EC cancels €22m Symbian embedded OS project


24 May 2011

The European Commission has cancelled its planned €22m research project SYMBEOSE, designed to turn mobile OS Symbian into the embedded operating system for Europe.

In November 2010, the EC announced a €22m public/private joint investment and a consortium of 24 organisations as a part of SYMBEOSE, which stood for “Symbian – the Embedded Operating System for Europe.”

The project was made to boost Symbian, which was Nokia’s primary operating system. It aimed to put the platform onto a wider portfolio of devices, including web-connected gadgets and cloud computing technology.

However, since Nokia has decided to move to using Windows Phone instead, it seems the project has collapsed, as confirmed by Carl-Christian Buhr on Twitter. Buhr works with Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the EC who is also responsible for the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Buhr confirmed the project has ceased and that the EU has not paid anything towards it.