Well, yesterday (25th August) as usual, a selected number of bloggers and techsites received an invite to participate in a virtual Q&A with the Symbian Belle product managers : - Matti, a Product Manager at Nokia for Symbian Belle Product - Camilla a Product Manager for one of the Belle devices - Andrew from Nokia Communications With : - Hari Gupta From Nokiaride.com - Cristian Trohin here from techmobility.blogspot.com - Fakhre from http://www.symbiantweet.com/ - Aditya from World of Phones.Net - SlipKoRnSaad (Oh yeah, me!) form symbianbriefs.blogspot.com - Raghu from ragsnram.com - nkumar_ and JayMontano among others And i must say that the Q&A was hot, with a lot of interesting questions, i guess PM thought they'll have questions of "Is belle good?" sort, in fact questions were more "advanced" and inspired by other manufacturers products (Apple iPhone and Android devices) and issues on current Nokia's firmwares/products, well, here's what we got (not all questions were included (5%), but the most interesting ones) and there were several questions without a reply or a hint ^^ Sirajsoft: @Matti and @Camilla Symbian Belle Supports three way rotation of screen ? Matti @ Nokia: @ Sirajsoft - It supports two way orientation: portrait and landscape Fakhre: @Matti and @Camilla - Can we move Widgets across homescreens? Matti @ Nokia: @ Fakre - Yes, we can move the widgets between the home screens N8Fanatic: When Belle be available for download for the existing Nokia N8 users? Fakhre: Belle release date for current S^3 / Anna users? My Portable World: Any timeline for the Belle rollout on S^3/Anna devices? Comment From Xenile Is there an ETA on Belle for N8 and older compatible phones? Andrew@Nokia: @ Xenile: we haven't communicated the timeline yet. Andrew@Nokia: @ N8Fanatic: we'll communicate about that closer to availability Cristian Trohin: @Andrew Will the old crop of Symbian 3 smartphones be clocked at 1GHz to when Belle hits? I'm thinking Nokia 5800 scenario. Cristian Trohin: @Andrew: I mean when the first 5800 hit the market it was clocked at 369MHz and after a software update, it was clocked at 434MHz. So the question is this: Is the 680MHz CPU on the old S^3 devices capable of handling 1GHz freq? Matti @ Nokia: @ Cristian - Current Anna (S3) devices won't get any upgrade to the CPU - they will remain as 680Mhz. Cristian Trohin: @Matti: The new devices have 512MB of RAM which is double the amount of the prev phones. The CPU is also clocked higher. How does Belle affect the performance of the first crop of S^3 handsets? Matti @ Nokia: @ Cristian - Yes, it is true that HW perforamance is different in Anna and Belle devices but there won't be any features lost once updating to Anna and it runs smoothly on those devices. NFC is HW dependant and doesn't come to any other Anna devices than C7 that already has a HW for NFC. Cristian Trohin: @Matti: I'm thinking more like how well does Belle multitask compared to Anna, in terms of apps open at once? Matti @ Nokia: @ Cristian - ok, got it. Obviously, with doubled RAM Belle devices can handle more apps at the same time than Anna devices. Fakhre: Is there any difference in Belle performance on current S^3 devices in comparison to new 1 ghz devices Matti @ Nokia: @ Fakhre - Belle devices have more powerful HW (CPU, RAM, Graphics memory), thus the UI performance is also improved. JoaoLuis: Looking at the videos from yesterday's launch it was unclear whether it is possible to create folders in the new Belle, could you clarify?? Comment From Krishna Why did you decide to remove folders from Belle? Any particular reason? nokia_fan: why you decided to skip the folders in belle? we can all seen, that a folder-less desktop is not working inios and android. Andrew@Nokia: @ Krishna: Sorry, got knocked offline there for a second. It is still possible to create folders with Belle, but we also offer the flat menu structure option now simply so users can get to what they want quicker! Vaibhav Sharma: What changed in Belle that broke app compatibility for some apps? Is it just the UI or there are any post Anna changes under the hood as well? Matti @ Nokia: @ N8Fanatic - Ovi Store apps are downloadable to Belle. Vaibhav Sharma: Does Belle bring any changes to how access points are handled? Since there are new toggles for WIFI/data, I would think that's the case. But I can also spot the same access point prioritization options in settings. My Portable World: Agree with Vaibhav, is there an easier way to handle wifi/mobile data APNs other than the old destinations?? Aditya Singhvi: I agree with Vaibhav... How has the Access Point part changed Matti @ Nokia: @ Vaibhav Sharma - We need to get back to you on WLAN access point question. nkumar_: The first question of mine is about the notifications... while they more or less look alike Android..wanna know if the APIs are open to developers in same way? Sirajsoft: @Matti The notifications API open to all app developers or it its restricted only to critical Phone apps ? SlipKoRnSaad: Will developers be allowed to access to the Notification bar API for their applications? Cristian Trohin: I'm also interested to know about the notifications API, which leads to my first question: Is Belle RTM? Matti @ Nokia: @ SlipKoRnSaad - We need to come back to the API for notification bar later on :) Fakhre: @Matti , @Camilla - Is there any option to customize status bar - so we can add some more sensor options (eg. Turn auto rotation on/off) Matti @ Nokia: @ Fakhre - It is not possible to customize status bar, at least at the moment. Hari Gupta: is there any specific list of devices which will get update of belle?? Camilla @ Nokia: @ Hari Gupta: Belle will be available for the following devices: Nokia N8, Nokia Nokia E7, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01, Nokia X7 and Nokia 500 N8Fanatic: Will future Nokia N8 devices that are shipped, will they feature Symbian Belle? Andrew@Nokia: @ N8Fanatic: for now we're shipping N8s with Anna, but in the future yes, we will start shipping them with Belle SlipKoRnSaad: Is there any Social integration improvement with symbian Belle? nkumar_: Third question.. do we supposed to get a better social client and widget than the current one? Sirajsoft: Symbian Belle comes with any official Social Networking apps such as Nokia Social new version ? Andrew@Nokia: @ nkumar: Anna and Belle currently have the same version of the social client Aditya Singhvi: How efficient is belle over say the S^3, Anna when it comes to power management and background tasks running? JoaoLuis: Any improvements with regards to battery consumption on Symbian Belle?? Matti @ Nokia: @ JoaoLuis - Battery performance is good in Belle, e.g. 60 hrs music playback time in Nokia 600. You could check the specs in nokia.com Sirajsoft: @Matti Nokia C7 with SymbianBelle supports NFC sharing as the new Symbian Belle Devices does ? Matti @ Nokia: @ Sirajsoft - Yes, C7 will get the same NFC experience with just launched Belle devices. Cristian Trohin: @Andrew: Will the NFC pairing work with non-Nokia phones? Andrew@Nokia: @ Cristian Trohin: Yep, it should work. Fakhre: @Matti , @Camilla - Will Symbian Belle be the peak of the symbian OS? Will we see another upgrade version! Camilla @ Nokia: @ Fakhre: We will have regular SW updates. JayMontano: At Nokia World 2010 we were told the browser would be updated to something that is as good if not better than current mobile browsers (that included MicroB from Maemo 5). Unfortunately even Anna browser 7.3 did not deliver here. What about 7.4 in Belle? What improvements should we expect in the new browser? Interface, speed rendering, max number of tabs open etc? thanks Matti @ Nokia: @ JayMontano - The rendering speed is faster in 7.4 and Belle than it is in 7.3. UI is still the same. nokia_fan: @jaymontano the browser will be faster because belle is processing that on the gpu more then the prevous browser versions SlipKoRnSaad: How's the Email app (Nokia Messaging 3.1)? Any particular improvements? Andrew@Nokia: @ SlipKoRnSaad: Belle also has the 3.1 messaging client. RagsnRam: How much RAM does Belle require upon boot-up if I may ask? And will be any different in N8 (and other similar models) with just 256MB of RAM? Matti @ Nokia: @ RagsnRam - Belle UI experience is so rich and great that it consumes a bit more memory than Anna. Cristian Trohin: Does Belle have an API to share stuff over third party applications, like on Android? Matti @ Nokia: @ Crisian - there will be also a SDK for developers to create NFC applications. SlipKoRnSaad: is it true that Microsoft's services are integrated strongly in SymbianBelle? Things like Exchange ActiveSync, OneNote etc? Or the same support as now? Matti @ Nokia: @ SlipKoRnSaad - Same MS service integration in Belle and Anna but we also have preinstalled MS Office Suite and Communicator in Belle. dani2xll: Does Belle offer us the option to decide where we want auto rotate for example, in gallery, photos only? Camilla @ Nokia: @ dani2xll: No, currently you can not decide to auto rotate gallery / photos only. N8Fanatic: @andrew @matti @camilla, when can we expect the Belle smartphones? Matti @ Nokia: @ N8Fanatic - Belle devices will be on the market in Q3, i.e. by the end of next month. dani2xll: Can you explain the differences between clear black display and amoled and which you think is suitable to a particular customer and why? Camilla @ Nokia: @ dani2xll, @ scho: The ClearBlack display in 701 is super bright with less reflections, so it's excellent outdoors in bright and sunny environments. Aditya Singhvi: Belle has improved the usability of the Symbian device, what were the key points that you wanted to address with the Anna and belle updates? Matti @ Nokia: @ Aditya Singhvi - Anna and Belle are both here to delight Nokia users and continuosly improve the user experience. RagsnRam: Another Q relating to my earlier Q: Considering the GPU is far more powerful in the new phones, will there be any feature similar to wireless