Free-form, resizable, live widgets: widgets like the clock, email, music player, favourite contacts and the calendar have been redesigned and now come in five different sizes. They can also be resized and rearranged to create a completely personalised set of screens. There are also new ‘Toggle’ widgets for tasks like switching on Bluetooth and changing profiles.

More homescreens: with Symbian Belle the maximum number of homescreens rises from three to six, so now you can have absolutely everything close at hand.

Improved status bar: the status bar sports a modern, flat look and incorporates a pull down notifications tab that incorporates common settings and notification of incoming messages, missed calls and the rest.

Modernised navigation: the navigation and options bar at the bottom of the screen sports a modern, new look, similar to that first seen on the Nokia N9.

New apps: a new suite of powerful business apps from Microsoft includes Lync (IM for businesses, like Microsoft Communicator), Sharepoint, OneNote, Exchange ActiveSync and PowerPoint Broadcaster.

Informative lock screen: the lock screen now tells you about missed calls, messages in your inbox and more, so you can check your phone at a glance. You can now also add a coloured wallpaper to your lock screen.

NFC devices: With Symbian Belle, Near-Field Communications (NFC) is now deeply integrated into the operating system, so you can share pictures, connect with accessories, and check-in – all with just a tap.

Existing phones, like Nokia N8, E7, C7, C6-01, X7, E6 and 500 will receive their Belle update and new devices coming out of Espoo will ship with Symbian^3 Belle out of the box.