Earlier, we had reported on Nokia announcing various handsets which will support the Symbian^3 OS. The official Nokia Conversations reports a few key features that users can expect from the OS. This operating system is said to roll out with the highly anticipated N8 and was officially finished on June 17, 2010. It further elucidates about the next stage of testing the OS to ensure that it functions well with the hardware of the proposed devices supporting it.
The Symbian foundation reveals that this new OS is loaded with over 250 new features. Thanks to the new graphics architecture, the Symbian^3 now offers faster software and hardware acceleration. This leads to a quicker and responsive interface which will incorporate kinetic scrolling. Moreover, it is completely programmable and hence enables handset owners to personalize it the way they want to.
The OS packs in various multiple touch abilities such as pinch to zoom, tap to select and scroll with a swipe. Additionally, the interface also registers touching with more than one finger, leading to faster typing on the virtual keypad. Users can even effortlessly perform complex actions such as concurrently pressing the ‘shift’ key as they type a letter. Game developers might just be able to work wonders with this functionality.
Packing in new multimedia features, the software now supports an output for HDMI. Those who like viewing videos can enhance the experience if their video supports Dolby Digital audio quality. In addition to that it incorporates a home widget of the music player for quick access. The latest Fusion Player blends in the traditional media player and video center applications into one and also performs the controls of both streaming and stored video.
True multitasking is something that the Symbian touts. However, this latest software empowers users with improvised memory management to store more apps coupled with an ‘Alt-Tab’ style task switcher. This feature lets handset owners’ shift from one opened app to another. Including a suite of fresh technical protocols the OS offers the ability to utilize location information in a better way.
The ‘Here and Now’ service enables handset owners to use web services pertaining to their current position. With such a service, app developers can create applications which will not ask users for extra information pertaining to their location. Moreover it packs in a new networking architecture which is said to enhance the data flow’s performance. Thus, this feature makes it simpler for service providers to produce firewalls and hotspot login apps. Additionally, connecting and selecting access points become seamless with the one-click connectivity.
With Qt pre-installed, the Symbian^3 has made it a standard development environment for upcoming Symbian releases. This installation makes it easier to create apps working across all devices in the lineup. The smart installer feature assists in loading any essential libraries onto the device, thus minimizing file sizes and problems faced due to support issues. The Symbian Web runtime empowers developers to craft apps incorporating the Web 2.0 style, which are then able to interact with core functions like the address book and the camera.