Symbian^3 Bootloader Leak Could See Android On N8 And E7

The full sourcecode for Symbian^3 has been released, unofficially, together with the bootloader for Nokia devices running the OS, opening the door to other platforms being installed on the company's phones. The source, shared at DailyMobile, means that enterprising hackers could eventually install Android, Windows Phone 7 or other platforms onto Nokia hardware.

Unfortunately that sort of mod is going to take more than just access to the bootloader information; in fact it will take a fair amount of code tweaking and modification, certainly if all the various hardware elements of Symbian devices are to be enabled for a different platform. Whether there is anybody left with the time, patience and skillset to do that – and, most importantly, for Symbian devices – remains to be seen.

Still, as we said repeatedly during reviews of the E7, N8 and other phones from Nokia over the past eighteen months or so, the company makes beautiful hardware and we'd love to see Android or another platform running on it. Heck, we'd even take MeeGo if it were offered. Nokia is yet to unveil a hardware-QWERTY Windows Phone, so Microsoft's platform on the sturdy E7 would be something many would covet.