sony Ericsson held a media and
analyst briefing today to issue an open invitation to phone vendors
to become shareholders in UIQ Technology AB following Sony Ericsson's
acquisition of the Swedish software company from Symbian Ltd on
February 2. UIQ Technology AB licenses the UIQ user interface
framework and application suite to phone vendors. At the briefing
Sony Ericsson President Miles Flint said that UIQ will remain an
independent company and that phone vendors are invited to license
UIQ as well as become shareholders in the company.
Miles Flint emphasised the industry's need for a strong independent
cross-vendor open user interface platform for business and multimedia
feature phones and said "By licensing UIQ, handset vendors will be
able to share development costs and create a unified market for third
party developers resulting in both a richer media and mobile internet
experience for consumers".
Sony Ericsson is already a licensee of UIQ and has shipped a number of
phones based on Symbian OS and UIQ such as the P990 business-centric
smartphone and the high-end Walkman W950 with 4GB of onboard storage.
Per Aspemar, Head of Strategy at Sony Ericsson, explained "UIQ
Technology is already set up as an independent company and prepared
for multiple owners through a holding company. Sony Ericsson has
gained valuable experience through its ownership and involvement with
Symbian, and believes it has the ability to set UIQ Technology up so
that it offers an attractive alternative for a wide variety of phone
vendors looking for an independent open user interface platform."
Johan Sandberg, CEO of UIQ Technology, is very encouraged by Sony
Ericsson's intention to keep UIQ both phone vendor and chipset
independent. "UIQ offers a truly personal and rich user experience
plus fantastic flexibility for developers, operators and phone
vendors as it supports many form factors in one code base as has been
illustrated by UIQ products announced at 3GSM," explains Johan
Sandberg. "It is easy to port applications between S60 and UIQ on the
Symbian platform making it an appealing option for developers."
Sony Ericsson is in discussions with handset vendors regarding
expanding the future ownership of UIQ Technology but wanted to use the
opportunity of 3GSM in Barcelona to issue an open invitation to them.
Sony Ericsson expects to make further announcements about new
shareholders and licensees in the coming months.
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications
market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and
PC-cards. Established as a joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in 2001,
with global corporate functions located in London, the company employs
over 7,500 people worldwide, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan,
China and America. Sony Ericsson celebrated the 5th anniversary of the
start of the joint venture on 1st October, 2006.
Sony Ericsson is the global title sponsor of the Women's Tennis
Association, and works with the Association to promote the Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year.
For more information on Sony Ericsson, please visit
www.sonyericsson.com
About UIQ Technology
UIQ Technology AB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Ericsson Mobile
Communications AB. UIQ Technology creates and licenses the open
software platform, UIQ, to leading mobile phone manufacturers. The
flexible and customizable user interface and development platform is
pre-integrated and tested with Symbian OS, the leading industry
standard operating system for mobile phones. www.uiq.com
|
|
|
