The future of the Symbian platform gained more visibility Thursday with the announcement that Qualcomm's Innovation Center (QulC) has joined the Symbian Foundation and its representatives were immediately appointed to the Symbian Board of directors.

The move is expected to boost open source software for mobile device makers by combining open source solutions from both organizations.

"QulC joining the Symbian Foundation and the Symbian Foundation board demonstrates our commitment to provide expertise and to optimize technology with the Symbian platform," said Rob Chandhok, QulC president, in a statement Thursday. "Working as part of the Symbian Foundation, Q ulC looks forward to participating in technology innovation in areas such as multi-core CPU support, Web browser and application enhancement and CDMA and LTE support."

The inclusion of Qualcomm gives a boost to the Symbian platform which includes a mobile operating system, user interfaces, middleware, and various mobile applications. In joining the Symbian ecosystem, Qualcomm joins carriers AT&T, Vodafone, and NTT DOCOMO as well as silicon providers ST Microelectronics NV and Texas Instruments. Handset manufacturers Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson are also on the Symbian board.

The Symbian Foundation has begun to move its open source offerings via the Eclipse Public License so the platform code will be available for free, and it is currently scheduled to be available to all for free by mid-next year.

Some portions of the platform have already been moved, according to the Foundation. Symbian OS and related user interfaces have been contributed by Nokia, NTT DOCOMO and Sony Ericsson and include the S60 and MOAP user interfaces.

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