Nokia Belle rollout starts earlier than thought
updated 11:40 am EST, Tue February 7, 2012
Belle now shipping for most late Nokia phones
Nokia has began releasing its promised Nokia Belle software updates for a number of its handsets on Tuesday, a day earlier than expected for some. The handsets that will benefit from the changes now include the Nokia N8, E7, E6, X7, C6-01, C7, and Nokia Oro, with owners of the Nokia 500 having to wait a few more weeks. There are a number of changes with the update, with the easiest to notice being the new interface.
Users will now get up to six home screens, allowing for more customization options. The main homescreen, meantime, will get larger live widgets, while the icons can be moved by a long press and a drag to the side, iOS-style. New video recording apps allow HD video recording at up to 30 frames per second. There is also a Flash-compatible web browser that has been visually tweaked as well.
Notifications have been added, and menus are much simpler. There is also news of some free new Microsoft productivity apps coming soon, including Lync and OneNote.
The update's availability is being updated, but the rollout is expected for India, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Poland, UK, Germany, Italy, Vietnam, and Indonesia on Tuesday. Users can't download the update over the air, however, needing to connect to a computer that has Nokia Suite 3.3 or newer.
