On a related note…

Microsoft probably won’t find things easier in the mobile phone market (at least not in Europe) as Siemems have just joined the Symbian consortium. Previously, Siemens have produced Pocket PC based phones and this will certainly be a blow to MS. The main Symbian product is the Symbian OS – basically an evolution of the operating system used in the Psion range of PDA. If you need convincing that this is a sexy OS, take a look at the new Sony-Ericsson P800 and Nokia 7650.

On the negative side of the mobile business, Ericsson announced 20,000 layoffs over the next two years. Last year they let go of another ~15,000. Pretty drastic. The last round of cuts certainly played a part in the demise of my previous employer, Broadcom Eireann Research, as Ericsson purged themselves of outside contractors and peripheral projects.