UIQ Technology announced the availability of the UIQ 3.3 smartphone platform, which is based on Symbian OS version 9.3.  This might not mean a ton to US consumers used to Windows Mobile and Palm, but Symbian is big business overseas, and UIQ powers some of Sony Ericsson and Motorola's top-shelf handsets.  SE's P-series and M600 smartphones all run (ran?) on UIQ, and I personally found the M600 to have one of the most elegant and visually appealing user interfaces I'd seen on any mobile device when I reviewed it back in November of 2006.

UIQ 3.3 will feature Opera Mobile 9.5 for Web browsing as well as support for Opera Widgets and a UIQ Dashboard (more widget support) and more comprehensive messaging and Java support.  A beta of the UIQ 3.3 software development kit is available to developers now at developer.uiq.com.

The UIQ press release I received this morning specifically mentioned the Motorola Z10 that I checked out at CES in January.  While it's doubtful that the Z10 will get picked up by a US carrier, I am hoping to see some UIQ-based phones on display at CTIA next week - maybe even that new Sony Ericsson P5i that the rumor mill keeps talking about.