Nokia N97 and Samsung Omnia HD to get major firmware updates

Two of the hottest touchscreen devices of the season are about to get even hotter. The S60 5th edition driven Nokia N97 and Samsung i8910 Omnia HD are set to go with some nice upgrades of functionality and user experience.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD update has already been made public, while the Nokia flagship is about to get the same treatment next month.

Samsung Omnia HD XEII1 software update

The XEII1 software update is already being distributed to Omnia HD users in Russia and Hong Kong. Most importantly it replaces the speech-centric low-bitrate AMR codec used for the audio recording in videos with the superior AAC encoder. But since that has already been taken care of by the previous software update issued for the rest of the world, the more interesting new feature here is the 3D task switcher, much like the one we saw on the Samsung I8000 Omnia II.

The 3D task switcher and the one finger-zooming

There's also a brand new QWERTY keyboard coming with the new firmware, with more spacing between the keys, several new widgets and bug fixes in the browser and media player. The Samsung i8910 Omnia HD has also received the one-finger zooming seen on other Samsung devices such as the Omnia II.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD new firmware changelog

Here is a video demonstrating the smooth performance of the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD, after being treated to the XEII1 update.

Nokia N97 2.0 software update

The fellas that own a Nokia N97 aren't quite as lucky as the guys who joined the Samsung camp, as they will need to wait for another month until their update is released. However it seems that Nokia are about to throw some really nice stuff in their direction so it's probably worth it.

The most notable change brought by the new firmware will be the system-wide kinetic scrolling. The QWERTY keyboard typing experience will also be improved as it now displays the alternative character when a key is pressed-and-held. Next, the Music player will be receiving a facelift and will display more album art and information.

The changelog of the N97 2.0 firmware is completed by new widgets by CNN, MySpace, ESPN, Elle etc., support for VoIP and a new version of Ovi maps. And if you thought that all those new features will get your memory full, you are wrong. Due to the new memory allocation the amount of free space in the handset's memory will even increase.

And there goes a video demonstrating the performance of the Nokia N97 with the new firmware steps in.

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