Today’s announcement by Nokia that it would acquire all of Symbian represents an important move in the upcoming battle for next generation mobile devices (to call them phone seems unfair as they tend to do more than just make calls). In this entry, I’ll take a quick look at how the different players are currently approaching the market and what it might say about their potential moving forward. Strategy: Hardware? Software? Service? Partnership? Let’s take a look at the players in the “smart phones” market: Apple, Nokia, Microsoft, RIM (blackberry),  Linux Mobile, and Palm. Sun used to have a Java Mobile but it seems to have dropped off the market, in terms of device market share. And then, there’s the new pretender to the crown in the form of Google, with its Android OS offering. How do they stack up in terms of Hardware? Operating System? Service Offering? Well, here goes: Hardware Software Service(s) Apple Y Y Y Google N Y Y Linux N Y N Microsoft N Y N Nokia Y Y Y Palm Y Y N RIM Y Y N Sun N Y N A first glance at this table seems to reflect some of the player’s pre-existing…