Nokia has announced a new family of smartphones powered by the new Symbian platform. The devices are integrated with enhanced Ovi services and apps. They are the Nokia E7, the Nokia C7 and the Nokia C6.
The latest version of Symbian comes with over 250 new features such as HDMI support, multiple personalized home screens, multipoint touch, multitasking and "turbo charged" graphics.
"We are thrilled that Nokia, the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer, continues to recognize the power of the Symbian platform and has chosen it to run on four of the company’s hottest new smartphones," says
Daniel Rubio, Leadership Team member for Technology and Delivery Management at Symbian. "It is very rewarding to see the Symbian^3 platform brought to life so faithfully on these devices, providing compelling experiences at a range of price points that will make them accessible and appealing to users around the world."
The three devices mentioned join the previously announced Nokia N8 in the Nokia smartphone family.
"Today our fight back to smartphone leadership shifts into high gear," said Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President, Markets, Nokia. "Despite new competition, Symbian remains the most widely used smartphone platform in the world. Our new family of smartphones introduced today feature the all-new Symbian OS, rewritten to be faster, easier to use, more efficient and more developer friendly."
In fact, Nokia announced some improvements in developer tools, such as significant enhancements to the Nokia Qt software development kit (which the company says results in 70% reduction in the number of lines of code required when developing for the phones), improvements in the Ovi Store user experience, and a lower barrier of entry and increased monetization opportunities for developers (like free Java and Symbian signing, in-app purchase, improved revenue share, and advanced analytics).
Savander also commented on the anticipation for the Nokia N8, saying, "Based on the level of consumer interest and the highest online pre-orders in Nokia history, we expect big things from the Nokia N8."