From the page at Nokia Beta Labs, the list of new features in version 3.05 (beta) are:
- Open emails in HTML view directly
- The policy of Data Encryption on device is supported now.This increases security by encrypting all data on the phone memory including Email, contacts & calendar data.
- New Logging system to speed up problem solving in Email area
- Autolock security policy supported now with complex password rules
- Email signature is lengthened (from 256 characters to 2000) for all kinds of mailboxes.
- Embedded image is supported now in email editor
- Solved some key synchronization issues.
- Fixes for tens of critical errors.
The officially supported set of phones and firmwares are as follows:
- E72 PR2.0 (031.023) onwards
- C5 PR1.0 (031.022) onwards
- E5-00 PR1.0 (041.021) onwards
- E73 PR1.0 (042.007) onwards
- E52 PR2.0 (031.012) onwards
You can read more about the known issues and fixed bugs by following this link.
Having tested this new version with our v52 E72, we found that the upgrade went without a hitch and everything seems as normal. The HTML message display works well, HTML text is rendered, but images are not shown until the show images button is clicked, as with all other email clients; this helps with security and bandwidth usage. Unfortunately, there appears to be no sign of the "Embedded image is supported now in email editor" feature. The message editor menus are the same as before and adding an attachment only adds a file to the attachment list. There is no option of embedding, or entering any sort of rich text editor. Also, the annoying bug of birthdays being shown a day early in Mail for Exchange sync is still present. While this is certainly not a critical error, it is an embarrassing and visible bug to still have when the fix is presumably a matter of putting "+1" somewhere in the code.
If you want to try the Email beta, head over to the Beta Labs download page, and download the 3.9MB .SIS file.
David Gilson for All About Symbian, 10th January 2011.