Nokia’s N8, E7, C7, and C6-01 will be the first smart phones to use the Symbian^3 platform, according to the company (see the figure). The fully open-source operating system (OS) incorporates more than 250 feature updates and platform improvements compared to its predecessors, all designed to improve the user experience.

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Symbian^3 provides HDMI support, so users can connect their smart phones to their HD television to share HD videos or high-resolution photos as well as stream live TV, films, and music over the Internet. The Nokia N8 and E7 will boast these capabilities.

The OS also supports multiple personalized home screens. Users can create different home screens to fit each aspect of their life, placing their applications, widgets, and shortcuts as well as e-mail accounts and social media channels wherever they want them.

Further, Symbian^3 supports multipoint touch so users can swipe to scroll, pinch to zoom, and tap once to open functions. With the OS’s improved memory management, users can run even more applications at once using a visual task manager to switch seamlessly between them with a swipe and a tap.

And, a new and advanced 2D and 3D graphics architecture delivers a fast and responsive user interface, Nokia says, maximizing the visual enhancements and smooth transitions in Symbian^3. Users, then, can personalize their phone to make it look they way they want.

The Nokia N8 (a), E7 (b), C7 (c), and C6-01 (d) will be the first smart phones to use the Symbian^3 open-source platform.
Select figure to enlarge.

The Nokia C6-01 and C7 are designed for social networking, apps, music, and games, while the E7 is designed primarily for business users, including a range of pre-installed business apps and the highest level of platform security, according to Symbian. The N8 is available now, and the others will be available later this year.

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