Symbian has just issued the new document of Symbian Signed Test Criteria. It is marked as valid from December 1, 2007; but practically it won't be in force until the new Symbian Signed process is generally available (which is expected in early December 2007).

The new test criterias now are divided into two categories, i.e.:

• Universal tests (11 test cases), which focuses on install, uninstall, reliability, robustness and normal operational behavior. Most of the test cases come from the old ones. There are some old test cases that are merged into one.
  
• Capability-related tests (5 test cases), which include additional tests for applications that use certain specific capabilities only. All test cases in this category are new.

Here are some changes that I noticed in the new document.

• Backup/restore feature is not mandatory. The developer has an option of not supporting backup/restore.
  
• Auto-start feature. By default, an application shall not enable auto-start feature. There should be an option for the user to change it.
  

The following criterias have also been removed in the new document:

• PKG-03: File Creation Location.
• GEN-04: SIP session establishment.
• CON-03: Billable events. There is, however, similar test case for applications with NetworkControl and MultimediaDD.

 For more information, please visit Symbian Wiki page.