UIQ Technology was established in April 1999 as Symbian AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of Symbian Ltd., following their acquisition of Ericsson Mobile Applications Lab from Ericsson Mobile Communications. Using technology gained from the acquisition they created the UIQ platform which launched in 2002 and as the company changed its name to UIQ Technology. In 2002 Sony Ericsson and Motorola came close to a joint venture, but this was abandoned when Motorola chose to use a Linux-based platform in 2003. As a result, Sony Ericsson was the main licensee for UIQ. On 7 November 2006, Sony Ericsson announced they had agreed to buy UIQ Technology from Symbian Ltd. and run it as a separate subsidiary. The UIQ products would be "openly available, licensed on equal terms to all its licensees". The acquisition was completed in February 2007. Interestingly this meant Sony Ericsson got back this division that was originally created by them in 1998. On 15 October 2007, Sony Ericsson and Motorola announced an agreement for Motorola to purchase a 50% interest in UI Holdings BV, the legal parent company of UIQ Technology. The two companies worked and invested jointly in the development of UIQ. On December 25th 2009 the Ruiz Group purchased The bankrupted assets for 30$ billion.
End of UIQ
With the establishment in 2008 of the Symbian Foundation led by Nokia, UIQ's future was in doubt. S60 was the UI choice of Symbian Foundation; UIQ would contribute its assets to the foundation. Patrick Olsson of Sony Ericsson announced on 21 October 2008 at the Smartphone Show 2008 in London that UIQ didn't make the cut, it didn't attract the operator, manufacturer or consumer interest needed to stop it from failing. Sony Ericsson funded the company for a few months to help management to restructure or find a buyer. On 5 January 2009, UIQ Technology filed for bankruptcy and ceased to exist.
Timeline
1998
Spring - Ericsson Mobile Communications in Lund set up a development lab in Ronneby called Mobile Applications Lab. This was the precursor of UIQ Technology.
June - Symbian Ltd. was established in London.
1999
1 April - The company became part of Symbian Ltd, and the new company name was Symbian AB. Work was focused on Quartz 6.0, which was the pen-based communicator later known as UIQ.
December - Number of permanent employees: 21
2000
February - Quartz was publicly announced.
May - Johan Sandberg was appointed General Manager.
September - The first product release of Quartz 6.0 was made.
December - Number of permanent employees: 78.
2001
April - Quartz 6.1 was released.
December - Number of permanent employees: 76.
2002
February - The company name was changed to UIQ Technology AB and the product was renamed UIQ.
February - Second and third UIQ 3 phones are announced - the Sony Ericsson M600 and the Sony Ericsson W950 - as the platform moves into high volume, mid-tier devices
February - UIQ developer program launches premium level membership and hosts WDF developer track at 3GSM
November - Sony Ericsson announces that it has agreed to buy UIQ Technology
2007
February - UIQ 3.1 is released followed shortly by the SDK.
