The main annual gathering of the Symbian community has had several different names over the years:
- In the early years after the formation of Symbian Ltd, the event was called the Developer Conference (“DevConf”) or the Developer Exposition (“DevExpo”);
- For a couple of years, the unconventional name Symbian Exposium was used;
- In more recent times, the name adopted has been the Symbian Smartphone Show.
The date and venue for the 2009 event has already been set: it will take place on 27-28 October, at Earls Court 2, in central London (the same venue as the 2008 event).
But there’s a lot that is not yet set for the 2009 event:
- The name
- The principal themes and content
- The event branding.
The picture above is a placeholder, that’s been in place on the event website since October last year. Like the new Symbian, any such picture is subject to change!
To my mind, the events have steadily improved over the years – each building on the successes of its predecessors. The 2009 event will potentially embody a much greater number of changes, reflecting the different circumstances, environment, and setup of the Symbian Foundation.
Most likely, we’ll see the following:
- Package Owners describing their visions and roadmaps for their technology areas;
- News of new products – from Symbian, and from users of the Symbian platform
- Members of the community describing the contributions they are bringing to the Symbian universe – contributions of software, services, and ideas;
- Companies debating aspects of the direction of the Symbian community;
- Developers talking about their experiences – good, bad, and ugly – and making suggestions for how to address challenges and take best advantage of the opportunities;
- Representatives from all areas of globe, ready to highlight the special features of their geographies;
- The chance to network with many of the brightest thinkers and sharpest critics in the mobile and open source worlds;
- The chance to see these same community participants with their hair down;
- A full-fledged, many-sided open conversation.
However, there’s lots of scope to fine-tune these plans. The event exists for the sake of the community. If the community expresses strong feelings or proposes interesting new ideas about this show, the event organisers will be very happy to add these views into the overall planning mix.
If you have views on what you’d like to see at the 2009 event, please speak up!
For example:
- Which aspects of previous events would you like to see carried forwards, and which changed?
- Which speakers would you like to see at the event?
- What features of the show would make it more likely (or less likely) that you would take part?
- And – last but not least – What should the event be called?
27 Comments
> Which speakers would you like to see at the event?
Some folks from Android. Seriously.
Android is another organisation driving to leverage the mobile space community. They’ve been doing it longer than Symbian has. It would be great to get some feedback from them as to how they think we’re doing and maybe so advise to avoid the some of the early pitfalls they’ve made.
^ lol … Symbian is over 12yrs old now; they’ve been leveraging the mobile space community for THAT long David. Symbian OS at its core has been open source yet it was licensed. I agree with your idea of avoiding pitfalls others have made in the open source community – Linux/FreeBSD/etc – but I tend to think of it as Keep your friends close, your enemies closure.
I’d first would LOVE to see the open communication & suggestions made by attendees as a shared video – Share on Ovi & this blog.
I’d like to see RSA represented – many contractors around the world in financial institutions need RSA Tokens+PIN to connect to Exchange OWA; without a 2-stage logon implemented in future Symbian-Foundation ^2; we’re forced to use a BlackBerry [BES server is behind the corporate firewall, Exchange is as well but OWA is through IE]. There is an RSA Soft-token but its not publicly available.
I’d like to see how Symbian-Foundation will help developers get through hurdles of Symbian-Signed; its evolution for developers signing their apps – especially new developers releasing free applications; paying for the cost [this needs to be changed].
Could we have comments on how Symbian-Foundation OS could be ported as a netbook/mid/laptop OS. I’ve seen a small tidbit by Berkshire Hathaway mentioning Nokia’s intent to get into this business; which could mean Maemo/Symbian.
Event name?
- might I suggest a foreign language name that rings well on the tongue. Its meaning should go hand in hand with Symbian Foundations principles; Community, Open, Sharing, Connecting, etc.
* What should the event be called?
Symbian 2.0
Symbian Mesh-In
Symbian Connect
Symbian Unplugged
Symbian Unpack
… no time to think of anything better right now
The name could use appropriate operators, of course.
If someone from the Symbian Foundation already has some ideas for names, they could perhaps put them to test a little in this blog at first.
* Which aspects of previous events would you like to see carried forwards?
