Anna the Operating System
The first big handset launch since the Windows Phone 7 announcement seems to have been decidedly muted from Nokia, perhaps in acknowledgement of the demise of Symbian as a high-end smartphone platform.
Regardless Nokia continues to develop Symbian, which will remain as its entry-level smartphone platform, and has launched a new version, called Anna. Is it just us or is giving a piece of software a girl's name a tad creepy? Thomas the Tank Engine we can handle, but Anna the Operating System?
Anna will be joined by two new friends: Emma the E7 and X... oh forget it; the X7. The Nokia E6 has a fixed QWERTY keyboard and is aimed at the business market, while the X7 (which was rumoured to have its US launch cancelled at the start of the year) is positioned as an entertainment device.
"We are further strengthening Nokia's smartphone portfolio with these two new devices, both of which offer a more beautiful and intuitive user experience that will soon also be available for the Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01," said Jo Harlow, head of Nokia's Smart Devices business.
"With these new products and more Symbian devices and user enhancements coming in the near future, we are confident we can keep existing Nokia smartphone customers engaged, as well as attract new first-time and competitor smartphone users."
We could go into the stated highlights, but Nokia has helpfully made videos introducing the two new handsets and Anna the Operating System, which we've embedded below. Nokia has also announced that the Ovi Store has grown by eight times in the past year and now gets up to five million downloads per day. Meanwhile Three has announced it will be stocking the X7, but hasn't revealed prices or dates.
