Symbian Anna downloads begin today

Today is a good day for owners of the first generation of Symbian^3 devices – the Nokia N8, C7, C6-01 and E7. The promised Symbian Anna software update is ready and downloads will begin to be available today. The update includes new icons, a portrait QWERTY keyboard, faster web browsing and better maps. All the details after the break.

What’s in it?

Lots. Let’s break down the main changes section-by-section. There are the new icons, of course, but there’s a whole lot more under the hood.

Improved text input

• There’s a portrait QWERTY keyboard for fast, single-handed typing.
• There’s also a split-screen view while you’re typing, so you can see the web pages, forms and message threads you’re replying to.

Better browser

• The browser is easier to use and faster, and offers better compliance with recent standards.

Enhanced Maps

• Ovi Maps now has a simpler and quicker search function.
• It also includes public transport routes.
• And you can check in to social networks, send emails and SMS messages sharing your location.

Business features

• Email improvements include full meeting request support.
• Hardware-accelerated encryption of your phone’s data for true business-grade security.
• Secure intranet access for business users who need IPSEC and SSL VPN enablers.

Near-Field Communications

• Symbian Anna also activates the NFC hardware in the Nokia C7, for easy sharing, games, use with NFC-enabled accessories and reading NFC tags on other items.

For developers

• Flashlite 4, Java Runtime 2.2, Qt Mobility 1.1 and Qt 4.7 bring things up-to-date for developers.

How do I get it?

The Symbian Anna update will be available through Ovi Suite on the PC or the SW Update app on your phone. This is a large download, so for speed and reliability, the Ovi Suite method is best. We do not recommend that you attempt to update over-the-air unless you have a strong and reliable WiFi connection.

Where and when?

Countries that will receive their updates this week include the following:

Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, UAE, the UK, and more

Other countries are mostly confirmed for the next three weeks.

Enjoy your newly-refreshed phone, Symbian^3 users. And there’s more to come…

Nokia Internet Radio app

This is the S40 client of Nokia internet radio service, with which you could Browse and playback Internet radio stations Maintain a favorite list of stations Search music with Ovi Music (supported stations only) So far there are 2 versions available: touch-and-type version and non-touch QVGA version. S40 devices with smaller screen than QVGA are not supported


http://store.ovi.com/content/110133?clickSource=bso

Ramadan's Application

Get the latest Ramadan's apps for Nokia Symbian :

https://store.ovi.com/channel/1891 

CNN launches international news app for Nokia Symbian^3 devices on Ovi Store

CNN International news app is now available for Symbian^3 Nokia phones. CNN has recently launched their Android app and iPhone app is already available for over an year. This app provides latest news based on your location and different categories. It also provides latest videos and user generated iReport.

Features of CNN Nokia App

• Navigate between different news easily just by swiping across the screen.
• Each news has important points in the bullets above the main story, to get a quick glace.
• Get news based on your location such as U.S., Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East
• Get news based on different categories such as Top Stories, Business, Sports, Entertainment, Tech and Travel
• View latest news videos within the app.
• View iReports posted by other CNN users, submit your iReport and upload photos and videos.
• Share the news via SMS, email, Twitter and Facebook

This QT based app is available for Nokia E7 phones for free from the OVI store. This app would be available for other Symbian^3 devices soon. If you can’t wait, you could always download the app on your PC by selecting your device as Nokia E7-00 and install it on other Symbian^3 phones like N8, C7 and C6-01.

The new Nokia 500

A landmark device in two ways, the Nokia 500 is Nokia's first 1GHz Symbian phone, and it is also the first handset to ditch Nokia's hopelessly awful naming system to come up with something a little more flexible.

Before we look at the phone, let's look at the name. No longer will we be baffled by having completely different phones with the same name, such as the C3 messaging phone and the C3 Touch and Type. The number on future Nokia handsets will indicate just where they are in the range, from 100 to 999, so the Nokia 500 sits pretty much slap bang in the middle of Nokia's line-up, priced at €150 before tax and subsidy.

The Nokia 500 follows a pretty familiar pattern when it comes to the hardware. There's a 3.2" 360 x 640 pixel display, a 5 megapixel camera on the back and 3.5G and WiFi, GPS and an FM radio plus Bluetooth and USB connectivity.

The operating system is the latest version of Symbian called "Anna", which includes free navigation and mapping software, a comprehensive multimedia player and all the usual applications you would expect to find on a smartphone.

Compared to high-end smartphones, the screen size is pretty modest. The camera is a bit poor when it comes to making video clips, with 15 fps VGA resolution capture. But compared with similarly priced Android devices, the Nokia 500 actually looks pretty good, especially with the pin-sharp display and speedy processor. What the Nokia 500 lacks is Android's application library, but even so there are plenty of applications available.

There are two colours of Nokia 500 coming - black and white, but there are a variety of large, colourful battery covers available including two covers in the box. Available colours at launch include black, orange, khaki, purple, coral red and azure blue with green, pink and dark silver available later.

This is quite lightweight for a smartphone, coming in at 93 grams and measuring 111 x 54 x 14mm. Nokia say that the 500 should get up to 5 hours talktime and 18 days standby time from its 1110 mAh battery.

Nokia anticipate that the 500 should be available during Q3 2011. It certainly looks appealing compared to rivals at about the same price, but will it be able to give Nokia a much-needed boost in the run-up to Christmas?

Symbian Anna available starting July

 In April, Nokia introduced its newest Symbian software update, called Symbian Anna, along with the launch of the Nokia E6 and the Nokia X7. At the Nokia Connection event in Singapore today, Nokia announced that it will start shipping Nokia N8s, E7s, C7s and C6-01s with Symbian Anna in July. If you already own one of these devices, you can download the software by the end of August.

Upgrading to a ‘new look’ phone is free and easy. You can update your device with your PC or over-the-air from the software updater in the phone. The Symbian Anna upgrade gives you a set of new icons, a faster web browser, improved text input and enhanced maps. In other words, your phone will get a free make-over, giving you a better experience while remaining reliable and easy to use.

Symbian Anna features

One of the most anticipated enhancements in Symbian Anna is split screen view while typing, so users can see their message thread. There is also virtual portrait QWERTY for quick, one handed typing. And the web browser is faster and easier to use, delivering quicker page loads and improved navigation.

Ovi Maps has been refreshed with simpler and quicker search, new public transportation routes and check-in to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or local social networks. You can also share places via email and SMS, even with friends using non-Nokia phones.

Business users will benefit from instant messaging with Microsoft Communicator Mobile, email enhancements including full meeting request support, and true business grade security with hardware accelerated encryption. There is also easy and secure intranet access for people who want to get on their company intranet.

The social client has been improved as well. Now you can see people’s status updates in their contact card, as well as retweet and view your follower list in Twitter.

At Nokia Connection, Nokia also restated its commitment to Symbian. Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop said in his keynote that over the next 12 months the company plans to bring up to 10 new Symbian-based smartphones to market.

Dropian v0.9.7 for Nokia C7 and Symbain^3

This week saw the launch of the latest 3rd party DropBox client on Nokia's Ovi store, called Droppain. A Qt based app of Symbian^3 devices that allows the user to manage his or her DropBox service on lone.Once logged in you can perform a number of functions like downloading, moving or uploading files to the service, to be quite honest you can pretty much do everything that you would via a PC, on your mobile device with this app.

http://store.ovi.com/content/125322