New pictures of the Symbian^4 homescreen surface
7/17/2010 01:02:00 AM
kenmouse
, Posted in
In the past, we’ve seen some demo videos of the new UI in Symbian^4, there was also Nokia’s UI concept proposal before that, and now new pictures of the Symbian^4 homescreen have surfaced on the Symbian Developer Wiki.
These are built in an emulator, using the Qt for Windows SDK.
Symbian^4 will feature a complete Qt-based UI redesign compared to its predecessors (such as Symbian^3 powering the upcoming Nokia N8).
There are clear similarities between these screenshots and the previously released videos and pictures. However, the signal bars and battery indicator have moved to a slim top bar that wasn’t there before, and their place in the left side of the main bar was taken by a drop-down menu arrow. On the right of the main bar there seems to be an Application Menu launcher button, and the central drop-down options menu idea was kept:
Here we have a pop-up menu example. You invoke this by long-pressing the screen:
Also available are a few other screenshots, that show applications grouped by category, an application search app, and how choosing your background image looks. Here they are:
While Symbian^4 is still in development, and a number of things could change before it launches, it may be safe to claim that the release version will feature a homescreen design if not identical, then at least very similar to what you see here.
Symbian^4 should be finished by the end of this year and devices running it are expected in the first half of 2011.
As for the actual usability, or user-friendliness of the new design, I think we have to wait for actual devices to get an idea. There are certainly enough differences between the UI here and Symbian^3 or Symbian^1, that at least have the potential to silence all the outspoken critics of Symbian.
However, by Q2 2011 (when I’m betting the first Symbian^4 device will come to market), Symbian’s main competitor, Android, may have changed substantially, UI-wise, from what it is today, if rumors are to be believed, so it’s impossible at this point to paint a picture of what the mobile landscape will look like when Symbian^4 finally launches.
So, in short, what you see here will not change your life tomorrow, or even next month. But it may end up in your pocket in 2011.
These are built in an emulator, using the Qt for Windows SDK.
Symbian^4 will feature a complete Qt-based UI redesign compared to its predecessors (such as Symbian^3 powering the upcoming Nokia N8).
There are clear similarities between these screenshots and the previously released videos and pictures. However, the signal bars and battery indicator have moved to a slim top bar that wasn’t there before, and their place in the left side of the main bar was taken by a drop-down menu arrow. On the right of the main bar there seems to be an Application Menu launcher button, and the central drop-down options menu idea was kept:
Here we have a pop-up menu example. You invoke this by long-pressing the screen:
Also available are a few other screenshots, that show applications grouped by category, an application search app, and how choosing your background image looks. Here they are:
While Symbian^4 is still in development, and a number of things could change before it launches, it may be safe to claim that the release version will feature a homescreen design if not identical, then at least very similar to what you see here.
Symbian^4 should be finished by the end of this year and devices running it are expected in the first half of 2011.
As for the actual usability, or user-friendliness of the new design, I think we have to wait for actual devices to get an idea. There are certainly enough differences between the UI here and Symbian^3 or Symbian^1, that at least have the potential to silence all the outspoken critics of Symbian.
However, by Q2 2011 (when I’m betting the first Symbian^4 device will come to market), Symbian’s main competitor, Android, may have changed substantially, UI-wise, from what it is today, if rumors are to be believed, so it’s impossible at this point to paint a picture of what the mobile landscape will look like when Symbian^4 finally launches.
So, in short, what you see here will not change your life tomorrow, or even next month. But it may end up in your pocket in 2011.
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