hdmi? Like I can play games wirelessly on a HDTV? Matti @ Nokia: @ RagsnRam - no Wireless HDMI support in the just launched Belle devices. Sirajsoft: @Andrew i mean the update which recently came after Anna update Will there be any such software modifications in Camera Algorithms to make it much better (N8) Andrew@Nokia: @ Sirasoft: that's one of the questions we're going to need to get back to you on later. Please bear with us! Unanswered questions ! Cristian Trohin: @Matti and @Camilla: Is Belle ready to manufacture or is it still in testing stages? Cristian Trohin: @Camilla: Has Belle reached the stage initially wanted for S^4? Sirajsoft: Thanks @Matti any word on Multi Touch Rotation on maps can we turn the maps with two point touch ? Hari Gupta: @matti is it support full voice guidence like typing msgs by just speaking?? N8Fanatic: Are the current apps in the Ovi Store compatible with Belle or should we expect apps to be updated? N8Fanatic: The current music player lacks a search feature, should we expect Belle a music search feature? Quite essential to the music lovers out there Hari Gupta: @matti & @camila Anna is recently updated in symbian, a some days ago & now nokia comes with new symbian belle just after release of anna. while lots of ppl didnt shift to anna yet,is there any reason for that to release it that much soon?? SlipKoRnSaad: Is belle having a reworked multi-tasking view, or is it still the same? Why didn't you implement the same task viewing paradigm as the N900? Sirajsoft: @Matti the notification bar can be accessed from all apps or the developers need to rework on the top window to make it transparent ? nkumar_: second question is, if Belle has adopted maemo/meego style contact which can add services like Skype etc or still its good old symbian :-( JoaoLuis: Since Symbian^3 was released the Push mail client has had issues when it comes to continuous sync. One expected that with Anna this would be resolved but seems not - can we expect that to be working now on Belle?? The last time we saw this working properly was on the S60 devices?? My Portable World: Guys, the Email Client on Anna (on the E6) wasn't that good.. Plus, mail delivery was iffy. Now that Nokia Messaging has been spun off, how is Nokia going to manage the Push Mail part? Aditya Singhvi: Has the Ovi Sign-in process been improved? Earlier, there were many instances of the Ovi services requiring the password repeatedly? Has this been addressed in Belle? Cristian Trohin: What happens with the currently developed widgets that are fixed in size? How will they work on Belle? nkumar_: Does Symbian Belle supports Live wallpapers? Aditya Singhvi: While Belle is more of a cosmetic upgrade, what newer features does it bring to existing Nokia devices and newer ones? Sirajsoft: @Matti http://www.developer.nokia.com/Resources/Library/Symbian_Design_Guidelines/touch-input-policy.html As we saw the new Touch Input policy in UI guidelines may i know whether the Symbian Belle comes with the object rotation ? If yes in what apps they are implemented ?? dani2xll: Are there more Belle devices waiting on the horizon and will we see the dual-sim appear in the smartphone line-up of Belle? SlipKoRnSaad: WIFi Direct will be integrated/enabled on Belle? Fakhre: @Matti , @Andrew - Any update on Wi-Fi Direct implementation on Belle? nkumar_: What is special about Double Tap Touch Sensor in upcoming Belle devices? dani2xll: Is the social app in Belle going to move beyond adding Twitter and Facebook alone? dani2xll: In Belle do we now have a clear indication of when double tap is needed and when it is not as it was rather a hit and miss in symbian^3 Hari Gupta: Is there any addition option to camera in belle? N8Fanatic: @andrew @matti @camilla, if a 3 finger reset is performed on the Nokia N8 which has Belle, should we expect any problems? The Ovi Store, Ovi Maps etc to disappear? Aditya Singhvi: There's just one thing I wanted to really know, Is it possible to download/sync the contacts from Google with a Belle device? Ala Windows Phone 7 devices... RagsnRam: I hope this gets answered: Will DLNA services be integrated into Belle? And not via an app like Play To? Aditya Singhvi: With S40 devices getting 1GHz processors and similar H/W how much of an impact will the Belle devices create for consumers? Cristian Trohin: Will the split screen input be available for Java apps Cristian Trohin: And for later: 1) How does WRT perform on Belle compared to Anna speed-wise? 2) Will existing themes developed for Symbian^3 work on Belle? Do they need to be adapted? 5) Will the newly launched Belle smartphones be available world-wide? 6) Will there be more devices that will launch with Belle beside these 3? Andrew@Nokia: @ Everyone: There have been quite a few detailed technical questions that we're not able to answer at this point. But please rest assured that we're going to note then down and get back to you in person with the answers! |
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