Symbian Ltd. was a software development company known for creating the Symbian OS, a mobile operating system widely used in smartphones during the early 2000s. Founded in 1998, it was a joint venture between major companies like Nokia, Ericsson, and Psion. The operating system was designed to support various applications and features, making it popular among mobile device manufacturers. In 2010, Symbian Ltd. was acquired by Nokia, which aimed to consolidate its mobile software efforts. However, as smartphone technology evolved, the popularity of the Symbian OS declined, leading to its eventual discontinuation in favor of other platforms like Windows Phone and Android.