Symbian Belle: What's in the update?

The long-awaited launch of Symbian Belle is finally here, and it looks like a nice change from the drab previoud Symbian^3 UI.

The focus of Symbian Belle is personalisation, allowing you to 'match the look and feel of the phone with your priorities'.

Here, we take a look at some of the new features in Symbian Belle.

Live widgets
The live widgets now come in different sizes, so you can personalise your device as you wish. Nokia has also updated its maps application. With the new version of Nokia Maps, you can share your position with someone else so they can navigate to you.

You can resize the widgets to make your homescreens look exactly as you want them to and toggle widgets allow you to turn features like Blutooth and Wi-Fi on and off.

Six homescreens
If you feel like setting up a new homescreen, just click add another homescreen and you can add another one. You can also pick different wallpapers for all the different homescreens.

Status bar
The status bar is at the top of the display. It shows you all your missed calls and SMS messages. You can pull the top bar down and have access to a few of the most widely used features too.

Navi bar
The navi bar is at the bottom of the screen and makes Symbian really easy to use. Just tap on the back arrow and you'll get out of the application you're in. Keep pressing it and you'll track back all the way to the homescreen.

NFC
NFC comes to life with Symbian Belle. Take a picture on your phone and tap a friend's to transfer the image.a. You can also use NFC to connect your phone to headsets, like the Nokia Essence headset.

New apps
New apps shipping with Symbian Belle include Lync (IM for businesses, like Microsoft Communicator), Sharepoint, OneNote, Exchange ActiveSync and PowerPoint Broadcaster.

Lock screen
You can access all your missed calls, messages and other handy information direct from your phone's lock screen. You can also add a wallpaper to make it more personal to you.

Multitasking
All the apps you have open will display on your device as live tiles, so you can flick between apps, knowing exactly where you are. Just tap on one to open the app in full screen.

Nokia also announced three handsets launching in India on Symbian Belle - the 700, 701 and 600.

Find out more about Symbian Belle in our ultimate guide and video overview.