Now available: PR 1.2 for the Nokia N8-00, C7-00 and C6-01, equates to PR 1.1 for the E7-00

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Rolling out today (story updated) for the Nokia N8-00, C7-00 and C6-01, as well as the E7-00, is a minor firmware update, available over-the-air, which fixes a Mail for Exchange sync issue and adds in latest versions of Ovi Maps and Ovi Store, plus some other minor bug fixes. Some FAQ about this update were posted officially on the Nokia Discussions board here (and partially reproduced below). The update is for SIM-free devices in some markets, while some (and most network-locked variants) will have to wait for the big PR 2.0 update, now scheduled for "the summer".

Some screens from the update, for the N8-00:

Screen Screen

We have released a voluntary software update for Nokia Symbian^3 smartphones primarily to address a synchronization issue identified in a limited  number of Nokia smartphones using Mail for Exchange on Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Service Pack 1.

We listen to people’s feedback and continue to constantly improve the user experience of our smartphones with software updates.  While we are working to make available the next software version, which will provide a renewed user experience, including new browser, refreshed widgets and home screen as well as many other performance enhancements, we released this software to quickly resolve a potential issue affecting our business users.

The software update will be available through the on-the-device Software Update or using Ovi Suite. The roll-out schedule will be determined operator by operator, market by market.

From the brief FAQ:

Q: Why does the Symbian device variant in country X not have the SW update yet? What is your roll-out schedule?

A: We first publish standard non-customised versions of the software. Country (SIM-free) and operator versions will be following soon. You can check if an update is available for you from Nokia Care.

PS: As this is an optional release we have some countries & operators that are not taking this version!

Q: I’m on a SIM-locked device with operator X, they are not offering the update. My MfE is not synching. What can I do?

A: We will offer this update content also as part of the PR2 software.

Q: Is the rollout of PR2 affected by this?

A: We’ve announced we will introduce significant improvements for the Symbian UI during the first half of 2011. That schedule remains unchanged.

Q: You have promised a new SW with browser and portrait QWERTY. Why are those not available in this release?

A: We hope that consumers will be very excited as we continue to enhance our smartphone experience in 2011.  We are not stopping here but there are further improvements on the way.  We anticipate the software to be available in the summer.

As usual, this new firmware is expected to roll out over a span of a couple of weeks, depending on market and product code.

The continuing delays in availability of, most importantly, the new web browser, is disappointing. Also missing in action is the relaunch of Nokia Social Networking 1.3, but watch this space for news of this shortly...