In February 15, 2010, Symbian 3 had been released to the market. The company designed this new operating system to be the next generation of smartphone platform. The brand new and advanced features of Symbian 3 include the UI (user interface) enhancements, two dimensional and three dimensional graphical appearances, and the compatibility of an external display (HDMI). This OS also provides 3 changeable home-screens so that users can now customize the home-screens the way that they like.
Recently, there are several smartphones available in the market (mostly Nokia products) that have been already pre-installed with Symbian 3 operating system such as Nokia N8, Nokia C6-01, Nokia E7, Nokia C7, Nokia E6, Nokia X7, and the latest Nokia models include 500, 600, 603, 700, and 701.
In April 2011, the company released the update of Symbian 3 named the Symbian Anna together with the release of Nokia E6 and X7. The upgrades come with the several enhancements like the brand new mobile web browser, fresh and stylish icons, and concurrent home-screen switching. The upgrades are also available to download for other Nokia handsets such as N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 through the Over the Air (OTA) update or via Nokia Ovi Suite/Software Updater.
In August 24, 2011, Symbian Belle was released officially as the update to Anna. Nokia continues to become the first vendor to launch its products that is pre-loaded with this update namely the Nokia 600, 603, 700 and 701 models. The major improvements that have been added to this update are the integration of Near Field Communication (NFC) feature, six modifiable home-screens, and attractive new widgets. The update will be available on new smartphones and will also be made available as a free update for Anna’s users.
These two improvements to this OS version is a huge step forward for the mobile phone manufacturers especially for Nokia. Other impressive features of this OS are Web TV feature, real multitasking, multiple home-screens and the more finger-friendly and responsive while inputting data as compared to the previous version. It also now features the USB On The Go that allows users access directly to the files stored on external USB hard disk, USB Flash Drive (UFD), or other smartphones (when functioned as a mass storage).
However, the menu navigation of Symbian 3 is less practical and often confusing since the OS provides minimum navigation’s guide and the abbreviated menu names. The interface is still less superior when compared to the design of iOS and Windows Phone 7. You will find the finer details in Apple’s iOS that will bring the ease of use and the more efficient functionalities. [IS]
