And now it's completely official: the new and freshened up version of Symbian we saw leak out over the weekend is indeed coming to Nokia's latest batch of handsets. The N8, E7, C7 and C6-01, the phones that ran what was formerly known as Symbian^3, will all be getting it "over the coming months," while the newly announced X7 and E6 devices will ship with it preloaded. The change list includes realhomescreen scrolling, an overhauled browser, and yes, even a QWERTY onscreen keyboard in portrait orientation. There's also new iconography and heavily refreshed Ovi Maps, which now include predictive search. Nokia is resolute in its belief that Ovi Maps is the best mapping solution on the market, and Microsoft's decision to integrate it into Bing would suggest that's true.
The "Anna" Symbian update will be the first of a series and has been driven almost entirely by consumer feedback. Nokia also shared some Ovi Store stats with us. There are now five million downloads per day going on from the company's app repository, which now includes more than 40,000 apps in total. 158 developers have passed a million downloads each.
The Nokia X7 packs a 4” nHD AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass (doesn’t say its ClearBlack though) and has a stainless steel body. It comes with an 8GB microSD card pre-installed and a battery that’s good for up to 50 hours of music or 6 hours of video playback.
Nokia E7 is a big-screened music phone
It’s no slouch when it comes to connectivity though – quad-band 2G and tri-band 3G (including a T-Mobile USA compatible version), Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0.
The Nokia X7 packs the same 8MP camera as the E6 - complete with a dual-LED flash and 720p video recording.
The X7 comes with Nokia WH-701 headset in the box – nothing fancy like the X6 had.
The Nokia E6 combines glass and stainless steel in a sleek 115.5 x 59 10.5 mm body and has a taste for BlackBerry blood. It packs quad-band 2G and five-band 3G – a true globe trotter. 3G is enhanced with 10.2Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA.
Nokia E6 combines touchscreen and portrait QWERTY
The E6 also packs Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 with JoikuSpot Premium preinstalled (app that turns the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot). Nokia have also added enhanced encryption.
The Nokia E6 has an 8MP fixed-focus camera with dual-LED flash capable of 720p HD video recording. Unfortunately, the cameras on both phones lack auto focus.
The Nokia E6 has 8GB of memory built into the phone, expandable by microSD cards up to 32GB.
The Nokia E6 also boasts impressive battery live – up to 28 days of standby and nearly 15 hours of talk time (2G numbers).
the Nokia X7 and Nokia E6, both of which come with a renewed version of the Symbian operating system. This version – which has been referred to previously as PR2 – is now known as Symbian Anna. It comes with a faster browser, improved text input, fresh, new icons and the latest version of Ovi Maps. Symbian Anna will also be made available for owners of the Nokia N8, C7, C6-01 and E7 in the coming months.
The most obvious and visible feature of Symbian Anna is the new icons.
Text input has also been improved: there’s the long-awaited portrait QWERTY input, plus a split screen when entering text into web pages and apps, so you don’t lose sight of what you’re filling in.
The browser now offers faster performance and is easier to use.
The usability of the photo gallery has also been improved.
For business users, the update also includes instant messaging with Microsoft Communicator Mobile, email enhancements that include full meeting request support and hardware-accelerated device encryption.
For version watchers, the application versions available in Symbian Anna are:
Enhanced Browser (v7.3): high value touch UI improvements, including URL entry bar, always visible ‘Go Back’ and extended toolbar buttons and search-integrated address field; better user responsiveness, faster history navigation and page loading, split screen virtual Qwerty keyboard.
Enhanced Ovi Maps (v3.06): smarter search; Check-in to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquareor local social networks; ability to share places via email and SMS, and also with friends using non-Nokia phones; public transport network lines view; update and download full country maps via WLAN
Enhanced Ovi Store (v2.06.xx): increased file size limits for downloading over WLAN
Enhanced Social (v1.3): status updates in contact card, ability to retweet and view follower list in Twitter, higher resolution image uploads, ability to add caption to images
Enhanced Ovi Suite (v3.x): works seamlessly with the latest version of Ovi Suite to update the device software, download free street maps, download new music and discover the latest mobile apps, back up the device to keep content safe, and sync content with Ovi.
The exact dates on which Symbian Anna will be available for download to existing devices are not yet available, beyond “in the coming months”. We’ll keep you posted as soon as more information is available.
