Rating: It’s simply impossible, OK?
This screenshot of Belle on an N97 is a fake
We were wondering why a number of readers were asking us about a possible OS upgrade for a legacy Nokia handset – the N97. Most readers want to know how they can install the latest version of Symbian – Belle, on this handset. The short answer is that you can’t. The N97 was running S60V5 – which translates roughly to Series 60 v5.0 in layman’s terms. So it simply can’t take an upgrade to either Anna or Belle. Why do people think it is possible, we wondered? Then we found a reference to it in a Nokia discussions forum here. Sadly, it is a spoof claim.
Somebody calling him or herself N0kiaN97User uploaded a message onto this official forum which read, “Thank You Nokia for the N97 Symbian Belle Update.”
To make matters worse the post was accompanied by fake screenshots of an N97 supposedly running Belle. It simply isn’t true.
One moderator attempted to resolve the problem by linking to a page in which the Nokia models that could be upgraded to Belle were listed.
Sadly that page has disappeared. It’s a classic example of a technical blackhole which the internet creates. The same thing happened to a page which linked to OS updates for the N97.
We suspect that some of our readers asking this question are from India in which case they should visit http://www.nokia.com/in-en/support/.
You will find that the N97 isn’t listed by Nokia as a currently supported handset.
All we can say is that if your N97 says it has an OS version of something like 22.0.110, then you’ve got the latest version and the handset simply isn’t going to be upgraded any more.
There’s a very useful page explaining how to update Nokias running Symbian here. It tells you what to do.
Which is a shame but then that’s life.
