Some observations:

Symbian has to take the 'good' aspects of competitors (such as Iphone) and implement these in their product. The vendor lock-in and lack of certain features/programs is not a + for some competitors; it is a -; and a + for Symbian & Co.

Qt on Symbian and Maemo makes portability easier. They already run on same architecture.

Maemo is a research project to understand which way Nokia wants to go with Symbian.

The NIT was not an always-on device while this is vital to some functionality. The N810WME is always-on due to WiMAX whereas the 'N900' will be always-on due to HS*PA.

Symbian is still a market leader and people still specifically make interfaces for Symbian.