More technology-focused panel discussions
New technology hands-on demos
Technology keynotes (except the empty marketing-speak soliloquies)
Technology-related strategy talks (except the empty marketing-speak soliloquies)
* Which speakers would you like to see at the event?
True technology innovators & open source luminaries
Speakers from the major open source contributors to the Symbian platform – e.g. perhaps also someone from Mozilla (they will probably release Fennec for Symbian some time soon this year)
I’d like to see more operators present. There were several good ones on 2007 (DoCoMo especially, VOD, etc), but hardly any in 2008.
Operators are still critical and it would good to hear their views on handset OS preferences, open source, app stores, over-the-top apps, etc.
And if you’re a developer or content provider, you need to understand how operators can help or hinder what you’re trying to do.
Hi prom1,
>lol
Yes, some of these old press releases are (what’s the right word?) … fascinating.
I wonder if we’ll look back at these 2009 blog postings from a 2019 standpoint and feel a similar sense of wonderment
By the way, many thanks for all the suggestions re event content. Keep them coming!
// David W.
How about
Symbian.Open()as a name… or is that too geeky?As far as I could see, Smartphone Shows in recent years have had the following kinds of stands:
- handset manufacturers
- companies that assist/enable handset creation (software contractors, middleware product developers, hardware vendors, etc.)
- some commercial app developers
I’d like that list to be extended with stands promoting wacky and/or freeware apps. Perhaps you can invite developers of interesting apps (like that multitouch UI using the camera) and set up a kind of bazaar with mini stands where they can demo / talk about / distribute their work (you know, by the good ol’ “bluetooth the SIS file” method
.
I know some apps have been showcased in the DevFest but it’s not quite the same as having a proper stand (even if it’s just a small one). You could advertise this to indy developers, pick the top 20 or so applicants and give them a free flight to London plus a mini-stand to show off what they’ve been making.
I think something like that may attract a few more people-who-don’t-wear-suits to the show and generate some goodwill towards the foundation amongst the developer community.
Hi James,
>How about
Symbian.Open()as a name+1 !
“Come to the Symbian Open” has a great ring to it.
Plus, the name is short enough (unlike eg “Symbian Conversation”) that it will tend to be used without abbreviating it further.
// David W.
I like Symbian.Open() as well – it is not too geeky.
Exhibitors at past events have mainly been focussed around other companies i.e. trying to sell their product/service and hence a more business-like forum. The developer threads have been good and it would be good to get more for developers.
It would be good to get developers to show off their apps and then allowing people to download them through Ovi at the event.
Symbian.Open +1
Given that this will be the first Symbian Foundation show, it will be important to follow up _that_ logo with lots of community contributions – talks and debates as suggested, but also lots of demonstrations of what people are using the new open source Symbian codebase for – particularly from people who weren’t involved with “Symbian.Closed()”.
And I’d second the idea to get some Android people involved – if not directly from Google then from the Android community – with some sort of “build off” competition to show the pros and cons of both solutions.
Another thing I’d like to see is lots of discussion on how Symbian can be made more attractive to a wider pool of developers. Whether that be by modifying Symbian OS, or by expanding the range of runtime support… what will it take to get serious numbers of people developing software for Symbian devices for fun rather than money?
Hi David,
I am trying to contact Symbian in regards to a development cooperation, would info@symbian.org be the right thing or is there sth. to speed it up?
Would be great if you could contact me.
Best
Max
Symbian Open sounds great
Hi all,
I’d like to see more applications demoed on the show floor. Last year was my first time to the Symbian Smartphone show, so I don’t have a lot of history, but I was a bit surprised how few apps developers were showcasing. I think most apps were shown on the Nokia stand. Is the stand price too high or what was the reason?
A good thing last year was the amount of hands-on dev tools tutorials in the various streams. Keep those, please.
I like the name Symbian Unplugged. I would go even further on that path and say Symbian Unleashed. If that’s too provocative, then Symbian Released, or Symbian Unlocked. Symbian Loose is an option, but sounds too close to lose. How about Symbian Free, Symbian Wild or Symbian On.
I am not a fan of calling it Symbian Open. I’m sorry guys but that’s just really boring and obvious. The two good words spoiled by overuse are “Open” and “Innovation”. I would stay away from those two words, they don’t support the fresh, alternative brand that the foundation is now forming.
Foreign names were asked. Here are some Finnish words that associate with what the foundation is about:
Irti
Vapaa
Uusi
Auki
Nyt
Same in Swedish:
Lös
Fri
Ny
Öppen
Nu
A name change is an interesting idea , but a couple of things to consider and debate.
Changing the name to something that is great name for developers but means nothing to anyone else and will attract less of the early adopter community as they will be confused what the show is about.
Changing the name to something that is too far in the open source direction and application developers who just want to build applications will feel the show is not relevant and will not attend. Especially relevant given that a number of the comments here are related to getting more application developers along
If there is any focus on consumers, now or in the future then even more care needs to be given to the name to make it relevant to all.
Having ‘Symbian’ so prominent in the show title also sets an expectation that the show is exclusively Symbian and nothing else. At previous Smartphone Shows partners have shown a mix of devices on their exhibition stands.
The show name has to be something that anyone would type into to a search engine and easily find the show listed, so not to cryptic.
That’s my 2 cents
Lester has good arguments, something I was thinking, too.
This will be the first show arranged by Symbian Foundation, so it will be more important than previous events. People will associate and judge “Symbian Foundation” quite a lot based on this expo. Main focus, orientation, presentations and speakers, content and intended target group(s).
There has to be demonstated openess and community effort, for reliability sake. Add few well-known speakers from Eclipse, Apache, webkit etc. Maybe they could have a few complimentary booths, too.
There has to be demonstrated presense and future of Symbian Foundation. 10+ years of history is nice, but it can be a burden. What is SF organisation doing right now, what can it promise next 6/12 months. Easy way is to make roadmap presentations and (un)panels. And what about legacy, compatibility, future-proofness!
There has to be demonstrated progress and support for development, both hardware manufacturers and software developers. This has been the strong point in previous shows, should be easy this time, too. Symbian core developers demonstrating latest and future APIs/features, some Nokia teams and Qt. Hopefully there will be also independent R&D companies, e.g. Red Five Labs. Samsung is definitely needed.
There has to be demonstrated opportunities and demand for business. Nobody will invest in new HW/SW without expecting profit. More operators than last year are needed, several presentations and demos of (any) app stores. Would be nice, if there’s even Apple/Android/RIM/Handango people to tell about their experiences. Market studies to prove demand. Dare I mention iPhone AppStore? Will be mentioned a lot in expo! Better be prepared
There has to be developer related events, both introductional but especially advanced. Intros to attract experienced people from other platforms, advanced to prove SF is serious both as organisation but especially as platform. Should be easy to arrange. Special request for several “Multi-Platform Development” presentations and sessions. Mark Wilcox is one name to mention. Jurgen Scheible is always a pleasure to meet and see presenting.
The safe bet is to have a little bit of everything. Quite boring, but safe bet. Add a few delightful surprises in the spirit of new brand, but not too many to take away all the attention. Movie/music stars, live game characters, any freebies and collectibles, unbelievable demos.
Name is difficult… What’s in a name? That which we call a Symbian Smartphone Show by any other name would still be as sweet. But it’s another branding issue.
As developer would LOVE Symbian.Open(), but as business person I wouldn’t attend. On the other hand as developer I would never go to Symbian Foundation Symbiosium
Cheers,
–jouni
@Lester Madden:
Spot on, you shouldn’t recycle anything heard before for such an event, and appeal to a common denominator for a larger audience. A few more ideas on top of Symbian.Open():
Symbian Bazaar (a take on the cathedral and bazaar)
Symbian Rebirth
Symbian Convo
Symbian Exchange
and…Symbian BioSphere?
Hi Max
I can’t reply to you as I don’t have your email address.
I am trying to contact Symbian in regards to a development cooperation, would info@symbian.org be the right thing or is there sth. to speed it up?
yes send it to info@symbian.org and it will get to the right person.
Lester
How about
SymFest,
SymbianWorld,
SymVers,
OneSym
“Symbian Exchange”
+1 Perfect balance of geek speak and business speak
So – let’s have:
Lots of ‘Developing on S60 for Newbies’ workshops.
Demos of genuinely exciting apps, and showing how easy they were to build using a free IDE / SDK.
And easy – and free! – to package and sign.
