Nokia plans to dump Symbian for Linux. This is part of a strategy to beat the iPhone, Reuters reports. Rumors say the N900 will be using Maemo Linux instead of the Symbian S60 interface and that it is part of a larger stragety that will replace Symbian on some or maybe all high-end Nokia smartphones in the near future. Next week’s Nokia World Show will probably show the first signs of this strategy.

The choice of Maemo is a potentially dramatic one but is thought by analysts to be better for touchscreen devices. As Linux is more customizable, it’s more readily adapted to touch input than Symbian, which was originally designed for keypads and has had touch only grafted on through S60 5th Edition. Maemo by contrast has been used for years on Nokia’s Internet tablets and supports a combination of touchscreen and button controls.