March 22th 2005, Symbian press release Symbian licenses Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync Protocol for Symbian OS London, UK – March 22, 2005 – Symbian Limited today announced that it has licensed the Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol for use in Symbian OS™, the leading open standard operating system for advanced mobile phones. Under the terms of the agreement, Symbian will develop an Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol – plug-in – for the Symbian OS messaging architecture to enable Symbian OS licensees – the world's leading mobile phone manufacturers – to include in their Symbian OS-based phones direct over-the-air (OTA) synchronization capabilities for email, calendar, contacts and other personal information management (PIM) data supported by Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 . Symbian will make the Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol plug-in available to all Symbian OS licensees which, when coupled with a separate standard distribution agreement with Microsoft, enables the licensees, at their discretion, to implement direct synchronization capabilities with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 in their selected Symbian OS products with reduced time to market, improved interoperability and lower development costs. The terms of the licensing agreement between Symbian and Microsoft were not disclosed. The agreement continues Symbian's commitment to working with leading companies from the mobile communications and IT industries to enable Symbian OS licensees to develop products that meet the diverse needs of network operators, enterprises and consumers around the world. Symbian continues to support a wide range of email and PIM synchronization protocols such as RIM's BlackBerry Connect as well as the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Data Synchronization protocol as implemented in solutions from a wide variety of Symbian Partner vendors. Symbian is committed to ensuring its licensees have the widest choice possible in this evolving space. Symbian
"With an installed base of more than 25 million Symbian OS phones and more than 14 m Symbian OS phones having shipped to more than 200 network operators in 2004, Symbian is the leading open standard operating system in 2.5 and 3G phones. Developing Microsoft's Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol plug-in for Symbian OS continues Symbian's drive to offer the broadest possible choice of email and PIM solutions. This will help all Symbian OS licensees meet the needs of the enterprise market," said Marit Doving, executive vice president, Marketing, Symbian.
Microsoft
"By licensing the ActiveSync protocol and opening up this capability to Symbian OS licensees, Symbian and Microsoft together are significantly expanding the number of customers who can directly access their corporate email and PIM data from wireless devices," said Dave Thompson, corporate vice president of the Exchange Server Product Group at Microsoft. "Our goal, as evidenced by this agreement and licensing of our intellectual property, is to enhance end-user productivity and drive innovation in the mobile industry with an easy to implement, wireless email solution designed to lower IT costs." About Symbian Ltd Symbian is a software licensing company that develops and licenses Symbian OS, the global open industry standard operating system for advanced, data-enabled mobile phones. Symbian licenses Symbian OS to the world's leading handset manufacturers. The following Symbian OS licensees have Symbian OS-based mobile phones in production and / or in development: Arima, BenQ, Fujitsu for NTT DoCoMo FOMA, LG, Lenovo, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Sendo, Sharp, Siemens, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. In 2004, over 14 million Symbian OS-based mobile phones were sold worldwide and more than 25 million have been sold to date. Symbian has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom with offices in the United States, Europe, Israel, Australia and Asia (Bangalore, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo). For further information about Symbian:
www.symbian.com
press@symbian.com PR Contacts: Symbian Software Ltd. Anatolie Papas, Laura Sykes
+44 207 154 1917
press@symbian.com
Mobile phone operating software maker Symbian is licensing the Microsoft ActiveSync technology in a move that surprised analysts. The license would allow Symbian to develop a plug-in for mobile phones to let users check email that is served by Microsoft Exchange Server mail system.

Symbian was formed in 1998 by Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Psion in a collaborative desire to counter Microsoft's emerging market power in operating systems for handheld devices. While Microsoft now provides the Windows Mobile software for mobile phones, it has not attained significant market penetration. At the same time, in part through the increased popularity of Research in Motion's ''BlackBerry'' mobile email device, users have come to expect their mobile phones to synchronize email with various mail servers — including Exchange Server.

Symbian appears to be sensitive to the appearance of collaborating with the very competitor that spurred their creation. Symbian's press release emphasized that the licensing of the technology introduces just one of the many methods the Symbian software communicates with email servers. The spokesperson for the company, Peter Bancroft, was also on the defensive: "Microsoft isn't a monolithic company" he said, referring to the fact that Exchange Server and Windows Mobile are created by two different divisions of Microsoft.

Shares of Research in Motion dropped on the news.