Rumor has it that Nokia will soon adopt a 3 digit naming scheme, replacing what the system they currently have in place of a letter followed by a number, and more confusingly a dash followed by said number with an added 2 digits if there are several variants of a product. One of the handsets that we already know is due to come out later this year is the Nokia 700, codename Zeta. According to people in the know it’s set to sport a 5 megapixel camera, 3.2 inch AMOLED screen, near field communication capabilities, and a 1 GHz processor, which is a first for Symbian handsets. What’s really got us curious however is that the 700 will be running Symbian Belle, an as yet to be announced version of Symbian that promises to have a much needed overhauled user interface. Several press photos of the 700 have leaked and we think you’ll agree, it’s one amazing looking device for something that will end up as a midrange device.
Now about Symbian Belle, we hope Nokia doesn’t make it too good, like they did with the N9, because if it offers the changes that Symbian has long needed to be competitive with today’s smartphones, then even more question will arise as to what the hell Stephen Elop is doing to Nokia. The Finnish handset maker has already confirmed that there are going to be several more Symbian handsets coming out between now and when the platform will be shelved, and the 500 and 600 are two models we’re already aware of. The world may be waiting for the first Nokia Windows Phones to ship, and they will at some point in the fourth quarter in this year, but Nokia needs Symbian to survive for at least another 18 months.
This situation is putting them in quite an awkward position. They need to trumpet the new while also pushing the old.