Symbian has announced the availability of its web application development tools, making application development on the Symbian platform as easy as creating a webpage. These new tools open up application development to creators of any technical ability, providing access to consumers and device manufacturers within the world’s largest mobile market.

“Now anyone can create fantastic applications for devices such as the Nokia N8, the world’s first Symbian^3 device,” said Lee Williams, Executive Director of Symbian. “These Symbian web application development tools provide an ideal entry point for web developers targeting the vast, new development opportunities offered by the Symbian^3 platform and the wider mobile marketplace, where compelling applications are proving their ability to fuel communities.”

Using Symbian’s web application development tools, any existing web developer can simply apply all their existing skills with HTML, CSS and JavaScript but in a mobile context. By exploring just a few more JavaScript APIs, developers can directly access the deep device capabilities that ultimately produce truly engaging applications with mass appeal to the mobile consumer, such as contacts, camera, accelerometers and even location.

Although Symbian web applications can be created using any existing web development environment, the added value delivered by the tools environment provided by Symbian is in areas like mobile-specific application preview, debugging and deployment capabilities. These features further support the transition of desktop development skill into the mobile universe.

Williams added: “With these tools, web developers can leverage their existing expertise effectively to create powerful mobile applications. This, combined with the on-schedule release of Symbian^3, is further proof of our commitment to enabling innovation and empowering all developers, including web developers, to harness the rich capabilities of the Symbian platform.”

The new tools are available across all of the major platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux.