US operator, AT&T is looking to reduce the number of phone operating systems supported by its own-brand phones to just one or two platforms. Speaking at the Symbian Partner Conference, Roger Smith, director of next-generation services at AT&T, warned that Java based handsets had been problematic, mainly due to in-house management issues - and hinted that  Symbian would become its preferred platform.

Java handsets have been beset by compatibility issues, and the once oft-touted "write once, run anywhere" advantages of Java never really existed for mobile phones. When customers have problems with software applications not working on their handsets, they often turn to the operator for help - which is a burden on the customer care department.

Symbian handsets do not generally have the same level of system fragmentation - and emergent open-source platforms such as Linux and Android have worked to ensure that software will work across all handsets.

He also cited the maturity of the Symbian platform as one of its core benefits, which could mean that the firm is not looking at Android or Linux - at least not in the short term.

Handsets such as the iPhone, which AT&T has exclusive rights to are not going to be affected by this consolidation, as the company considered the iPhone to be more of a "platform" and not a stand-alone smartphone.

Source:cellular-news