Readers of our blog have very differing views on the update; some claim it to be the best update yet, others state that fact that whilst it is a nice update, it’s riddled with bugs and other problems that should of been ironed out months prior to release.

One of the issues highlighted by our reader Turi states; “Sure it looks good with the default home screen setup, but it’s a horror for people wanting to keep it simple and functional. There is no common theming on the widgets and they’re all just as ugly on dark background – looks like something from The Wizard of Oz. The lack of simple, usable and stylish widgets for email, calendar and notifications render the homescreens unusable for me. Nice to know that there are six screens, as I can’t find proper use to even one.”

I have to agree with him here, the lack of simple styling is astonishing and the usability isn’t exactly working like clockwork. One of the very basic principles of an operating system as advanced as Symbian Belle is the styling – it should look good, the end user should have an interface that is polished and worthy of showing off to friends – ugly widgets really do irritate me.

An interesting annoyance that I’ve not personally noticed has been brought up by no other than our reader Fritz Pinguin who states a problem with; “The phone keeps complaining about “Mobile data off” all the time. I know that, I turned it off by purpose in the taskbar. But no application is running, so what is this annoying warning good for? Interestingly, if I turn WiFi on, the warning disappears, but still no app is accessing the net anyway. I seriously think about going back to Anna because of the many inconveniences/bugs in Nokia Belle.”

Another common annoyance as noted by our reader G, is the amazing lack of standard notifications widget, a very surprising removal too. You can read all of the other views of Nokia N8 owners on the latest update by clicking here.

We would like to hear YOUR views on the latest update and what, if anything specifically, you would change and why or what you would like to see in future updates to the firmware.

Availability will depend on your location around the world and your particular product code. If you don’t see the update available OTA (over the air) then check the Suite to see if it’s available there – if not then you’ll have to wait a few more days until you can get your hands on the eagerly awaited operating system.

If you haven’t read our 8 reasons to upgrade to Symbian Belle, i suggest you take a look as this operating system brings with it some really awesome updates – your phone will never (quite) be the same again – but much more amazing, user friendly and pleasing on the eye.

Upgrades to the OS include a sleek new design that looks much more polished then that of Symbian Anna. You’ll even get more home screens so you can put all of those must have widgets wherever you want, whenever you want – no more need for third party applications.

The addition of the new notifications tab means you can see all of the latest actions in all one central hub at the top of your screen. You literally have all of the information you need at your fingertips. The phone will now be much easier to navigate thanks to the new navigation at the bottom of the screen.

The phone will now support real multi-tasking and a much better lock screen than ever before. Those wanting to be able to view all of the information they need via the lock screen such as missed calls, text messages and such can now breathe a sigh of relief – it’s finally here!

There are lots of other cool little additions to the Nokia Belle update so check out the updates to see if it’s available for you!

Question to our readers: Already have the Nokia Belle update? If so what’s your product code? If you do have Nokia Belle (official) then let us know what you think of the update – was it worth the wait or was it a long wait for very little in return?

I’m not sure about you guys but the Nokia N8 blew me away with its great usability and amazingly crystal clear 12-megapixel camera along with other excellent features – the build quality too was jaw-dropping. Coming close to a year and a half later the phone is still the best camera-phone on the market at the moment.

Beautiful new design
The latest release will be a fine-tune of the already great design of Symbian Anna, however Nokia Belle will give us an ever cleaner and brighter user interface, hopefully making it easier to use and keeping it looking absolutely gorgeous with its fresh, crisp new look.

More home screens
Nokia have decided to double the number of home screens from three to six, this gives the user more freedom to have their phone set up in a way that they’re happy with – better usability, it’s a win-win.

Everything in one place
With the addition of the new status bar and notifications tab, Belle will allow you to see information such as missed calls, text messages, reminders and so forth which is easily accessible – information at your fingertips.

Easier to navigate
A range of great, handy new navigation tools can be found at the bottom of the soon-to-be Nokia Belle interface, this allows you, the user, to navigate your way around your Nokia N8 handset faster than you’ve ever been able to before.

New built-in applications
With Nokia Belle comes the addition of some built-in applications as standard, which include some awesome business tools – your Nokia N8 will be more powerful and useful than it has ever been before.

Better lock screen
If your Nokia N8 is locked and you still want to access information with ease, that’s no problem, the new lock screen is packed with information that can be viewed in a glance. A great addition to the operating system.

Real multitasking
Curious as to what applications are running or what they’re doing? Not to worry as Nokia Belle gives you live multitasking so you can see exactly what’s running on your phone, or what’s going on, exactly when you want.

Greater social experience
With the great new handy social network widget on the Belle home screen you will be able to view friends updates in a matter of seconds without of ever having to open the application – handy!

You’ll only have to wait a matter of a month or so before you can get your hands on this wonderful new update, however if you live in the US it may be a different story. Hopefully Nokia have bucked up their ideas since the last fiasco and you’ll see the update on your handsets next month.

Are you excited for the new Nokia Belle and if so, what feature(s) are you most looking forward to?

The image comes courtesy of Symbianlatino.com and also according to them the image was taken during the Nokia Developers Day in Mexico. As i mentioned before i’m not entirely sure i can believe this as i think it may even be some form of link bait from the website, however it’s still as possibility none the less and something we could look forward to in the future.

So according to the ‘roadmap’ it states the following;

Carla

• 8.0 Browser
• Dolby surround sound
• NFC
• Best Widgets

Donna

• Exclusive Dual core Equipment

This is according to a loosely translated Google translate, so if anyone can read the images and offer a better translation please feel free to write it in the comments below and we’ll be sure to add it to the article.

According to Symbianlatino we should see Carla in late 2012 or possibly early 2013 and probably running on higher end devices, or rather ones with better hardware at least (maybe the Nokia N8 successor as we reported earlier today?). Further to their claims the Carla update will be available to all of the Symbian^3 devices, but the Donna update will apparently be only for dual core handsets – it’s also claimed that the Donna update will be the very last of the Symbian^3 updates bringing the close to the rest of the Symbian updates.

To add some validity to symbianlatino’s claims you can see an image below that is circling the internet that shows Symbian Anna, Symbian Belle and an apparent ‘under construction’ symbol, which would obviously point towards there being more updates due to be released in the future.

If we do get the Carla & Donna software, what would you like to see come to your beloved Nokia N8 in the form of software updates?

Sadly as far as Nokia go, we can only take what they say for granted and shouldn’t ever expect something from, but rather wait until we see it with our own eyes. Only time will tell if we see a successor, however the popularity of the Nokia N8 and the Symbian^3 operating system speaks for itself, so it would probably be in their best interests to give us, the consumer, what we want (not that they usually do).

Anyway, looking to the future we could come to expect the following from any successor to the Nokia N8;

• Possibly higher res screen
• Bigger sensor
• More megapixels
• optical zoom
• 1080p

Whilst having more megapixel packed in to our cameras isn’t really an essential part of the technical side of a cameras quality, it’s still good for any marketing campaign they launch for the new handset. I’d absolutely love to see a bigger sensor and 1080p however, that would give us the ideal phone for casual use and casual photography – much like the Nokia N8 we currently have – hopefully we will have an awesome new toy to play with.

One of the reasons that the camera adds so much value to this phone is its super high-resolution image sensor. The image sensor is still the highest resolution sensor in a mobile phone to date (even over a year after its initial release).

The Nokia N8 has amazing build quality that rivals almost any phone. The quality of the build isn’t just the parts inside the outer shell but also how the lot of it is put together. Nokia are renowned for their excellent build quality even in the earlier years with phones like the 3210, even that was a sturdy little bugger. The Nokia N8 feels durable and solid, definitely not flimsy in the slightest and it gives us the great knowledge knowing that our phone will be able to stand the test of time.

Next up is the 12 megapixel camera resolution. As you probably already know, in this day in age the resolution of a camera isn’t the be all and end all of camera quality, however this isn’t to say that it’s not important still. The amazing resolution that the phone captures images at leaves other smartphone rivals trailing in the wind – the possibilities of a higher resolution camera are numerous – take for example the ability to retain detail when cropping images.

The Carl Zeiss optics are another reason why the Nokia N8 is still the best camera phone currently available on the market. The Carl Zeiss name and high quality lens components have run hand in hand for many years now and the importance of Nokia gaining this technology advantage in their hardware arsenal is rather significant. Needless to say not many products have seen a closer commitment between themselves than the two companies.

The components inside the Nokia N8 are high quality such as the 12 megapixel camera, but it’s not just the camera that is of the highest quality, the other components throughout the unit are too absolutely awesome and top of the range. Let’s take for example the mechanical shutter, the glass lens and the large image sensor.

Is the Nokia N8 still the best camera phone on the market for you personally and if there are any other reasons that you own the Nokia N8, what are they? We’re keen to hear your thoughts!

Do you agree that the Nokia N8 remains the best cameraphone on the market? Have you any reasons of your own to add to the five we’ve listed here? Let us know in the comments!

I wrote an article Symbian Anna still not released in USA a few weeks back and according to the comment feedback it’s plain to see that there are many upset American citizens. I for one have lost a little faith in Nokia and probably won’t be owning another one of their products for a long time, but hey-ho, stuff happens, consumers get mad but the world continues to revolve.

