Nokia has announced its global roll out of the latest Symbian Belle update for Nokia X7, N8, C6-01, C7, E7, E6 and Nokia Oro. For Nokia 500 users, the update will be available much later in couple of weeks time. This is the 2nd Symbian^3 upgrade right after Anna rolled out about 6 months ago.

Symbian Belle aims to offer refreshed new experience on the same Symbian device. So what’s new? Belle now offers 6 customisable home screens, a new notifications bar with power toggle switches and an enhanced new Nokia Maps.

To upgrade to Belle, you would need to connect your Nokia device to the PC via Nokia Suite which is downloadable here. In terms of availability, Malaysian users should be able to update right now as indicated on their Belle availability page.

Head after the break for the step by step video.

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	Mobile Devices, Mobile OS, Nokia, Symbian OS
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Earlier on Nokia has announced its Anna software roll out to first generation Symbian^3 devices but only to be pulled out from Malaysia. Nokia Malaysia claims that Anna isn’t ready for Malaysia as we are supposed to be getting the localised version of the update.

Now Nokia Malaysia has announced that it is officially available for the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01 and Nokia E7. However a check at Nokia Malaysia’s Anna page revealed that Nokia N8 is labeled as coming soon. Most people have also feedback that they can’t enable split-screen messaging, a new feature which lets you do keyword input while still staying on the original screen. Unfortunately even with this new announcement, split-screen isn’t available for users in Malaysia/Singapore. Instead they will be releasing this feature in the next Anna software ugprade.

To get to know the features, head after the break for Anna introduction video.

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UPDATE: Nokia Malaysia has announced that Anna update for first generation Symbian^3 devices isn’t officially ready for Malaysia and some users may experience issues upgrading. For those who managed to upgrade to Anna, it’s confirmed that we won’t be having keyword split-view as some countries we’re exempted for now. However they have confirmed to be working towards having it available at all countries in the next update. Anna updates for Malaysia will be published here but so far no dates were given.

Nokia has announced that Symbian Anna is now rolling out to first generation Symbian^3 devices. This includes Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01 and the Nokia E7.

To download the update, you can do it via Ovi Suite through a computer or you can download OTA through SW Update on the device. The first software update to Anna takes about 25MB to download. After completion, there are 2 more Anna updates about 58MB to bring it up to the latest version.

So what’s new with Anna? Apart from the rounded icons which is the interface design for Nokia right now, it brings a host of improvements in usability. The first obvious improvement is the availability of full QWERTY keyboard on portrait mode. Previously you only get T9 keyboard in portrait and full QWERTY is only available in landscape mode. Although this is good, some time is needed to get used to it as the keys are tiny while the Backspace button is placed at the bottom right, instead of the top. Another improvement is the availability of having split screen which we can’t seem to find right now. This lets you see the original contents of the page while typing instead of having the full screen taken over for input.

Browser seems to be improved as it is slightly smoother than before. The navigation and menus look better. For business users they have added meeting request support and couple of encryption enhancements. For the full list of enhancements, you can read the previous post or head to Nokia Conversation Blog here.

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	Mobile Devices, Mobile OS, Nokia, Symbian OS
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When Nokia announced their new Nokia E6 business phone and Nokia X7 entertainment device, they have also revealed Symbian Anna which was formerly known as PR2 update for Symbian^3. The new Symbian Anna comes with a number of key enhancements as follow:

• New icons, appear more rounded
• Improved touch screen keyboard for better typing and QWERTY in potrait mode
• Improved Ovi maps with check-in support for Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare
• Improved Ovi store with increased download limit for WLAN
• Improved Social app
• Enhanced Browser with touch UI improvements and URL bar. Responsiveness and navigations are improved

Nokia has mentioned that Symbian Anna will be available for existing Symbian^3 devices such as Nokia N8, C6-01, Nokia E7 and C7 in the coming months but no dates were given.

For more information, head to Nokia’s Conversation blog here.

Check out more screenshots and introductory video of Symbian Anna after the break

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Apart from the Nokia N8, the other most anticipated Nokia device to come into the market in recent months is the business oriented Nokia E7. Having seen an early rendition of the device way back even before the iPhone 4 was launched, we noted that the prospect of having a device that has all the capabilities of the N8 with the added useful utility of a physical keyboard is something to look forward too.