All supporting material available (in HTML not PDF) on the easy-to-navigate, non-corporate website.
Show off Symbian capabilities on the Omnia HD and Idou.
Can someone do a port of Clutter? Or show off Qt’s OpenGL ES 2.0 support.
Perhaps someone can finally explain ActiveObjects in a way that’s both quickly understandable and compelling?! =0)
———————–
Less of the branding and marketing, though – that’ll scare your open source dev types off.
If you want to have a business angle, do two parallel tracks, one for geeks, one for suits.
The suits side needs to emphasise the benefits of leveraging (ha!) the open source ecosystem (kapow!).
Use Linux as the paradigm for the power of the future Open Symbian (phew!). Powering everything from huge server farms to little Android devices, Linux is incredibly agile.
Symbian will match that agility, empowering its commercial users to focus exclusively on their market differentiators (zammo!) higher up the value stack (ooh!).
Duncan Cragg
Oh, one more: announce the Symbian Foundation Git-Forge site!
I’ll settle for Hg-Forge, I suppose. =0)
Git-Forge features announced at the Symbian Exchange 2009:
Easy, free signing and free IDE/SDK treats for Open Source devs over Symbian.
Fast track into the SF App Warehouse for community-sponsored open source apps that have non-tech appeal (no SSH clients, please!).
Promotion of those apps into core packages that Samsung can dip into for use in their on-device portfolio.
Duncan Cragg
Following from Lester’s comments, if attracting developers and companies that do not currently work with Symbian (as well as all those who do) is a key objective of the show, then a more inclusive title may help eg
Smart Mobile
Future Mobile Technology
Forward mobile
etc
(with “Hosted by Symbian”)
Call it “Symbian DevExpo” once again and focus on developers.
I know, that to many of us that have spent days on the floor of DevExpo going over code printouts and helping others with their problems may sound ironic, but the reality is that there is one lot of people that SF _vitally_ need to attract and this is developers.
Make it so in this event and make it for real!
@John Pagonis
+1
The single most important thing SF has to do this year is reconnect with developers. Apple and Google have shown that Symbian can no longer rely on it’s “build it and they will come” ethos, nor Nokia’s ability to shift product. I’ve seen a number of Mobile App houses start up in the last year and they’re focussing on iPhone and Android. The low cost of entry into those platforms is trumping market share.
The name may not matter so much, as long as the developers want to, and have a reason to show up. That, and lot’s of rubber-duck-on-robo-stilts squeezy freebies
>That, and lot’s of rubber-duck-on-robo-stilts squeezy freebies
+1
Maybe you can have a Bluetooth controlled Duck-mecha too? Would be a cool follow-up to the ShakerRacer truck
@Shonko Kid & James Nash:
Here is another idea for the future Symbian event:
Try to make the “rubber-duck-on-robo-stilts” a real robot running the realtime Symbian OS kernel.
Then the Symbian Robot could perhaps compete against one of the existing Linux robots ( http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT2717739661.html ) at the show.
BTW maybe instead of a Dodo robot competing against a Linux dinosaur robot, the robot could be an android (humanoid robot http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS5878102799.html ) just to make the competition even more fun and interesting.
Symbian Open or Symbian Foundation Open sends the right message I think, and can be interpreted in many ways depending on your place in the value chain, each of them equally valid.
Symbian Open’s nice, but personally, I think just keep it as the Symbian Show. I thought it was a good name, and therefore dont see the need for change…
as for the content…
the lectures, the stalls, they were all great.
just keep them up, and I’ll be happy.
what I enjoyed was the design contests on SE’s stand.
I think some contests will be fun and good.
Secondly, the demonstration of the Radio Contralled car was fun.
other than that, I’ll love to get my hands on a t-shirt with the new lolo on it…
I hope I can get one… (I’d rather have a T-shirt thank a hat with a can opener!!)
sory for the breefness of my comment!
and I seem to be just looking at the fun bits… but hey, it motivates the newbees right??
One Trackback
[...] name itself hasn’t been finalised yet. With the new status of the Symbian Foundation, David Wood muses on the official SF blog and asks for suggestions for the name and indeed the general themes fo…. Why not chip in?… more on the original website Report This Post: Illegal content | Broken link | [...]