Nokia, Nokia, Nokia.  My first phone was a Nokia.  Granted, it was what they now call a “dumbphone.”  It made calls and sent texts on a colorless screen.  Ever since then I haven’t been a big supporter of the cell phone manufacturer.  Though their modern devices are very sleek and quite beautiful, their user interface is very clunky and not very intuitive.  Think of it as anti-iPhone OS, if you will.  It takes many clicks to get to a simple destination, etc.

This past week Nokia surprised us with a peek into their future user interface that promises to be three times faster than current Nokia Symbian OS devices and much more user friendly.  In fact, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo calls the new experience “magical.”  Nokia just might be able to pull this off because they finally understand that their problem lies in the user interface, not the Symbian OS.  Skeptics might advise Nokia to start from scratch but this would be wasteful; the Symbian OS structure has good intentions, it’s just been the way it relays information via the complicated no good user interface that has had users frustrated.

In addition to this major software upgrade coming sometime next year, Nokia also promises new devices with multitouch support on “large capacitive displays.”

Check out the gallery below for some screenshots of the new UI and be sure to look after the break for a video of the announcement and a simulated guided tour.

[Via Engadget]

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