The Digital Void of SPZ

9.3 has been announced, whose highlights include shorter start up times, better performance, native support for Wi-Fi, PushToTalk and USB 2.0 (previously these were added in by licensees) and FOTA (Firmware Over The Air) upgrades. Symbian OS 9.3 is likely to be used in S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. The first OS 9.3 phones will be announced shortly. The full press release follows. The most notable features in the new release are as follows:

• For developers there is better integration with the new Eclipse series of developer tools and backwards compatibility.
• Performance improvements have been made to start up time and key applications.
• Support for the new Freesacle Reference design, which is likely to be used by OEM and other manufacturers producing S60 phones for Vodafone.
• Support HSDPA connectivity, which is the next cellular connectivity standard. HSPDA is usually referred to as as 3.5G and brings increased data speeds and lower latencies. This means both faster downloads and quicker connections. The first HSDPA networks are being rolled out by major operators now.
• Native support for WiFi and Push to Talk (PoC) should bring performance and stability improvements.
• Support for USB 2.0 will bring faster desktop connectivity.
• Support for Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) allows the phone's software to be upgraded over the cellular network.
• Improved support for 3GPP R5 (R5 introduces support for IMS and HSDPA).
• JSR 248 supports adds a variety of required JSR components (extensions for JME) and 'glues' them together in the Mobile Service Architecture for CLDC.
• IPSec support allows secure IP communications (it encrupts / decrypts incoming and out going packets). This allow for secure UMA calls to be made.