Event Coverage

Nokia's Age of Anna - A More Modern Symbian

By Wong Casandra - 25 May 2011

The Age of Anna

Meet Anna from Nokia

Symbian Anna, one of the many promised updates to come for the Symbian platform, signifies a new start with a new name. And what better than to kick start this significance than with two brand new devices? With the E6 and X7 handsets coming on board, the new Symbian Anna aims to provide a better user experience on the high-end products of the Symbian line. This also includes providing OTA (over-the-air) software updates in Q3 for previous Symbian^3 devices such as the Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01 handsets. If you are planning to buy one of these models in the near future, fret not - the new OS update will be available out-of-the-box. So what's the big hoohaa? We shall illustrate our points alongside our hands-on experience with both the E6 and X7. 

 On the left, we have the entertainment smartphone with a 4-inch AMOLED display, the X7. Externally, it passes off as a flashier-looking cousin of the N8. On the right, we have the business smartphone, the E6. If you are familiar with the earlier E71 and E72 smartphones, the E6 looks almost identical to them.

Off the bat, app icons/shortcuts have been given a facelift on Symbian Anna. 

Here's a better look at how the new icons look like on the X7.

Part of Anna's improvements is the inclusion of a virtual QWERTY keyboard for easier and more comfortable typing. Nonetheless, users still have the option to fall back onto the old school alphanumeric keyboard if they need to.

To further streamline the Internet experience on Symbian Anna phones, there have been slight changes made to the built-in browser. Users can now easily make quick changes (say for example, open more windows) from a comprehensive shortcut menu as seen below on both phones.

Refinements to Ovi Maps include improved search, new public transport routes and a 3D view mode.

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