The improved processes Open Signed, Express Signed and Certified Signed are available to developers with immediate effect.

Symbian Signed, developed in partnership between Symbian, its licensees, network operators and developers, promotes best practice to test and sign applications for Symbian smartphones. Based on developer feedback, the Symbian Signed processes have been radically improved to make signing faster, easier and cheaper for developers driving growth in the number of Symbian applications.

Bruce Carney, Director of Developer Programs and Services, Symbian said, “Developers are fundamental to our success and the industry’s. With over 20 million Symbian smartphones shipped during the third quarter of 2007 alone, we are more focused on providing smarter tools to make developing on Symbian OS speedier and more affordable. Among other evolutions, the new service allows developers to access previously restricted device capabilities giving developers more time to innovate.”

• Open Signed – provides a free offline signing process using Developer Certificates allowing an application to be installed and tested on up to 1000 devices controlled by declared IMEIs (unique phone identification numbers).*
• Express Signed – an entirely new process to allow software developers with Publisher IDs to instantly sign all applications that do not require access to the more sensitive device functions, allowing faster time-to-market. Developers can now sign applications on Express Signed for as little as US$20.
• Certified Signed – for those applications that require access to restricted system capabilities and/or where independent testing is desired.

As part of the changes to accommodate the new signing processes a revised Symbian Signed Test Criteria (currently v3.0.1) for testing and signing applications has also been issued.

* An online version of Open Signed is expected to be available during the first quarter of 2008 for developers unable to acquire Publisher IDs.

For more infromation see: www.symbiansigned.com