Samsung Launches Symbian Developer SiteSamsung Launches Symbian Developer Site

Samsung is throwing its weight behind mobile applications and launched a developer site that it hopes will make creating Symbian apps easier.

Announced at the Symbian Smartphone Show earlier this week, the Samsung Mobile Innovator Web site offers mobile developers tools, technical content, and support to create content for the Symbian S60 platform. Additionally, the portal will offer members a chance for business opportunities with end-to-end sales channels and a platform to deliver apps to handsets.

"With such a fast-paced development life cycle of products, our work with application development partners and other innovators in the ecosystem is of great value to us," said Philip Northam, Samsung's Mobile Innovator global marketing manager, in a statement. "The launch of Mobile Innovator is a significant step in our commitment to building a strong open collaboration culture and developer community around Samsung."

Basic membership is free to anyone interested in developing mobile applications, and there are separate tiers, including an invite-only "Core" membership level. The first 300 Symbian S60 applications will be certified for free, Samsung said.

Samsung said some of the benefits of its Mobile Innovator program include a virtual device lab that can be used to test and verify app functionality. There's also business development support, and exclusive and confidential technical support.

"We firmly believe that the key stakeholders to the success of S60 on Samsung devices are mobile developers, and we're committed to ensuring that they have the best possible tools and support," said Northam. "Samsung Mobile Innovator is our commitment to ensuring that Samsung continues to drive the long-term success of Symbian OS and S60 and, in the long term, the forthcoming Symbian Foundation."