Symbian Belle brings major UI changes

Nokia pulled the cover off Symbian Belle, which will debut with the three new models (600, 700 and 701). It succeeds Anna and brings more improvements to the Symbian OS - to quote the press release, "All in all, Symbian Belle provides Nokia's most competitive, seamless and intuitive Symbian experience so far."

By the sound of it, this new version brings more improvements to the homescreen than Anna did. The homescreen now consists of up to six rather than three panes and the widgets that live on those panes will be available in five different sizes (they're pretty much all the same size on Anna and Symbian^3). The widgets can be resized too, which gives you even more flexibility.

  
The new homescreen can have up to six panes and offers resizable widgets

 
Some of the new widgets

The main menu is now flat - it's vertically scrollable and all the shortcuts are placed on the same screen, no more folders.

The way multitasking works has changed too - instead of the old task switcher, you can now flick between live images of your open apps. Unfortunately, we didn’t see a screenshot of that, it sounds pretty cool.

Another big change is a pull down menu for notifications from any homescreen - we're guessing Nokia has decided to copy Android's notification area much like Apple and Samsung. This menu will also offer toggles to control mobile data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Silent mode (it can't be more obvious).

  
The new flat menu • The pull-down notification area

Belle continues Nokia's push towards an NFC-enabled world. Pairing is now enviously simple - you tap two NFC-enabled gadgets together (two phones, a phone and a handset) and that's it. To unpair them, just tap them again. We've seen this functionality with the N9 and the cool NFC wireless speaker. Today, Nokia also announced a similarly working NFC-enabled stereo headset - the Nokia Essence.

The Belle lockscreen has been updated too - the new version lets you add color wallpaper and missed event notifications.

Belle also includes new apps from Microsoft - Lync (IM for businesses, like Microsoft Communicator), Sharepoint, OneNote, Exchange ActiveSync and PowerPoint Broadcaster.

Improved messaging app in Symbian Belle

Check out Symbian Belle running on the new Nokia 701 to see the cool new features in action.

The new models - Nokia 600, 700 and 701 - will launch with Symbian Belle, while the older models that just got Anna will be getting it later on, but Nokia didn’t disclose any target dates.

Symbian Belle brings many exciting new features and seems to make the platform much more usable. But as it does, it also pushes Symbian closer to Android (resizable widgets, flat menu, pull-down notification area) - who was it that was quoted saying using Android was like peeing in your pants for warmth? Oh, right, Nokia's own Anssi Vanjoki, chief of smartphones at the time. Well, what he meant was there's little long-term profit in the OS and using it is only a temporary relief. We wonder how he'd feel now that Nokia is peeing in its pants with Symbian hoping the warmth will last them enough for Windows Phone 7 to take off.

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Symbian Belle-running Nokia 600, 700 and 701 announced

Nokia has just introduced three new Symbian smartphones - Nokia 600, 700 and 701. All three of them have single-tap NFC pairing and sharing capabilities and run on the latest Symbian Belle.

Nokia 600

The Nokia 600 is the cheapest of the trio and the loudest phone of the company so far. It has a standard issue 3.2-inch capacitive TFT touchscreen with nHD resolution (360 x 640 pixels), a 1GHz processor, a 5 megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash and 720p video recording, 2GB internal storage and a microSD card slot with 2GB card pre-installed.

The Nokia 600 might be the cheapest but it is the richest one when it comes to connectivity. There is everything in this phone - penta-band 3G with HSPA (14Mbps HSDPA and 5.7Mbps HSUPA), quad-band GSM support, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC capabilities, Wi-Fi b/g, GPS with A-GPS, FM radio and transmitter with internal FM radio antenna and a 3.5mm audio jack.

   
Nokia 600

The Nokia 600 is expected in Q3 this year in black, white, pink and lime colors. Its Symbian Belle will be sweetened by the NFC versions of Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja.

Nokia 700

According to Nokia, the Nokia 700 is the company's most compact and eco-friendly smartphone to date. It features a 3.2-inch ClearBlack AMOLED nHD screen, a 1GHz processor, a 5 megapixel fixed-focus snapper with LED flash and 720p video recording, 2GB internal storage and microSD slot.

Nokia 700's connectivity package is quite impressive too - quad-band GSM and penta-band 3G support with HSPA, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC capabilities, Wi-Fi b/g, GPS with A-GPS, FM radio and a 3.5mm audio jack.

     
Nokia 700

The Belle-running Nokia 700 is also expected in Q3 this year in Cool Grey, Silver/White, Coral Red, Peacock Blue and Purple.

Nokia 701

The Nokia 701 is inspired by the design of C7 and utilizes a 3.5-inch ClearBlack LED-backlit IPS TFT nHD screen, a 1GHz processor, an 8 megapixel fixed-focus snapper with dual-LED flash and 720p video recording, a front-facing video-call camera, active noise cancellation, 8 GB internal memory expandable via a microSD card slot.

  
Nokia 701

Its connectivity is exactly the same as the Nokia 700's - there's quad-band GSM and penta-band 3G support with HSPA, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC capabilities, Wi-Fi b/g, GPS with A-GPS, FM radio and a 3.5mm audio jack.

As the other two, the Nokia 701 runs on Symbian Belle and is coming in Q3 this year. The expected colors are Steel dark, Silver light, Amethyst violet, and White.

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Symbian Anna Update finally available for Nokia N8, C7, C6-01 and E7

Today is a good day for owners of the first generation of Symbian^3 devices – the Nokia N8, C7, C6-01 and E7. The promised Symbian Anna software update is ready and downloads will begin to be available today. The update includes new icons, a portrait QWERTY keyboard, faster web browsing and better maps. All the details after the break.

What’s in it?

Lots. Let’s break down the main changes section-by-section. There are the new icons, of course, but there’s a whole lot more under the hood.

Improved text input

• There’s a portrait QWERTY keyboard for fast, single-handed typing.
  
  
  
• There’s also a split-screen view while you’re typing, so you can see the web pages, forms and message threads you’re replying to.

Better browser

• The browser is easier to use and faster, and offers better compliance with recent standards.

Enhanced Maps

• Ovi Maps now has a simpler and quicker search function.
• It also includes public transport routes.
• And you can check in to social networks, send emails and SMS messages sharing your location.

Business features

• Email improvements include full meeting request support.
• Hardware-accelerated encryption of your phone’s data for true business-grade security.
• Secure intranet access for business users who need IP
  SEC and SSL VPN enablers.

Near-Field Communications

• Symbian Anna also activates the NFC hardware in the Nokia C7, for easy sharing, games, use with NFC-enabled accessories and reading NFC tags on other items.

For developers

• Flashlite 4, Java Runtime 2.2, Qt Mobility 1.1 and Qt 4.7
  bring things up-to-date for developers.

How do I get it?

The Symbian Anna update will be available through Ovi Suite on the PC or the SW Update app on your phone. This is a large download, so for speed and reliability, the Ovi Suite method is best. We do not recommend that you attempt to update over-the-air unless you have a strong and reliable WiFi connection.

Where and when?

Countries that will receive their updates this week include the following:

Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, UAE, the UK, and more

Other countries are mostly confirmed for the next three weeks.

Enjoy your newly-refreshed phone, Symbian^3 users. And there’s more to come…

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