Symbian might currently be the world’s most popular mobile OS, but the Finnish manufacturer is clearly concerned about the onward march of Google’s Android platform. The launch of the open source Symbian 3 is a direct retaliation and will present programmers and developers with a potentially lucrative new market.

Symbian aside, the N8 has a specification to impress. The real headline grabber is its built-in 12MP camera and the quality of Facebook snaps should improve, particularly with the addition of the Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash.

Even more impressively, the N8 supports high-definition (HD) video capture which can be played back on HD TV sets thanks to its HDMI support.

The sturdy 135g N8, braced by an aluminium frame, was shown off in five colour options – including fun lime green, orange and blue schemes.

However, despite its promising credentials, the N8 won’t arrive in shops until the third quarter of this year which is – crucially – after the next generation iPhone is expected to launch.

Ernest Doku, mobile phone expert at Omio.com, reckons Nokia is on to a winner.

He said: “The Finnish manufacturer has finally weighed in with their bid for smartphone supremacy and it’s looking good.

“Introducing a host of features and functionality that Nokia’s handsets have been sorely lacking for some time. Multi-touch and gesture support for pinch-to-zoom makes the N8 more finger friendly than ever before, with a 3.5-inch capacitive display proving the perfect home to prodding and poking.”

Nokia has quoted a retail price of around £320 and Omio.com is predicting the handset will be available on £35 a month contracts.

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/

The N8 phone has a 12 megapixel camera and allows people to record and edit High Definition video clips, as well as watch web TV services.

Analysts said the phone was a “pivotal device” in efforts “to make Nokia’s high end phones credible again”.

It is also a chance for Symbian to prove itself alongside Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iPhone.

Despite being the world’s most popular smart phone software, Symbian has lost “mindshare” against more high-profile software, according to industry experts.

Analysts at CCS Insight described the Symbian 3 software as “evolutionary not revolutionary” but said it was a “key first step if it proves reliable”.

Cinema support

It is the first version of the software since the Symbian foundation announced that it had made its code open source in February.

The Foundation – which includes Nokia, Motorola and Samsung amongst others – gave away the code to developers for free in the hope that it would help speed up the pace of improvements. Any organisation or individual can now use and modify it.

The software in the N8 allows the phone to have multi-touch and multi-tasking, meaning more than one application can be open at any one time.

The device will be Nokia’s flagship smartphone. It can be plugged into home theatres and supports surround sound as well as high-quality video.

Social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, can be displayed on the home screen in a single application.

Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, said he was “stoked” that Nokia had chosen to use the operating system on its phone.

The phone will ship in the third quarter of 2010, following delays.

Resource:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8646715.stm