Those who said UIQ is dying, please open your eyes and step into the real world. A dying platform would not release new versions aint it? The new UIQ 3.3 further enhances UIQ’s position as the platform of choice for manufacturers. The new release includes :
* Full web experience: Opera Mobile 9, with its fast page rendering and its Pan & Zoom functionalities, offers the web experience of a full-scale browser in a mobile environment
* UIQ Dashboard: UIQ 3.3 is prepared for mobile widgets and features a dashboard, accessible system wide by pushing the widget button
* Opera Widgets: Opera widgets run on UIQ 3.3, offering the user direct access to content and opening up for new mobile services
* Unified Messaging Platform: integrated communication experience
* Java JSR 248 MSA Fullset: Developers can create and deploy a wide range of applications using the Mobile Services Architecture (MSA)
Press release after the break
UIQ Technology optimizes user experience options by releasing new version
Ronneby, Sweden, 27 March 2008 - UIQ Technology today announced the availability of UIQ 3.3, bringing mobile phone manufacturers even more opportunities to innovate and to diversify their product portfolios.
UIQ 3.3 based on Symbian OS v 9.3 builds on the success of the UIQ 3 family, making it possible for mobile phone manufacturers to produce different kinds of phones on the same software platform, on a single code line. UIQ 3.3 includes incremental enhancements in line with market requirements, including enhanced support for operator services and extensive customization for addressing different market segments.
UIQ 3.3 for example includes:
- Full web experience: Opera Mobile 9, with its fast page rendering and its Pan & Zoom functionalities, offers the web experience of a full-scale browser in a mobile environment
- UIQ Dashboard: UIQ 3.3 is prepared for mobile widgets and features a dashboard, accessible system wide by pushing the widget button
- Opera Widgets: Opera widgets run on UIQ 3.3, offering the user direct access to content and opening up for new mobile services
- Unified Messaging Platform: integrated communication experience
- Java JSR 248 MSA Fullset: Developers can create and deploy a wide range of applications using the Mobile Services Architecture (MSA)
UIQ 3.3 will significantly enhance the options for creating differentiated mobile phones for different segments and different price ranges,” said Mats Barvesten EVP Product Management and Ecosystems. “Operators are also given the opportunity to promote their services through customized folders and a widget dashboard. We have integrated the Opera Mobile 9.5 web browser and added a number of new functions and possibilities that are in line with our strategy to enable phones with world class user experience.”
With an aim to extend UIQ based mobile phones into the mass-market, UIQ’s focus is to ensure a flexible and powerful open user interface and development platform that optimizes the options for mobile phone manufacturers to create higher volume phones for the market.
“The UIQ platform is a key enabler for several of Motorola’s multimedia-centric devices - including our new MOTO Z10 kick-slider handset, which offers users a host of features and applications for a unique mobile video experience,” said Christy Wyatt, Vice President, Software Platforms & Ecosystem, Motorola. “We look forward to supporting UIQ 3.3 in future mobile devices, leveraging its new capabilities to further enhance customer experiences, and working closely with UIQ to provide the essential toolsets to our developer community.”
With UIQ 3.3, including a number of web based technologies, we see the platform evolving further to enable even richer user experience,” said Ulf Persson, Corporate Vice President and Head of PBU Open Platform at Sony Ericsson. “We welcome this release and are committed to developing and delivering products on UIQ 3.3.”
Antony Edwards, Vice President Developer Product Marketing, Symbian, said “UIQ 3.3 will bring a host of new opportunities for developers wanting to innovate on a powerful user interface platform, including new APIs such as SQL. Symbian OS v 9.3 strengthens the offering for handset manufacturers with its robust and scalable OS, enhanced phone performance and hardware capabilities, allowing them to bring differentiated phones to market more quickly.”
Source : http://www.uiq.com/2888_2997.html
18 Comments Received
March 27th, 2008 @4:21 pm
Will i be able to run this on the P1i.If so were can if get it.
March 27th, 2008 @6:02 pm
Nice, but it nags me a little that I cannot find something surprising. This is solid evolution of a good platform, but can’t we have a little revolution added to the mix, some little “Wow!” feeling
I confess that I don’t have a good idea for such a little piece of revolution right now, but then I am also not a company with hundreds of employees with plenty of potential to come up with something…
March 27th, 2008 @6:07 pm
Whether the version will be available on the p1i would be up to Sony Ericsson, of course. So no.
Here’s to hoping there is such a thing as a phone- manufacturer with some amount of talent, a bit of dedication, a sliver of strategic intent, and minimal technological awareness, coupled with any level of understanding when it comes to structured, object- oriented solutions.
Anyone? I’ll buy that phone in an instant.
March 27th, 2008 @6:13 pm
Nipsen i will be happy enough if we get opera mobile 9.5
Seems pretty much equivalent to s60 v3 fp2 don´t you guys think? AFAIK, both are based on symbian 9.3
And UIQ4 should only be presented in the end of the year…
March 27th, 2008 @6:14 pm
btw, ^ that’s the wow- thing, right there. The other thing is, presumably, using widgets to create the standby- screen.
