London, UK — UK mobile handset maker Sendo has unexpectedly abandoned plans to sell a device using Microsoft's operating system, and will instead use Nokia's Series 60 Platform, an interface and set of smartphone applications based on the Symbian operating system.
The move came as a surprise since Sendo was one of the first to partner with Microsoft to use the software giant's Smartphone 2002 system, originally known as Stinger.
Sendo was within weeks of shipping the Z100, a tri-band GPRS enabled phone, to European retailers and carriers. It is unlikely it will launch a Series 60 based product before the middle of next year.
The Birmingham, England based company would not comment on why it terminated the deal with Microsoft "because of legal reasons". Neither would the company comment on the future of the minority, roughly 10% stake Microsoft holds in the handset maker, for which it paid about $10m last July.
In a brief statement issued on Thursday, Sendo said only that it "has terminated its Smartphone development programme(s) utilising Microsoft Windows for Smartphone 2002 Software. The company added it was a "very difficult" decision to take and that having to cancel the Z100 was a setback for the company.
Hugh Brogan, Sendo's chief executive, is quoted as saying the decision was influenced by the use of open standards such as MMS (multimedia messaging) and Java in Nokia's and Symbian's software. The company also stated access to source code allowed by Series 60 was important. With Smartphone 2002, Sendo did not have full access to this.
Sendo's move is a setback for Microsoft, which has had difficulty convincing handset makers to adopt its software and the restrictions that go along with it. The only other handset maker to have introduced a Smartphone 2002 device is Taiwanese contract manufacturer High Tech Computing (HTC), whose handset will be launched this year by Orange under the brand SPV (Sound Pictures Video). Samsung has also licensed the technology, but has yet to launch a product using Smartphone 2002, and Microsoft says over 50 companies have already developed applications that run on its operating system.
Not surprisingly, Nokia welcomed the move, stressing Series 60 is licensed as source code, allowing users to modify the user interface and make their own additions to the platform. Companies that have already committed the platform include Matsushita, Siemens, Samsung and Nokia itself.
