The VAR Guy

Microsoft is hoping to add to its growing developer base, following on its moves to bring in webOS developers with an invitation on the Windows Phone Developer Blog to Symbian developers. Since Nokia now will be manufacturing Windows Phone 7 phones, it has essentially left MeeGo and Symbian out to dry. Right now, its developer community is in a state of flux, so Microsoft wants Symbian application developers to join in the Windows fun …

According to the Windows Phone Developer Blog, Microsoft has put together a “comprehensive package to leverage [Symbian] development skills while learning to build applications for Windows Phone.” For Symbian developers, it may feel a bit like joining The Dark Side, but Microsoft aims to make this transition as easy as possible. The package includes a 100-page whitepaper describing the entire developmental platform ethos, guidelines and tools available, and Microsoft has added Symbian Qt into the Windows Phone API mapping tools to make it easier for developers to streamline their designs and port them to Windows Phone 7 instead of starting from scratch.

Microsoft also plans to kick off the “Nokia Windows Phone Training Roadshow,” which will evangelize the platform and offer up tips and tricks as developers ready for the new frontier of applications. Europe is first on the schedule (with some shows already sold out), and a Silicon Valley show in the United States is on the radar. If you can’t wait, head on over and check out Microsoft’s repository of Windows Phone code samples to help kick-start whatever Symbian-to-Windows Phone project you have going on.

Sold-out shows clearly demonstrate a considerable interest in moving to the Windows Phone platform, but more importantly, Microsoft’s support of Symbian developers is critical if it wants to gain the same level of support and proliferation for Windows Phone 7 that Google and Apple already enjoy with Android and iOS. At the end of the day, it’s all about the software, stupid.

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