Even before it was launched Symbian Signed was criticized by some as too costly, time-consuming, and restrictive for developers. Any scheme designed to provide users and operators with an assurance as to the quality of Symbian applications was always going to involve more effort by developers. However, it was an inevitability given operator concerns over the cost of supporting third party applications. Since the launch, Symbian Ltd. has made several changes to Symbian Signed designed to simplify it for developers. The switch to TC TrustCenter is the latest of these enhancements.

Symbian Signed has until now relied on ACS Publisher IDs supplied by VeriSign to prove the identity of developers submitting applications to Symbian Signed test houses. Bruce sees the switch to TC TrustCenter as providing two main benefits to developers. The first of these is fairly obvious; TC TrustCenter certificates will cost developers $200 US a year, as opposed to the $400 US developers would have paid to renew certificates with VeriSign.

The second advantage is slightly less obvious. "Developers from all over the world are creating Symbian applications," says Bruce. "This global spread causes issues in proving identity; showing that a company is real. It has been a particular issue for companies in non-English speaking countries, as proof documents often need to be translated and notarized. TC TrustCenter offers better facilities for dealing with the eccentricities of identity verification. This will mean that a developer's indirect costs, such as those for document translation, will be less."

Another aspect of improved global support is that TC TrustCenter provides a 24-hour seven-days a week support service. This will be of particular benefit to developers in the Far East, from India through to China, which had found their hours of operation fell outside VeriSign's support hours.

From the development process point of view, the switch to TC TrustCenter will have little impact on preparing an application for Symbian Signed. Apart from purchasing a Publisher ID from TC TrustCenter, the only change is that a new utility is used to convert the *.pfx file, exported from Internet Explorer, to a format that can be used to request Symbian Developer Certificates and sign application packages. Unlike the utility used with VeriSign IDs, the export utility is now available from the Symbian Signed website.

One issue that may concern developers is whether TC TrustCenter's pricing for certificates may turn out to be little more than a special introductory offer; VeriSign has been offering developers their initial certificate at a discount price of $350. "The Publisher ID offered by TC TrustCenter is part of their standard offering," says Bruce. "The pricing reflects this and is not an introductory offer. Future price rises will therefore be part of any general price increase, not one specifically affecting Symbian developers."

The switch to TC TrustCenter IDs is taking place over the next year, during which time both VeriSign and TC TrustCenter certificates can be used. "The root certificates on devices are remaining the same," says Bruce. "So applications using ACS Publisher IDs obtained from VeriSign will continue to work. Developers will only need to purchase a TC TrustCenter ID when their existing VeriSign ID expires."

To date some 20,000 applications and content items have been Symbian Signed. According to Bruce the number of new applications being signed is showing continued growth. Many developers now see Symbian Signed as just another part of the process of readying an application for market; although critics remain, particularly amongst smaller developers. According to Bruce Symbian Ltd. is aware of this and is continuing to explore ways to maintain the integrity of Symbian Signed while addressing developer concerns. Although Bruce did not mention specifics, he indicated that further changes are likely to be announced this year.

The change to TC TrustCenter answers concerns raised by Symbian developers generally. However, the emphasis on global support is indicative of increasing interest in Symbian from developers outside the US and Europe. In particular, this means China and India; countries poised to become significant centers for Symbian applications development over the next few years.

More information on the change to TC TrustCenter IDs can be found on the Symbian Signed Web site (www.symbiansigned.com), in particular in this set of FAQs.