Symbian unveils Horizon app store

Symbian has launched its application system, called Horizon.

Horizon is Symbian's answer to the growing app store phenomenon, but rather than simply open its own marketplace, the open source developer approves apps and then passes them onto partner stores.

Those now include Nokia's Ovi Store, Samsung's Applications Store and AT&T's MEdia Mall, as well as Sony Ericsson's PlayNow arena and China Mobile's Mobile Market.

Developers who want to take part can also sign up to be listed in the Symbian Horizon Directory, which will bring together all Symbian apps in one place - where they can also be downloaded.

While just 50 applications have been approved so far, Symbian said the Horizon was being "scaled up to process thousands of applications in 2010."

"We recognise that developers face many challenges in bringing their products to market on Symbian devices," said Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, in a statement. "In particular, the diversity of application stores in our ecosystem increases the burden on developers by requiring multiple submission and review processes."

"But this diversity can also offer an advantage over competitors' closed systems, where applications sometimes receive arbitrary or commercially motivated rejections," he said. "Symbian Horizon retains this advantage while reducing the burden by becoming a conduit to multiple stores, helping developers reach the largest global mobile market in the world more efficiently."

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