With smart phones accounting for one-third of all mobile phone sales and with 30% of mobile phones launched on Symbian OS now GPS enabled, Symbian Limited has introduced Symbian SQL and an advanced location-based services (LBS) architecture. The new products herald the next generation of mobile computing by offering dramatic enhancements in mass data handling and LBS, according to the company.
Symbian SQL, a robust and highly scalable database management system for Symbian OS, was created using SQLite, an established open-source technology widely used in products such as Mozilla’s Firefox. Symbian SQL makes retrieving and sorting terabytes of data and multimedia fast and efficient without compromising performance. Application developers can also take advantage of Symbian SQL by using a standard query language when working with databases on Symbian OS, helping to reduce maintenance costs and application footprints.
Symbian’s LBS architecture offers the most extensive LBS-rich solution of any OS, supporting multiple positioning technologies including A-GPS, network-based technology, and Wi-Fi to provide fast and accurate location information. Handset manufacturers do not need to invest separately in developing location support, dramatically reducing the time it takes to create GPS-enabled devices. Developers can cost-effectively target their LBS applications across multiple Symbian OS platforms, including S60, UIQ, and MOAP, due to the consistent set of APIs offered by Symbian’s LBS architecture.
Symbian is demonstrating Symbian SQL at the CTIA in Las Vegas this week. It will be available to application developers via a download in Q2 2008 and will be featured in phones shipping in the second half of 2008. Mobile phones featuring Symbian’s LBS offering were recently launched in Japan. In Europe, Symbian’s LBS architecture will appear in mobile phones later this year.
Symbian
www.symbian.com