Anyway, here are the all important product codes. If your product code is listed here, then Symbian Anna should be available for you. To check your product code simply enter *#0000# in to your keypad.

Product codes: 059G196 / 0599218 / 0599222 / 0599226 / 0599230 / 0599236 / 059D111 / 059C8T6 / 059D110 / 059D112 / 059G700 / 059D0V2

So the question has to be asked to you guys who have just received your update. Was it truly worth the wait, if so, why?

In truth Nokia are stalling for some reason and nobody knows why and i doubt we will know any time soon. It almost looks as though Nokia are trying to kill the little support they have in the USA for their handsets, if they keep this up they can bet their millions that the American market will push Nokia further out of their thoughts and continue with buying phones like HTC, iPhone et al.

Note: I will be sending Nokia an email this week to see where we’re at and see if we can get some answers for our American readers. Hopefully we will get an honest reply with some sort of timetable as to how long you could be expected to wait – at this rate though it looks like Symbian Belle will be released before the prerequisite Symbian Anna update – i’m trying to find the logic in this, but it really looks like it is heading this way.

Anyway, we will keep you updated if were hear anything back. We’ll do our best to get some answers for you, those which you rightly deserve.

Do you live in America and own a Nokia N8? We’d like to hear your thoughts. As an American owner of a Nokia device, does their lack of support for Anna, plus their lack of communication regarding the problem give you a reason to never buy a Nokia device again? Let us know!

Update 1

We’ve had a reply from someone over at the USA offices, however we’re still awaiting another reply from others at Nokia. If this yields no answers, next step is to contact the corporate offices to seek a reply.

“Hi Nick-

I wish I had a definitive answer for you. Unfortunately, there are so many factors in play when it comes to testing and getting approvals that vary from device to device and country to country that come into play (local device variants, network restrictions, etc.) that make a guess at specific timing almost impossible. I’ve been speaking directly with some of the team working on this and they are also eager to get this software into the hands of our customers here in the US as well – and are working hard to make that happen both quickly and with the highest level of quality.

Best-
Keith”

Update 2

Coming soon (once we get a reply).

You make your money by simply developing your businesses and rental properties in to a rich portfolio. The game is kind of similar to Sim City, so for the fans of this game they’ll probably find themselves liking Millionaire City. In Millionaire City greed is the name of the game and without it you’re stuffed – you will want to start building homes around shops and services – making a city that is orderly and uniformed probably isn’t the best idea.

You can make your houses more desirable by making it look, well, prettier. You can do this by placing monuments and other items like plants to make houses rents higher, which means more profit for you and means you’re closer to your goal of total domination and becoming a well coveted millionaire.

Millionaire City’s user interface looks, from first glance, rather complex however after a short while of playing around and navigating your way through the menus you will be able to find your way around in no time. It’s actually quite shocking how much can be fitted on to a small screen, however it’s very intuitive and exciting at the same time. You play the game in landscape mode and have all of the tasks for making your city a better place at the bottom of the screen – it has plot building icons, buildings and options to lay roads to connect your city – plus of course you can keep track of your money.

Just like the popular Sim City, you will need to ensure you manage your expenses and income well otherwise your overall goal of making more money will become somewhat difficult. One thing you should know before entering the game is that you can rent out your houses on the cheap to students and the like or you can bide your time and wait for the more profitable people to move in such as families or pensions and so forth.

The game is open to casual and hardcore gamers, however the more seasoned gamers out there should find the menus and options more of a breeze than casual gamers. Regardless, the game is a great source of replay fun for both casual and hardcore gamers alike – it’s a game you can pick up and play, be in on the bus, coach, road trip or even whilst you’re on your lunch break at school – any time is good for Millionaire City time.

If you have downloaded Millionaire City, please feel free to drop by and let us know what you think. Also feel free to offer any tips, hints or strategies for other readers of our blog.

Price: FREE
Download: Millionaire City for Nokia N8

The application software will still be in its familiar style but with added enhancements to make it faster to use and more intuitive. When you move the video/stills mode switch at the top left you will see an extra slot on the right which has been used to provide direct access to the scene modes – when in video mode the exposure compensation will be in place of the flash control so accessibility is much more direct.

Much smoother video

We’ve been waiting for this one for a while, the ability to shoot video at a frame rate of 30fps to give stability we’ve all been crying out for quite some time. The code has been changed and optimised to allow this, the older code offered much less stable frame rates as you can imagine. When using the Beta Labs app, you will be able to shoot in 30fps in auto mode which provides much smoother videos – this is especially apparent when panning your view.

To read more about this update head on over to Nokia Conversations.

Note: Update is only available for users who have Symbian Anna installed.