MeeTo
Nokia was conspicuously absent from an earlier announcement concerning a collaboration between Orange and the operating system it is jointly developing with Intel - MeeGo. Perhaps coincidentally, Nokia does have an announcement of its own today, and it concerns the OS that features on the vast majority of Nokia handsets - Symbian.
This announcement concerns another tech company that seems to have gone into convergence overdrive - internet telephony outfit Skype. You can no download a Skype client for Symbian-based Nokia handsets for free through the Ovi store.
Now you can call and IM for free on Symbian ^1 (the first independent Symbian Foundation version) phones, but it must be noted there are already Skype apps for the iPhone and PSP, and it comes pre-installed on the Maemo-based Nokia N900. We must assume, therefore, that any awkward conversations with network operators - which stand to lose revenue when people use Skype on their phones - have already been had.
"Skype, the king of Internet communications, running on Symbian, the world's dominant smartphone platform, makes for an explosive combination," said Larry Berkin, head of global alliances and GM USA at the Symbian Foundation. "With Symbian's global reach, Skype is that much closer to becoming the ubiquitous real-time communications platform for hundreds of millions of Symbian-based mobile users."
You can find out which handsets support the Skype for Symian app and download it here.
