Google, Symbian: Cooperation Needed

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Other handset makers may be able to embed Google applications on top of Symbian or LiMo operating systems so that they are the default options on phones right out of the box. That's the case with Samsung's Innov8, introduced July 24.

Jack Gold, president of consulting firm J. Gold Associates, has even speculated that LiMo or Symbian may consider merging with Android. "The problem right now is there are too many [open-source] players," Gold says. "It doesn't make sense in a marketplace to have multiple vendors doing the same thing. If you combine all that effort into one, you should have a lot more effect."

However, the notion of a merger between Symbian and Android is widely dismissed within Symbian circles. It might be "more feasible for Android to merge with LiMo than with Symbian, because the technology underpinnings are the same," Gillis says. He also says the two haven't discussed closer collaboration, much less a merger.

Competition May Rule

To be sure, there are plenty of reasons for Android and Symbian Foundation to stay apart. Each was created to forward the interests of big, competing corporations—Google and Nokia, respectively. "It is like suggesting that Coke (KO) and Pepsi (PEP) merge," says Ben Wood, an analyst at the British mobile consulting firm CCS Insight. "There are clear competitive reasons why Nokia, which owns all the intellectual property and will be the biggest contributor to the [open-source] Symbian Foundation, has no commercial incentive at all to work with Google."

For its part, Google is pressing ahead with stand-alone Android efforts. Indeed, Android is prepping a major release within a few weeks and will soon announce new Open Handset Alliance members. "We will continue building and innovating on Android," says Rubin, who declined to comment on whether Android may merge with another open-source effort.

For now, Microsoft says it's not worried. "This is really nothing new, we've seen Linux consortiums come and go," says Scott Rockfeld, group product manager of Windows Mobile. But even a little cooperation could make these recent open efforts more than just some passing fad.

With Jennifer Schenker in Paris
Kharif is a senior writer for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore.