I don't want this post to be an iphone vs N95 post, I don't want to compare Nokia E-Series or N-series phones nor do I want to challenge the devotion of Windows Mobile, RIM, or UIQ based mobile device users. What I DO what this post to portray is my deep frustration with the lack of support, for whatever reason, of global technologies (3G/HS(D/U)PA) in mobile handsets for North American consumers.
Background: I've lived in other countries, visited even more. I've experienced the joy of seeing "3G" pop up on my Nokia handset after landing at Heathrow airport on a trip from a major city in the USA where I was forced to ride the "EDGE" for years. I have been in "3" mobile shops in the land down under in early 2004 when 3G was deployed in Sydney. I am currently in what is supposed to be the most technologically savvy country in the world but I cannot, without a lot of trouble, locate even 10% of the choice in high speed handsets (desirable ones) as the rest of the world has.
But wait.. we have 3G networks in North America!!! In the USA and Canada we have 3G networks from Verizon, Sprint. AT&T, Rogers and others have recently deployed theirs, and T-Mobile is sitting around growing old whilst the US Government sits on the 1700mhz spectrum. Full disclosure, I was a T-Mobile customer and have moved to AT&T for the chance to see HSDPA in action. If you read the last four sentences you may ask, "Wait, this person has 3.5g HSDPA access, what's their issue?". My issue is that I have racing petrol sitting in the tank but no car to run on the motorways. Ok.. I have the option of using a few token devices from Nokia, a few choices from HTC, and Samsung but none of them are to my liking. Is this my problem? Am I just picky? I think not! My mates in Europe, Asia, and the Asia Pacific can hop over to any mobile review site and make an informed decision on their selection of literally fifty or more 3G handsets ranging from $150 - $1200. That's great for them.. it really is, but there are 300 million plus people in North America that are called ignorant or misled about their mobile savviness because they are forced into choices that are a result of years of mistreatment by mobile device providers and the networks that use them.
Verizon and Sprint, yes.. fast stable 3G networks.. ever had to make a choice on which one of their crippled handsets you would like to use? I'll get flamed for saying that but seriously.. I have friends that love Verizon, Sprint etc but are always saying "I'm waiting for them to come out with some cool mobiles!".
3G is NOT new!! If you follow technology news at all you know that LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G technology is coming by 2010, cough.. handsets in the USA/Canada by 2015?
My focus... HELLO NOKIA!!! Nokia is the largest provider of mobile's in the world. I have been using their devices for over eight years. Symbian's S60 is wonderful but I need to know what is going on. If you read the forums you will see a lot of confusion, misleading comments by mobile re-sellers, and a general ignorance about what devices will do. Let me be clear, I am focusing on GSM technologies for now.
Nokia provides a plethora of quad band devices. These phones work everywhere in the world that there is a GSM network. The issue is the confusion that is found when speaking "data plans" or packet data access with these devices. Most of the quad band phones will access packet data in North America with a technology called EDGE aka 2.5G. This is the native data access found on the iPhone and is what is useable by 99% of the devices that Nokia brings to the USA. If you note the actual technical specs, most device specs will say GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 2100mhz. This (2100mhz) is the "rest of the world" frequency for UMTS (3G) but will NOT work here. This brings a $900 device's working value to its knees.
I owned 6 Nokia devices in 2007. The last two were the Euro "Plum" N95-1 and the USA N95-3 which uses the 850/1900 UMTS frequency. I recently sold the N95-3 to a family member and am now back in the market. The differences (ram/battery aside) between the two N95's was huge. HSDPA 3.5g access on the N95-3 was/is amazing. It was truly amazing to actually see what a properly equipped device on a modern network could do. I was receiving consistent downloads that match T1/E1 download speeds. Nokia Internet radio streaming in my car etc etc. The problem is that the N95-3 is a token device, a bit of chocolate for the America's and Canadians to calm their nerves. What about business users? What about people that don't need a 5mp camera but would love to use the Nokia navigator device at half the price of the N95? What about the business user that wants to use the E61i (A wonderful device) or the E90 do download a large presentation whilst riding in the cab, sitting at the airport, or in an emergency when a client requests additions that you need done at the office and emailed to your mobile account and presented with the E90? What about people that would simply like to have the call clarity that is found whilst making calls using 3G? There are two Nokia options for us, the N75 and the N95-3 anything else is a device that will never provide its user with it true potential.
I keep up with mobile blogs (too much so) and followed a few rumors about the E90 potentially being re-released for North America with 3G access for AT&T and Rogers. I disregarded the posts whilst using the N95-3 but since I am back on the market I had a bit of a read again. I want the E90, no doubt about it but there seems to be no chance for it to be released with an 850/1900 UMTS/HSDPA radio. The N95's multiple variants are nice but an obvious play on those of us who know what we want, understand the technology, and are forced to make the decision to buy what's available from Nokia or move to another platform that has gotten their act together, at least in providing HSDPA/UMTS access for us.
I'll end with this: Nokia, and others such as Sony Ericsson should really open their eyes. Nokia's CEO was quoted saying that he would do whatever it takes to become a mobile handset force in North America. Want to know how? Give us the bloody handsets already! Banish the localised handset warranties! What if my USA handset breaks in London? Nokia UK should fix it. Lean on the chipmakers to create quadband 3G/HS(D/U)PA chips for your handsets or at the very least, develop all of your phones in two editions, release them at the same time, and provide consistent, global firmware updates in a timely manner. If you can include a Flash lite 3.0 enabled browser on the N95-8gb.. do the same on all of the capable Nokia devices at the same time.. or at least sometime!! Read the blogs, listen to your customers, be honest and don't call it the "US" version and chuck a 2100mhz radio in the device. Be up front with us, let us know what's going on, thats all I ask!
