London, UK/Espoo, Finland - Nokia (NYSE: NOK), the global leader in mobility, today launched the next  generation of Symbian OS(TM) development tools, Carbide.c++ , in an initiative designed to rapidly expand the mobile development community working with Symbian OS  (operating system), the global industry-leading operating system for smartphone devices.
 
The new Carbide.c++ unifies Nokia's developer tools offering, providing a tiered family of products which offer flexibility to developers at all levels and in all segments of the Symbian ecosystem - from professionals needing powerful debugging support for hardware creation to the novice seeking entry-level access to Symbian application development.
 
Carbide.c++, developed in cooperation with Symbian and announced today at The Smartphone Show, is built on Eclipse, the rapidly evolving open-source integrated development environment framework designed to encourage software tool innovation. The new family of Carbide .c++ developer tools launched here today includes:
 
- Carbide.c++ Professional Edition, designed for professional Symbian OS developers who focus on Symbian device development and high performance applications and require early access to next-generation Symbian OS support and technical specifications;
 
- Carbide.c++ Developer Edition, offering a new graphical Rapid Application Development (RAD) tool to ease C++ development for both Series 60 and UIQ mobile platforms, meeting the requirements of advanced-level application developers by providing improved productivity tools for application development and debug on Symbian OS devices; and,
 
- Carbide.c++ Express, an entry-level tool available for download at no cost and designed to invite all programmers to explore Symbian OS, providing a complete set of application development tools needed to target the Series 60 and UIQ SDKs and to build and deploy applications to devices.
 
"Nokia's new family of Carbide.c++ developer tools offers developers an integrated tool chain for developers of smartphone hardware and advanced mobile applications based on Symbian OS," said Heikki Koivu, Director, Development Tools, Nokia. "With the Carbide tools launch, Nokia underscores its commitment to bring premium development products to the rapidly growing universe of developers working across the entire Symbian ecosystem."
 
Symbian OS is the industry leading standard for open smartphone operating systems. Symbian OS is licensed to all leading handset manufactures including Arima, BenQ, Fujitsu, Panasonic, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sharp, Siemens and Sony Ericsson. During the first half of 2005, more than 14.5 million devices were sold to more than 200 network operators worldwide. The worldwide installed base of Symbian OS mobile phones exceeds 39 million devices.
 
The new Carbide brand of developer tools provides a single identity for all Nokia's developer tool offerings. Carbide.c++ is the natural evolution of Nokia's CodeWarrior for Symbian OS suite of development tools, providing a modern IDE with excellent usability mated to powerful Symbian OS debugging created by Nokia's Symbian OS development tools team.
 
All CodeWarrior for Symbian OS customers have a clear and consistent migration to Carbide. Advanced developers working with CodeWarrior Personal Edition will migrate to Carbide.c++ Developer Edition. CodeWarrior Professional and OEM Edition developers will easily migrate to Carbide.c++ Professional. Developers working with CodeWarrior OEM Edition's JTAG debugging will be offered an optional OEM plug-in to the Carbide.c++ Professional Edition, maximizing the flexibility for customers to acquire and configure Carbide tools according to their needs.
 
Carbide.c++ Express is designed to attract new developers to the Symbian OS community via the popular Eclipse IDE bundled with no-cost C++ Symbian OS development tools, lowering many barriers for large numbers of novice developers, students, academics, and evaluators to begin developing on Symbian OS.
 
Nokia's introduction of Carbide tools provides additional value to its existing tools customers by combining Nokia's leadership in mobile products and development resources with a new ability to leverage the large developer community that has rapidly congregated around the Eclipse IDE. Nokia has joined the Eclipse foundation as a strategic developer with a commitment that mobile development becomes a core part of the Eclipse promise to software developers.
 
The entry-level Carbide.c++ Express tool will be available for free download in the first quarter of 2006 at Forum Nokia, UIQ, Symbian and Symbian licensee websites. Carbide.c++ Developer Edition will be available in the second quarter of 2006 from Forum Nokia's webstore for 299€. Schedules for Carbide.c++ Professional Edition and other Carbide products will be announced separately with shipments expected to commence through the second half of 2006.
 
Nokia's Carbide.c++ Express will be showcased Oct. 11-12 at the Symbian Developer Community booth (#126) on the exhibition floor at The Smartphone Show at London's ExCeL Centre. Further information on the Carbide family of developer tools can be found online at www.forum.nokia.com/carbide.
 
About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations. www.nokia.com .
 
About Forum Nokia
Nokia's global developer program, Forum Nokia connects developers to tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they can use to build and market applications around the globe. From offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, China, and Singapore, Forum Nokia provides technical and business development support to developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of successfully launching applications and services to consumers and enterprises. More information is available at www.forum.nokia.com