The Symbian Foundation has previewed an application-publishing program Symbian Horizon that assists developers in building applications for Symbian devices.
The company said that it expects to place those applications in many global stores which reach Symbian customers and will receive promotional assistance for bringing those applications to end users.
The company stated that: “the goal of Symbian Horizon is to reduce barriers to success, while increasing the profitability of creating and delivering Symbian applications.”
According to Symbian, the new program will work with developers, from application certification and in-store presence, to language translation services and marketing programs, to create a single point of management and distribution for mobile consumers.
Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, said: Our goal is to encourage robust application development, increase revenue and application diversity in mobile stores, and improve the consumer experience – all for the greater benefit of the mobile ecosystem.
“And we can help North American developers reach markets in Asia and Europe where the Symbian platform is widely known and loved. We are building a self-sustaining ecosystem that will drive the next generation of mobile and developers that join now are aligning themselves with the future of mobile.
Reportedly, the Symbian Horizon targets two primary communities within the Symbian ecosystem. The first community is made up of application store providers, either operator- or manufacturer-based, such as Ovi Store by Nokia, Samsung Applications Store and AT&T’s Media Mall.
The second target community is comprised of developers ranging from individual developers to companies that want to reach a broader mobile consumer market. The companies that have already committed to participate in the program include Dynatech, The Guardian, MobileIron, National Public Radio (NPR), Skout, Ustream, and Wine.com. The program is expected to be taken out of beta in October 2009.
