Last week we heard at length about Google’s Android operating system for phones, which put an end to dreams of a GPhone handset. Despite the missed opportunity to briefly dominate the handset market which is currently being swamped by some Apple gadget I’m sure you’ve never heard of, Android is a far more ambitious strategy by the search kings. Aiming to be the platform of choice was never going to win Google any friends at Symbian.

Symbian has long been the world’s most widely used platform as well as a popular alternative to Microsoft Windows Mobile. It hosts a range of adaptable office applications, open source browsers and other handy features and the company has forged a close alliance with Nokia, who use Symbian in their flagship N95 amongst others. Nokia was not among those who made up the Open Handset Alliance, but it is in talks with Google. Nokia UK MD Simon Ainslie has refused to make any public comments about the likelihood of taking on Google’s Android beyond confirming that talks are taking place.

Symbian isn’t worried, though. Vice President of Strategy John Forsyth was particularly sniffy about Google’s ambitions, saying the search engine pioneers lacked experience in the creation of an operating system. He reminded Google to be aware that “a mobile OS is a very specialised form of rocket science. It’s not search rocket science.”

He went on to liken OS upstarts like Google to the “common cold” and questioned whether Google was up to the task of “the deeply unsexy job of supporting customers day by day in launching phones”. Not only that, but Forsyth felt that developers would be seeking a more robust and thoroughly tested OS with plenty of sales figures before they even “got out of bed”. The software development kit came out without much fanfare but it was timely, unlike the iPhone’s SDK which is expected in February after much wrangling about hacking and third party applications. And of course the $10 million Android Developer Challenge, which earmarks rewards for innovative application design, has got to help those pesky, sleepy developers remember to set their alarm clocks. As this announcement had not been made when Forsyth made his comments, one can’t say for sure what his reaction would have been. All the same, I’m guessing that it would have been some polite version of “Psssssht. They have to BRIBE developers with silly gimmicks now?”.

Sour grapes from Symbian? Perhaps. While the public could hardly expect a different response from a defensive competitor, there’s also the fact that Symbian does have years of experience in this business. But Google has, time and time again and in the face of being characterised as the worst offender against online privacy, proved that the unlikely is none the less far from impossible. And with a PR machine rivalled only by Apple, I wouldn’t be throwing my money behind Symbian just yet.