Relief all round at Symbian as the first company not holding shares in the outfit inks a deal for software to run its next generation mobiles. Sony suits today extolled the virtues of Symbians EPOC OS in London as it revealed its plans for 'Entertainment' cellphones coming to a store near you next year. The new Sony phones will feature email, MP3 music, video and IP broadcast technology, plus the ability to send video and still pictures, first shipments promised for 2001. Symbian CEO Colly Myers refused to be drawn on whether Sony would join Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia and Psion as shareholders in Symbian: "It's possible there will be other shareholders, we're keeping an open mind." Also smiling at the press conference was Texas Instruments, whose 0.10 micron technology DSP chips will be at the heart of the new phones. ®