But the scenario is decidedly different now. In a last ditch effort to remain relevant, Nokia jumped off the platform and right into bed with Microsoft at the expense of many die-hard Symbian fans who, for the lack of a better word, feel like they were cheated out of a long standing relationship.

So now that we know Nokia will be focusing its effort on churning primarily Windows Phone devices what is the outlook for the E7 — what can be considered as a last of its kind device? Dubbed as the spiritual successor of Nokia’s last rendition of its communicator series, the E90, can the E7 establish itself as a formidable business oriented machine in a sea of business-centric devices coming from Android, BlackBerry and iPhone?

This is our first impression of the Nokia E7.

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Celcom too is offering the Nokia E7 and carries a cheaper bundled price of RM1108. No details have been revealed on the plan and the promo on their website is merely driving people to their PC Expo roadshow at Midvalley this weekend until 6th March 2011.

Like its past bundling of devices, most likely the RM1108 E7 price is tied to a Celcom Exec 250 plan and we believe there are other contract options on Celcom Exec 50 as well. As comparison, Maxis offers the Nokia E7 from RM1499 with a 2 year contract.

Thanks to rakyat biru for informing us!

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Maxis now offers the Nokia E7 on contract after a short round of ROI last week. The Nokia E7 retails at RM1995 and it is offered subsidised when bought on contract with a postpaid plan and add-on data plan of either 500MB, 1.5GB and 3GB.

The Nokia E7 is offered at RM1799 for 12 months, RM1649 for 18 months or as low as RM1499 for 24 months contract. During the duration of contract, Maxis is also giving RM10 extra rebate on your data plan subscription as well.

This time around, unlike its previous bundling like the Nokia N8, you now can bundle any Nokia devices, including the N8 with Maxis Value First postpaid plan with RM30 monthly commitment. So this means, the lowest commitment you can opt for is Maxis Value First (RM30) + 500MB Data Plan (RM58). With the RM10 monthly rebate, that’s a minimum commitment of RM78 which is more affordable than before.

Of course, when it comes to value, we won’t recommend 500MB if you’re a heavy user as it’s costlier per GB. It is more worth it to take up the higher 1.5GB or 3GB plan instead but it also depends on much you use on your phone.

For more information, check out Maxis’s Nokia bundling page here.

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Being the first to offer the Nokia N8 bundled, Maxis now starts its registration of interest of the new Nokia E7. While the N8 is an imaging and multimedia powerhouse, the E7 is more of a business device which comes with a QWERTY keyboard which also runs on Symbian^3 OS.

On the bunlding with Maxis, no ideas when exactly its coming out but it should be pretty soon within the next month or so. Estimated price is around RM2300 but not more than RM2500.

To register, head to Maxis’s Nokia E7 ROI page.

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It’s official, Nokia has begun shipping the E7 globally today. So Malaysians should expect to see the device in Nokia stores sometime around late this month or early next month.

But before we get to know the E7 in detail, lets find out what was the inspiration behind the device. We’ve got in store for you right after the jump a video interview with Nokia’s lead industrial designer Shunjiro Eguchi on how the Nokia E7 came to be.

Head on to after the jump to find out.

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When it comes to media and entertainment, there’s no denying the the Nokia N8 packs quite a punch with its HDMI port, surround sound and HD video playback capabilities. The thing that’s holding it back on becoming a true entertainment powerhouse is its diminutive screen.

HD vids and pics are meant to be enjoyed on the big screen and the Beta Lab guys at Nokia have developed just the app to make this possible — the aptly named Nokia Big Screen.

The Nokia Big Screen allows N8 users to easily share and display the media stored on their device on the big screen. The app launches automatically when you hook up your N8 to a HDMI TV and it displays all available media content in your N8 right on the TV. You can then choose to control the media using the phone or a Bluetooth remote or keyboard.

The Nokia Big Screen is available from Nokia’s Beta Labs for the Nokia N8 and the soon to be released Nokia E7. Hit the link to download.

Head on over to after the jump for a demo video.

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	Mobile Apps, Mobile Devices, Nokia, Video
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