Nokia is sticking with Symbian. Anssi Vanjoki, the new head of Nokia Mobile Solutions, has come out swinging on Nokia’s official blog, with talk of a Symbian ^4 N-Series phone to follow the Symbian ^3-sporting Nokia N8. Symbian’s taken a kicking from the critics recently but Vanjoki says Nokia is getting ready to surprise us. Can it turn the tide?
Vanjoki kicked off his strident defence of Symbian with some love for the Nokia N8. He says: “I believe it is going to surprise a lot of people with its power and speed. The camera and HD quality video and deep integration with Ovi services will make this an entertainment powerhouse.”
But if you’ve been hoping to see a Nokia N9 running Symbian you’re out of luck. Vanjoki confirms that the N8 will be Nokia’s only phone packing Symbian ^3 with the rest packing MeeGo. He also categorically denies that Nokia will introduce an Android device.
We are going to see Nokia N-Series handsets with Symbian ^4 though. Vanjoki says cheekily: “We ‘never comment on future products’ but a Symbian ^4 N-Series device is a strong possibility. A very strong possibility.” We saw a Symbian ^4 video a few months back with the suggestion that phone will touch down in 2011.
There’s also talk of the Nokia’s first MeeGo device is Vanjoki’s post. He reconfirms that it’ll be arriving this year and makes a clear distinction between it and Symbian: “As Symbian gears up to compete with the likes of the iPhone and Android, MeeGo is taking clear aim at the computing space.” So MeeGo tablets a go go then!
Though Nokia was once the leader, Vanjoki admits that it’s now “a challenger” with “fight on [its] hands”. Do you think it can turn the tide with the Nokia N8? And will MeeGo be able to compete with the iPad and the onslaught of Android tablets?
Due TBC | £TBC | Nokia
