It’s been a busy year for Symbian. From the great Symbian Anna OS to Nokia’s newest operating system, Symbian Belle, 2011 has been all about change, in an effort to deliver the best user experience possible on stunning handsets such as the Nokia 700, Nokia N8, Nokia C7 and Nokia E6. The future is looking bright, so find out more in our Symbian year in review.
Symbian^3 devices are thriving on some of Nokia’s newest handsets. But prior to the release of Symbian Belle, Symbian Anna, the previous version of Symbian^3 - an OS dedicated to further improving the experience on phones such as the Nokia N8 and Nokia E7 - was making headlines. What did Symbian Anna bring?
Symbian Anna: Discover the updates on offer
Symbian Anna was unveiled in April. It brought with it a number of new updates to Nokia devices, including an enhanced browser, better Nokia Maps functionality, and improvements to Nokia Suite services. As Symbian Anna kept improving, we were always keen to see just what changes it brought about.
Among the first changes we noticed were visual improvements. On-screen icons were rounder. A portrait-style on-screen QWERTY keyboard was introduced. Split-screen text entry also made filling in online forms easier. For the most part, the user experience was vastly improved and made much more intuitive.
Symbian Anna update: 10 things you need to know
It all led the way for Symbian Belle - the latest version of Symbian^3. In September we told you what to expect from Nokia’s latest OS, including six home screens, new home screen widgets that can be arranged as you like, better multitasking and an all-new drop-down notifications bar displaying emails, missed calls, texts and messages from social networks.
Nokia N8 and Symbian Belle: What we can expect
November saw signs that Symbian Belle’s talents would expand further, with news that Microsoft apps were heading to Symbian Belle, bringing Microsoft Office, Excel and PowerPoint functionality to Symbian^3 powered devices such as the Nokia N8, when full Symbian Belle updates arrive in early 2012.
Microsoft apps brings Microsoft Office to Symbian Belle
Our last word on Symbian Belle concluded with 10 reasons to upgrade to the new operating system, which is now only just around the corner for many Nokia handsets. With its glance-able design, faster navigation, more home screens, easy to access widgets, an information-packed status bar, a better lock screen that still lets you view updates and messages, easier friend updates and live multitasking, we can’t wait to see how Symbian Belle continues to evolve in 2012.
Nokia N8: 10 reasons to upgrade to Symbian Belle
What have you thought about Symbian’s development over the past twelve months and are you looking forward to the mass rollout of Symbian Belle onto Nokia device in the New Year? Why not let us know your thoughts in the Comments below?