Anna for all
Nokia has announced the newest version of its incumbent smartphone OS - Symbian Anna - is now available to download on the Nokia N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 smartphones. The new version was preinstalled on the E6 and X7 launched earlier this year.
Nokia says Anna significantly enhances the user experience, and we've listed the highlighted tweaks, as listed by Nokia,below. But we're having a play with an X7 at the moment and, while it seems like a top handset, the basic experience is very similar to when we reviewed the N8. But then that's why the whole WP7 thing is happening, isn't it?
"Symbian Anna represents a significant update to the experience [Symbian] users have and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Symbian, which will see up to 10 more phones introduced over the next 12 months, further updates to the user experience and support for the software until at least 2016," said Ilari Nurmi, Vice President at Nokia.
The tweaks:
- User interface: Typing on the touchscreen is much easier with a split screen, so you can see message threads, webpages, contacts or email view while typing on the virtual QWERTY keypad - now also available in portrait mode.
- Maps and navigation: Symbian Anna enhances Nokia Maps with better search functionality, new public transportation routes and the ability to check-in to favourite geo-social network sites like Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter.
- Browsing: A faster, easier-to-use browser, delivering quicker page loads and improved device navigation.
- Better for business: True business-grade security with improved data encryption on Nokia smartphones. Business users with a Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01 or Nokia E7 can now easily and securely access their company intranet with IPSEC and SSL VPN enablers.
- Near Field Communications (NFC): The Symbian Anna software update also activates the NFC hardware in the Nokia C7, so people can now simply tap their Nokia C7s together to share contacts, photos, videos and play games; easily pair with NFC-enabled accessories from Nokia and others; and read NFC tags to check-in and more.
NFC - what's the point of that? I hear you ask. Well Nokia has attempted to pre-empt this question with the announcement that visitors to the Museum of London will be able to get more information about some of the exhibits by merely tapping their NFC-enabled device to one of the touch-points scattered around the museum.
This hardly qualifies, by itself, as a reason to buy an NFC-enabled phone, but this sort of thing does contribute to the growing awareness of the potential of NFC technology, so it's all for the best. Here's a vid.
