Rating: 
Summary: Just plain terrible
Review: My company is working on software for the handset manufactures that are using the Symbian OS. We will now most likely miss our deadlines due to a very buggy OS and the worst documentation I have ever seen in 20 years of being in the industry. This book couldn't be more scatter-brained if they tried. There are some great bits and pieces here and there, but you have to find them. The worst part about this book is the fact that this is the only one there is. The handset manufacture is even reconsidering taking Symbian off their handsets all together. These guys better get their act together.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit dated but still pretty good
Review: There are only a handful of Symbian books available yet, and this one is the best of them. It is not a tutorial but a fairly good reference. It does a good job of explaining concepts as well, for instance I really like the discussion of descriptors in chapter 5.Those who have no Symbian background will find this book difficult (not because the book is badly written, but because Symbian is a very different platform). I recommend that beginners read documentation and whitepapers available at Symbian's website, take an introductory class and then buy this book for reference. Dont try to learn Symbian programming from this book. You'll be disappointed. I also think that the authors should revisit and work on a new edition of this useful book. There has been an addition of many new topics since R5, that require good reference material - authors could do the Symbian community a favor by providing that much needed reference material. This book deserves 3.5 stars now - and if the authors release a new edition, it will get 5 stars from me.
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