New Fast-Track signing, DevCert Request plug-in for Carbide.c++, automated test tools and Symbian Signed website

Symbian today announced a range of new initiatives to help developers bring Symbian applications to market faster. These initiatives include a fast-track certification process, a DevCert Request plug-in for Carbide.c++, automated test tools and a new Symbian Signed website.

The announcement comes in the wake of 12,300 signing instances since the creation of Symbian Signed and follows a strong wave of developers migrating applications to Symbian OS™ v9 where application signing has increased 68% from Q2 to Q3 in 2006.

Fast-Track signing
Developers wishing to Fast-Track the signing process can now take advantage of a premium service provided by NSTL which takes one day. This service costs €275 and is accessed from the Symbian Signed portal. see http://www.symbiansigned.com/

DevCert Request plug-in for Carbide.c++
The new DevCert Request plug-in is the first in a series of planned plug-ins for Carbide.c++ and enables a developer certificate to be requested from within a development environment. Until now additional software was required to generate this certificate, with the DevCert Request plug-in, the development process is streamlined, making it easier and faster to test applications on a smartphone.

Automated test tools - UIQ and S60
Two new tools, one for UIQ and one for S60, are now freely available from the Symbian Signed website which allow developers to pre-test their applications before submitting them for Symbian Signed testing. This pre-testing automates up to 80% of the Symbian Signed test criteria making it easier to pass the Symbian Signed testing process.

Symbian Signed is the mobile industry endorsed certification program that promotes best practice in designing applications to run on Symbian smartphones.

See http://www.symbiansigned.com/

See Also http://developer.symbian.com/

About Symbian Signed
Symbian Signed is a testing and signing program for Symbian applications and content. Created by Symbian, Symbian Signed is endorsed by major handset manufacturers and network operators including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Orange and T-Mobile. The GSM Association recommends its member operators to certify third party applications and content, and to use Symbian Signed specifically for the certification of applications and content for Symbian OS.

Symbian Signed has continued to evolve since its initial roll-out in February 2004, responding to the changing technological and commercial environment as well as in response to feedback from leading developers, network operators, application vendors and handset vendors.

About Symbian Limited
Symbian is a software licensing company that develops and licenses Symbian OS, the market leading open operating system for advanced, data-enabled mobile phones, also known as smartphones.

Symbian licenses Symbian OS to the world's leading handset manufacturers and has built close co-operative business relationships with leading companies across the mobile industry. During H1 2006, 24 million Symbian OS phones were sold worldwide to over 250 major network operators, bringing the total number of Symbian OS phones shipped to 82.8 million.

Symbian has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom with offices in the United States, Europe (England and Sweden (UIQ Technology AB)), Israel and Asia (India, P.R. China, Korea, and Japan).

About NSTL
NSTL, Inc. is the world's leading independent information technology testing organization. NSTL manages a number of global mobile certification programs including Symbian Signed, Microsoft Mobile, Qualcomm BREW and, Java Verified, NSTL also works with network operators such as Vodafone, Orange, Virgin Mobile, and Verizon. NSTL is privately owned and is headquartered in suburban Philadelphia, PA. NSTL has testing coverage in North and South America, Europe, Taiwan, Japan, China, and India.

Source: Symbian Ltd.