The Symbian Foundation has released new screenshots of the Symbian^4 operating system, slated to hit devices early in 2011. The new screenshots show design aesthetics that borrow from the iPhone’s top status bar along with Android’s task management options with a drop down menu for quick task (or app) switching. You’ll also get multiple homescreens, widgets, and wallpapers. The OS is expected to be used by Symbian’s major partners, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung–all of which have used previous iterations of Symbian in the past.

Nokia, for its part, has stated that the N8 will be its last high-end Symbian device to be branded under the N-series. Future high-end N-series devices from Nokia will be utilizing MeeGo, a project between Nokia and Intel that merges the Maemo and Moblin operating systems. Nokia will however continue to employ Symbian in its other devices, just not the N-series after the N8 release, which will come with Symbian^3.

(via: Electronista)