Today Nokia and Symbian have announced the latest update to its Symbian smartphone Operating system in the form of the Belle software update, but what of the handsets that are going to run it?
Well Nokia has announced three new handsets that will be the first preloaded phones to support the Belle Symbian OS. The handsets come in the form of the Nokia 700, 701 and budget 600 all of which run the new Belle straight out of the box when they are released in the third quarter of this year which basically mans any time in the next month.
The Nokia 700 is the lead handset of the range and the specs haven’t changed much from the leaked handset details we saw back in early July/Late June as the smartphone claims to be the “world’s most compact touchscreen monoblock smartphone” “as the 700 is a tiny 50 cubic centimetres, weighs in at 96g and measures just 110 x 50.7 x 9.7mm.
The 700 sports a a 3.2 inch AMOLED ClearBlack display and is powered by a 1Ghz processor with a 2GB of internal memory. The handsets memory can be boosted to a huge 34GB with additional microSD card which should hold all the snap you need taken form the handsets 5MP full focus camera with LED flash.
As well as the normal Smartphone features you would expect including Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0, GPS and Wi-Fi but this time with NFC sharing and pairing capabilities which are helped by the Belle Symbian software.
Nokia are also keen to talk about its green credentials with the Nokia 700 as the company are claiming that the phone is one of the most eco-friendly handsets available with its “extensive use of eco-friendly materials, a long battery life and features to minimise battery consumption”… not bad from a company that started as a Logging firm!
To partner the 700 Nokia also announced a Budget version of the phone in the orm of the Nokia 600 which will also feature Symbian Belle OS as well as a 1GHz processor, 5MP full focus camera with LED flash, HD video capture, 2GB of internal memory and NFC capabilities.
The budget aspect comes in with the handsets screen and size as the 600 has a.2-inch HD capacitive touch screen display with a resolution of 640 x 360 and it measures 111 x 53 x 13mm and weighs 100g.
And finally to complete the Trio is the Nokia 701 which is basically a slightly sportier version of the 701 but with a larger 3.5-inch IPS LCD display with ClearBlack technology, which Nokia claim is the brightest smartphone screen and a larger 8-megapixel full focus camera with a dual-LED flash.
Additionally the 701 comes equipped with 8GB internal memory and eth rest of the details are the same as the 700 with its 1Ghz processor and connectivity.
The handsets are set for a Q3 release with no firm date set but this means they can arrive anytime from now. Pricing wise the Smartphones are set to come in at 180 euros for the 600, 270 euros for the 700 and 290 euros for the Nokia 701.
Will these new phones temp you back to Nokia Symbian OS or is it all too late for Nokia? Let us know your thoughts on our Gadget Helpline Facebook page or in the comments below.
True to Monday’s teaser, Nokia unveiled its latest update to the Symbian OS as well as a few new devices. Belle is indeed coming, and it’s heading to the Nokia 700, 701 and 600 in the third quarter of this year. The successor to Anna brings NFC sharing and pairing functionality to the table, along with three additional home screens (bumped up to six), a dynamic lock screen, live widgets in five different sizes, and a pull-down taskbar and notification menu. Fortunately, the new handsets announced today aren’t the only beneficiaries of the upgrade: the N8, E6, E7, X7, C7, C6-01 and Oro will all get Belle at a yet-unknown later date. Join us after the break as we go more into detail on the three phones announced today, along with a video and press release.
The three handsets announced today are all expected to arrive in the third quarter (read: any day now), and all stick very close to the leaked spec sheets we learned of a few months ago. in fact, there weren’t a lot of surprises at all. The Nokia 700, which we knew as the “Zeta,” claims to be the world’s most compact touchscreen monoblock smartphone;
it features a 1GHz CPU, a 3.2-inch AMOLED “Clear Black” display with Gorilla Glass, NFC, 5MP full-focus camera, pentaband 3G radio, and is constructed using green materials such as bioplastics and recycled metals. The 700 also claims a talk time of 7.3 hours and will come in five different colours. We should see the Nokia 700 offered for around $390.
The Nokia 701, aka “Helen,” is said to feature the brightest ever mobile phone display, taking advantage of a 3.5-inch IPS LCD screen with the same ClearBlack tech and Gorilla Glass found in the 700. It appears to have the best specs of the bunch, with a 1GHz CPU, pentaband 3G radio, NFC, 8MP full focus camera with dual LED and a front-facing camera, and 8GB internal storage (expandable up to 40GB using a microSD card). The 701 comes in four hues and offers a stellar 17 hours of GSM talk time (8.8 hours on 3G). The total package comes with a higher price, of course — the device plans to sell for $420.
Finally, the Nokia 600 “Cindy” is meant to be a music-centric phone sold at a lower price point. With that said, the specs still look pretty good here: alongside the 1GHz CPU, 3.2-inch nHD display, 5MP full focus camera with LED and 720p video capture, NFC, FM transmitter and 2GB internal storage (with external memory available using microSD), it’s also Nokia’s loudest phone, registering at 106 phons. The 600 also features an FM radio with internal antenna, eliminating the need to plug in headphones to listen in. Battery life is still very good, rated at 15 hours of GSM talk time. Expect the unsubsidized version of the phone to cost roughly $260.
Nokia has unveiled its latest stop-gap smartphone in the form of the Nokia 701, which comes complete with near field communications (NFC) and the newly-announced Symbian Belle OS.
Symbian Belle brings with it six home screens instead of Anna’s three, live widgets in five different sizes, a pull down menu and task bar and single-tap NFC pairing.
So it stands to reason that the Nokia 701 would come rocking NFC technology, as well as a 1GHz processor, active noise cancellation, an 8MP rear-mounted HD video capturing camera with dual LED flash and a front-mounted camera to boot.
Silver back
The handset’s 3.5-inch screen is a ClearBack display, which means it should be bright as a button indoors (it’s the “brightest mobile phone display of any device to the market”, says Nokia) but also easy to use outside in direct sunlight thanks to the high levels of contrast.
The NFC pairing will allow users to easily share contact between phones, as well as offering wireless music streaming to compatible NFC-enabled headphones and speakers.
Nokia has saved a few bob on the design of the handset by basing it mainly on the Nokia C7 and as such it looks just the teensiest dated to our eyes – but with the upgraded software and nifty extras like HD video capture it should stand its ground in the mid-range market.
Memory-wise, the 701 will come with 8GB of internal memory as well as a microSD card slot – that means you can pump it up to 40GB with a 32GB microSD card.
No word yet on the Nokia 701 UK release date, but it looks like we can expect UK pricing on contract deals of around £20 per month.
