Nokia Belle FP2 update fixed, re-released

After the recent problems that Nokia faced with the Belle FP2 OS update for some phones including the 603, 700 and PureView 808, Nokia has finally fixed all the issues in the update, and has released it again for download, according to GSMArena. Some of the new features in the update include a swipe to unlock screen, a new camera UI, and some minor tweaks to other UI elements like the navigation bar and the widgets. Another major feature of the update is that the keyboard will now offer word completion and predictive text.

The issues faced by some Nokia users included the update itself not installing, and issues with other parts of the updated software. Disgruntled users have been discussing their problems with the update on this thread in the Nokia Discussions forum. Nokia is investigating these complaints, and will release the update again once all the issues have been resolved.

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The swipe to unlock screen in the new update

In August, Nokia had released the Belle Refresh update for its Symbian phones. Some of the features of the Belle Refresh update include an updated browser that has support for HTML5 web apps, a new set of home screen widgets, and Nokia Maps Suite 2.0, and the Nokia N8 got some extra apps for imaging.

Back in July, Nokia Belle devices had received a small update that allowed SkyDrive integration with the phones. The report stated that Belle-powered smartphones were getting an ‘Upload to SkyDrive’ option that allows automatic photo upload to Microsoft’s cloud storage solution, SkyDrive. The 170KB update was made available via ‘SW update’ application on Nokia smartphones and needed a restart.

This follows Nokia’s launch of the Belle Feature Pack 1 update for the 700, 701 and 603. The update brought with it some cool additions like an overclock on the processor front for more power. However, the degree of overclock depended on the phone itself. Some sound enhancements like Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Headphone were also a part of the update. Nokia added about 20 new widgets and a better browser and some minor tweaks as well as changes to the multitasking and notification area. When we reviewed the 603, we had already received the update, so chances are that if you have one of these phones in India, you’ve already got the update.

In our review of the 603, we noticed that with the new update, a noteworthy amount of Microsoft Apps were making their appearance on the Belle phones, giving an indication that the Microsoft-Nokia partnership wasn’t just restricted to the Lumia phones. For starters, Microsoft OneNote, Exchange, Lync and SharePoint had already been integrated into the phone. Besides these, there was Doc Connect, Broadcast, Public Transport, Joiku Spot, Poken, Quick Office and Shazam. The standard Nokia apps were naturally part of the ecosystem. These included Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Ovi Music, Check In and Nokia Recommends.

Symbian was definitely a powerful platform on its own. With the advent of other operating systems, it did lose a lot of steam, but it’s still chugging on with these updates. One of the main problems was the limited app store, but besides that, the interface, the media and everything else was very promising. Symbian wasn’t too optimised though, and it did face a similar fate as Samsung’s Bada operating system. As compared to frontrunners Google and Apple, it didn’t really impress that much and Nokia itself started looking at Windows Phone as its future premier operating system.

The Belle FP2 update can be downloaded through the Nokia Suite.