Motorola and Psion team up on Net devices

NEWS Motorola and Psion have announced they will co-develop mobile Internet access devices based on the Symbian operating system (OS). The partnership puts the Symbian OS venture - which is also backed by Ericsson, Matsushita and Nokia - back to the fore in next-generation handheld development. Motorola has also teamed with Palm Computing, as has Nokia, while Ericsson has entered an agreement with Microsoft. Other phone and PDA providers working on joint ventures include Casio and Siemens, which aim to produce all-in-one devices based on Microsoft Windows CE. Products from the Motorola-Psion effort are expected to ship in the first half of 2001. David Levin, CEO of Psion, said in a statement: "This agreement is a strong endorsement for Symbian and represents a great step forward for Psion. It demonstrates Psion is shaping the future of mobile Internet."