Despite all of the evidence to the contrary (laid off employees, a canceled phone, and a move to Windows Phone, just to name a few), Symbian appears to have little life in it. Nokia has confirmed (see full statement below) that it'll send the latest (and final?) version of the OS, Symbian Belle, to all Anna devices in "early 2012." Belle's been available on new handsets for some time (the 603, 700, and 701 launched with it), but now users with old devices will get their hands on the updated OS. This means if you've got a N8, E7, X7, C6-01, C7, Oro, E6, or 500, you'll be able to use Belle's pull-down notification tray, multiple widget sizes, improved browser, six pages of homescreens, and NFC support. If those features sound good to you, it looks like you may just be able to put off that next smartphone purchase a little longer.
Nokia Belle is the latest Symbian software release with all-new user interface, improved user experience, and dozens of improved and new features. We have already shipped Nokia 603, 700 and 701 with Belle software this year, and have received great feedback on the new user experience.
We will make Nokia Belle available to consumers globally by rolling out the Belle software for the existing Nokia range of smartphones such as N8, E7, X7, C6-01, C7, Oro, E6, and Nokia 500 in early 2012. With that, millions of consumers around the world will get a totally fresh experience on their Symbian smartphone.