UIQ Technology
Sony Ericsson (2006-2007) (2007-2009)Sony Ericsson & Motorola |
UIQ Technology and Sony Ericsson.
History
UIQ Technology was established in April 1999 as Symbian AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of
In 2002
On 7 November 2006, Sony Ericsson announced they had agreed (in principle) to buy UIQ Technology from Symbian Ltd. and run it as a separate subsidiary. The UIQ products would be "openly available, licensed on equal terms to all its licensees". The acquisition was completed in February 2007.[4] Interestingly this meant Sony Ericsson got back this division that was originally created by them in 1998 (as Ericsson, before the joint venture with Sony).[5]
On 15 October 2007, Sony Ericsson and Motorola announced an agreement for Motorola to purchase a 50% interest in UI Holdings BV, the legal parent company of UIQ Technology. The two companies worked and invested jointly in the development of UIQ.[6]
End of UIQ
With the establishment in 2008 of the
Sony Ericsson funded the company for a few months to help management to restructure or find a buyer.[10] On 5 January 2009, UIQ Technology filed for bankruptcy and ceased to exist.[11]
Timeline
1998
- Spring - Ericsson Mobile Communications in Lund set up a development lab in Ronneby called Mobile Applications Lab. This was the precursor of UIQ Technology.
- June - Symbian Ltd. was established in London.
1999
- 1 April - The company became part of Symbian Ltd, and the new company name was Symbian AB. Work was focused on Quartz 6.0, which was the pen-based communicator later known as UIQ.
- December - Number of permanent employees: 21
2000
- February - Quartz was publicly announced.
- May - Johan Sandberg was appointed General Manager.
- September - The first product release of Quartz 6.0 was made.
- December - Number of permanent employees: 78.
2001
- April - Quartz 6.1 was released.
- December - Number of permanent employees: 76.
2002
- February - The company name was changed to UIQ Technology AB and the product was renamed UIQ.
- March - UIQ 2.0 was released.
- December - Number of permanent employees: 85.
- December - The first UIQ phone, Sony Ericsson P800, was released.
- December - UIQ Selected Partner Program was launched for UIQ 2.1.
2003
- February - UIQ 2.1 was made public.
- October - The first UIQ 2.1 based phone, Sony Ericsson P900, reached the market. Motorola A920 was launched.
- December - Number of permanent employees: 102.
2004
- February - UIQ 3 was announced at 3GSM.
- February - Motorola A925, Sony Ericsson P910, BenQ P30, Motorola A1000 reached the market.
- December - Number of permanent employees: 110.
- December - UIQ Selected Partner Program was launched for UIQ 3.
2005
- September - First UIQ 3 phone was announced - the Sony Ericsson P990
- September - UIQ developer program launched
2006
- February - Second and third UIQ 3 phones are announced - the Sony Ericsson M600 and the Sony Ericsson W950 - as the platform moves into high volume, mid-tier devices
- February - UIQ developer program launches premium level membership and hosts WDF developer track at 3GSM
- November - Sony Ericsson announces that it has agreed to buy UIQ Technology
2007
- February - UIQ 3.1 is released followed shortly by the SDK.
- February - The Motorola RIZR Z8is announced.
- February - Sony Ericsson finishes the acquisition of UIQ Technology from Symbian Ltd.
- May - The Sony Ericsson P1i is announced.
- October - Motorola acquires 50% interest in UIQ Technology parent company UI Holdings BV.
2008
- March - UIQ 3.3 was announced.
2009
- January - UIQ files for bankruptcy following the announcements of the open source Symbian Foundation earlier in 2008.[12][13][14]
See also
- UIQ
- List of UIQ 3 Phones
References
- CiteSeerX 10.1.1.721.9498. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ Andrew Orlowski. "GUI wars return: Motorola, Sony Ericsson tie-up". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ Andrew Orlowski. "Moto buys into UIQ". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "History". UIQ Technology. 2007. Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
- ^ Meyer, David. "Sony Ericsson takes control of smartphone interface". ZDNet. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Motorola to buy half of UIQ from Sony Ericsson". IT PRO. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Symbian Foundation continues to draw strong industry support" Archived 23 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Sony Ericsson press release 2008-09-09, retrieved 24 October 2008
- ^ "on 2008-10-21, retrieved 2008-10-24". Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- ^ on 2008-10-22, retrieved 2008-10-24 Archived 25 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "More than 200 jobless following UIQ's bankruptcy". www.thelocal.se. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ The end of UIQ Archived 25 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Esato. Retrieved on 8 December 2013.
- ^ The Register UK - 'files for bankruptcy' in Sweden
- ^ The Local - More than 200 jobless following UIQ's bankruptcy
- ^ Electronista - UIQ declares bankruptcy