Microsoft set to launch beta of Silverlight for Symbian

In March 2008, Microsoft and Nokia announced their commitment to make Silverlight available for certain Nokia phones running the Symbian operating system. Microsoft is finally ready to make a beta of that code available.

Microsoft briefly posted, then pulled, the download of the beta of the Silverlight for Symbian code on March 11, as well as the associated developer tools for that release. I grabbed the description of the downloads before they were zapped.

From the description of the tools:

"The installable executable file enables users to run Silverlight applications on the Nokia S60 5th Edition platform. The executable file includes the Silverlight runtime for Nokia S60 5th Edition devices, the Silverlight runtime for Nokia S60 5th Edition emulator, sample applications, and developer documentation."

And from the description of the Silverlight for Symbian beta:

"The installable executable enables user to run Silverlight applications on the Nokia S60 5th Edition platform."

Microsoft is likely to make the downloads of these two offerings available the week of March 14, given that the company's annual Mix Web developer conference kicks off that week.

When Microsoft and Nokia announced two years ago their deal to develop the port of Silverlight to Symbian, the pair said to expect the final code before the end of 2008. They'll be close to two years late if they deliver the final by the end of this calendar year.

Microsoft officials also have been hinting that a port of Silverlight to Android was just around the corner for the past year-plus. I'm wondering if we might get an update on that port, as well, at Mix 10, given that Microsoft is expected to roll out in detail its Silverlight for Windows Phone 7 OS plans at next week's confab....

Update (March 16): The Silverlight for Symbian beta is now live. More info here: http://betalabs.nokia.com/apps/silverlight.