At some point during the summer, owners of Nokia hardware running Symbian^3 will get an over the air software update to a newer version of the operating system called Anna. It’s got rounded icons, an easier to use and faster web browser, and a lot of little tweaks that should noticeably improve the user experience. What comes after Anna is unofficially known as Belle, and it can best be described as Symbian Anna, but with the addition of a back button and pull down notification bar, just like we’ve seen on Android devices since they first started shipping in late 2009. The videos below show off an early version of Belle running on a Nokia N8, and while it’s probably too early to judge the operating system, no amount of polish can excuse the noticeable lags that are seen throughout the length of these two demos.
Video 02:
Considering that Belle is already out in the wild, we’d like to take a guess and say that by the end of Q1 2012 there should be devices out on the market running this OS, and that by late Q2 or early Q3 2012 there should be updates going to out to current Symbian^3 device owners. If that sounds too pessimistic, then consider this: Nokia first talked about Symbian Anna in November 2010 and said it would be a software update going out in the early part of 2011. It’s August and Anna isn’t on anything running Symbian^3.
But seriously, what do you care at this point? Nokia is going full steam ahead with Windows Phone and while Symbian may get a dash of lipstick and a thick coat of foundation, it’s still not going to negate the fact that it’s an operating system barreling towards obsolescence as Android takes over the world and Apple feeds the premium market.