Nokia’s faithful left the vendor in no doubt they were disappointed by the launch of the latest version of Symbian yesterday.
It’s fair to say we share their dissatisfaction. Having expected a sweeping future strategy announcement, what we got was Anna, two new smartphones, and vague promises about future availability of the new operating system.
The firm introduced Symbian Anna on the business focused X7 and E6 smartphones, promising the new platform offers usability improvements covering text input, browser speed and access to updated Ovi Maps.
Smartphone head Jo Harlow said the updated operating system will available soon for additional devices including the N8, E7, C7 and C6-01, but digging beyond the well polished press release reveals the firm is unsure when that will happen, and that users aren’t happy about it.
“The exact dates on which Symbian Anna will be available for download to existing devices are not yet available, beyond ‘in the coming months’. We’ll keep you posted as soon as more information is available,” a company blogger wrote. Users quickly responded with a torrent of abuse regarding the time taken to develop the new platform, and called for a commitment to a launch date for existing devices.
Nokia has struggled to introduce key new smartphones in the past year due to software woes. It persistently delayed the launch of its high-end N8 smartphone because of usability problems, and also delayed the launch of its flagship E7 device from end-December to early 2011.
For the time being, the new X7 and E6 are scheduled to launch during 2Q11 – a target Nokia must live up to or risk exhausting the last of their faithful follower’s patience.