March 27th, 2008 @6:27 pm
Well, ares, I still feel like we’re being ripped off, you know. And not just on UIQ. It seems that we have a real choice between buying a phone that’s “supported” - meaning it’s full of phone- manufacturer and telecom attempts to sell you bad quality ten second music clips for $5 a piece. And between buying a cleaner platform, in a scenario where the phone- manufacturer has no intention of ever touching the phone again after the initial release, no matter how necessary that is.
Neither of those approaches seem to be geared towards actually selling phones, rather than piss people off, is all I’m saying.
March 27th, 2008 @6:33 pm
I have no big hopes regarding big updates, considering the past…however, i really am enjoying my P1 alot, specially by using some great 3rd party apps with it…however i do believe we will get opera 9.5
Regarding support…AFAIK, we will get 2 more firmware updates for
P1 and W960…can´t be only bug corrections, there are not alot of bugs anymoe…we shall see…
March 27th, 2008 @7:28 pm
Still no mention of true VOIP capabilities which the Nokias & Blackberries have as part of the OS. Personally Id like to hook my UIQ device into my PBX without third-party battery draining software.
March 27th, 2008 @8:00 pm
Sure. 3rd party programs that would also work on a partially(?) updated core UI. Or a new UIQ phone altogether.
March 27th, 2008 @8:01 pm
I know the phone industry has, in the past, refused to upgrade software, and just said “if you want new features, buy a new phone.” In the past this made sense.
However, I believe that the P1i represents a new era. At last we have a phone that is not maxed out on day one, and actually has the resources to support an upgrade path.
I for one, (and I am as mean as anyone) would be prepared to pay a small amount to upgrade to a newer OS version. Hell, I’d pay $20 to have PROFILES on my P1i!!!! (Although, I am also consulting my lawyer as to whether the lack of profiles constitutes “goods not of merchandisable quality” under the sale of goods act.)
Paid OS upgrades would bring Symbian as much revenue as new licences to the phone manufacturer as selling a new phone. It would also increase the life of the phone, which would save the planet, and increase resale value, which would enable a larger number of people to justify buying a very expensive phone in the first place, SE would probably gain more sales than they lose. Resale value is crucial to cost of ownership of cars. I know several people who consider resale value when choosing a smart phone. I personally consider the expected life of the phone as a key factor when selecting a new one.
I dumped WInCE in direct response to its lack of upgrade path. I will surely commit to a phone line whose OS updates give it a three year life instead of one year.
The phone operators all want us to sign 18 month or 24 month contracts - are they willing to push for a phone with a long supported life as an incentive to induce the valuable business customer to sign up for longer plans? Lets hope so!
March 27th, 2008 @8:05 pm
Dunks asks for VoIP - I’d like to have DECT. Imagine being able to use your lovely Smartphone as a cordless phone while at home, instead of that awful piece of junk that you get from Comet!
Or perhaps we need a gadget that connects to the landline, and does VoIP over BlueTooth?
March 27th, 2008 @11:02 pm
What, and change their profit- margins and calculations? But there’d be mayhem, everyone would be laid off, the prices would be quadrupled, technology would degenerate back to the stone- age, and we would all be eaten by the Midgar- Snake. And we can’t have that, can we?
March 27th, 2008 @11:17 pm
Whats the use of UIQ 3.3 if no handset is planned to support in within a reasonable time?
March 28th, 2008 @12:01 am
You are sooo wrong…hint…next SE announcement…soon
And next Motorola annoucement (next week)
March 28th, 2008 @12:10 am
But when will that next SE announcement be? I surely hope that they would just offer all the new stuff in the next firmware upgrade… More like a service pack 2 upgrade to the P1…
March 28th, 2008 @12:46 am
@nipsen
Midgar-Snake lol
I wonder how many got that quality joke?
March 28th, 2008 @9:20 am
I certainly hope SE “Shiho” will utilize this. UIQ 3.3 fits shiho alot when in the software side imo like the MSA API, Opera 9.5, widgets etc
March 30th, 2008 @1:25 am
That really cracks me up, wasn’t the 2 last versions of UIQ (UIQ 3.2 and UIQ 3.3) suppposed to be UIQ 4 already?
And by “supposed” I mean rumored by people who apparently have no trustable source or insight within UIQ.
In the past years we have seen genuine phone leaks (names, and specs), but I don’t remeber seeing a rumor about UIQ ever being true.
So, while I really appreciate the effort and enjoy the conspiracy theorie as much as any other cultivated guy, I won’t hold my breath for any announcement that is not coming from UIQ.
Although those guys are not very vocal and frustratingly never tell you what is coming until it’s actually here, there is one think I have come to trust: the deliver new versions and updates regularly, and the phones are spout out at a constant flow.
They only problem we are all well aware of, is the bad marketing done by SE and Moto.
To sum up, I’m very happy to see a new UIQ is out (only 2 month after the last one) with what is seems some promising new features, I expect the phones announcements soon (it always happens like that), and I know there will be more in a few months, wheter it’s UIQ 4 or 3.17, it doesn’t matter, since no one as a clue of what it holds.
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