Nokia's N94i to run Windows Mobile OS, not Symbian? Er, No.

Believe everything you see? Good, then this is an unannounced Nokia N94i running the Windows Mobile (not Symbian) operating system. We have no way of knowing for sure, but that looks like an engineering prototype Chinese knockoff of something which has gone up for auction somewhere on this great blue planet. According to the listed specs, we're looking at a touchscreen (with stylus) multimedia device synonymous with the N-Series packing a 2 megapixel camera, speakerphone, Bluetooth 2.0 and MicroSD expansion. It's also listed as a dual-sim device with quad-band GSM support. Of course, Microsoft has been slowly making in-roads into Nokia handsets for several months with Nokia's purchase of Intellisync and the recent announcement to integrate Windows Live services into some Nokia handsets. Still, WinMo on Nokia... are we dreaming, or is that "WinXP.jpg" an indicator of something more foolish?

Gallery: Nokia's N94i to run Windows Mobile OS, not Symbian?

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[Thanks, Matthew B.]

[nxtiak @ Sep 14th 2007 7:45AM]

Are you freaking serious? Did you even look at the picture before saying it runs Windows Mobile?
The phone is displaying a PICTURE look at it! WinXP.jpg is written right there!

[Dirk Lucas @ Sep 14th 2007 7:46AM]

April fool's day?

[Steven Apex @ Sep 14th 2007 8:00AM]

Haha, If you even care to look at the scond image in the gallery.. you can SEE its running Symbian..

[Gerald Tan @ Sep 14th 2007 8:46AM]

One thing for sure, the phone is fugly.
Since when was bluetooth such a big feature that Nokia touts on their phones?

Another China/Thailand fake?

[harveyhanson @ Sep 14th 2007 9:01AM]

Yep, tis the S60 on the 2nd photo, not MS software

[anthony @ Sep 14th 2007 7:49AM]

This is SO obviously a fake Nokia - I'm surprised you could be fooled by this!

[Lotheron @ Sep 14th 2007 7:50AM]

Are we missing something here? WinXP.jpg?! Candid Camera Engadget Edition?

[anthony @ Sep 14th 2007 7:51AM]

There is no way it is an engineering prototype - it's just a Chinese knockoff, with Nokia printed on it, and a Bliss wallpaper.

[Fredrik @ Sep 14th 2007 7:55AM]

Agree! This seems to be based on the same copy-all-phones-platform probably originating from China with the classic stylus based touch screen, memory card support, dual SIM and 4-band GSM connection.

The touch icons at the bottom of the screen is also familiar...


The "phone" has appeared as Walkman-phones, Nokia N-phones and iPhone copy-cats among others.

[airibis @ Sep 14th 2007 7:54AM]

looks like a chinese knock off to me aswell

hmm


also, any clue what happened to the Final Contest round that was suppose to go down yesterday?


you know, with the HDTV, SLR camera, and unlocked phone?

[afr @ Sep 14th 2007 7:55AM]

this is obviously a Nokia rip-off Engadget, this was a bit of a silly thing to post

[ihave1 @ Sep 14th 2007 8:03AM]

I have N99i. It's made in china. 2mp camera w/vdo capture. bluetooth, mp3 mp4 playback. touch screen w/ stylus. price is usd80 including 256MB transflash.

for usd120 N101i, you can watch TV on it(UHF channels) like a Casio portable tv.

[Thomas Ricker @ Sep 14th 2007 8:09AM]

Ok, ok, I'll have to bow to consensus on this. I've updated the post.

Thomas
(tail between legs)

[Sirius @ Sep 14th 2007 8:10AM]

- Those little squiggle looking 'icons' on the keypad look like Thai or Vietnamese characters... They also appear on the screen too
- One picture shows the Windows Mobile logo (on the back), while another picture shows what looks like a Symbian s60 active standby screen... Could be a custom WinMo Today screen though...
- The text printed on the back (around the camera) look way too clumped to be production quality...
- The text printed on the front either look too big or too badly positioned to be production quality...
- The style of the keypad would be up to Nokia's 7xxx series standards :P...
- I agree that the 'WinXP.jpg' is just the phone's media app showing a picture... What media app that is is beyond me though (haven't really touched an N9x phone before)
Conclusion: Not a production model, engineering prototype maybe. I'm tending towards that it's not WinMo (that logo on the back looks stuck on somehow)... Looks like it has a 2.0MPx main camera and Bluetooth :)

[Sirius @ Sep 14th 2007 8:12AM]

Hah.. guess I took too long for my little analysis... :P

[Twitchy @ Sep 14th 2007 8:24AM]

Nokias crash often enough without Microsoft getting involved. If Nokia does start to install Windows, then they'd better also add the Ctrl Alt Del keys too.

[tont @ Sep 14th 2007 10:49AM]

"rolls eyes"

[ihave1 @ Sep 14th 2007 8:29AM]

Here this is N94i. the auction ended at 5500 baht ~ USD161.
http://auction.sanook.com/detail.asp?id=193726

I read the comment on that page. someone doesn't know about this chinese knock-off.


translated from Thai.

Sell brandnew Nokia N94i mobilephone. Imported from foreign country.

Spec:
- Dual-simcard (2 numbers switchable)
- Dual Mode signaling system (GSM quadband)
- HTML browser
- WAP browser 2.0 /xHTML
- USB data cable (usb2.0)
- Bluetooth 2.0
- polyphonic ringtones
- mp3 ringtones
- picture caller id
- vibration
- clock, alarm
- calendar
- calculator
- mp3 mp4 player
- vdo player
- built-in loudspeaker with 3d stereo sound
- built-in handsfree and speakerphone
- vdo capture
- including games
- imported from china
- including microsd 256MB
- touch screen with stylus (on the back).

HaHaHa


N94i costs USD73 at Thai-Laos border phone shops.

[FRiC @ Sep 14th 2007 8:46AM]

I live in Thailand and these fake phones are extremely popular right now because of all the included features and dual SIM card support. The phone depicted here is actually one of the lesser popular models since it doesn't look identical to real Nokia phones.

[stranger @ Sep 14th 2007 8:48AM]

i dunno...
it seems really, really FAKE!!!!

[Burhan Ahmed @ Sep 14th 2007 8:53AM]

China is making similar phones with the name NOKLA... they all are touchscreen.... they are available on EBAY... this seems like one of that kind

[Atanas Boev @ Sep 14th 2007 9:00AM]

Looks like the real fake N73 with the touchscreen, http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/01/keepin-it-real-fake-part-xliv-n73-grows-a-touchscreen/

[rento @ Sep 14th 2007 9:15AM]

Should be "keeping it real fake"

[Zoesch @ Sep 14th 2007 9:22AM]

It is a fake, we see a ton of those things around... and in case you want to laugh a bit, the "brand" is not Nokia is NOKlA, with a lowercase L and the Nokia font.

They have almost-perfect copies of the N95, N76 and other models.

[Muhammad @ Sep 14th 2007 10:28AM]

I've got a Windows theme on my E65 that looks more Windows-like than that.

http://saeed-m.com/blog

[AndyS @ Sep 14th 2007 10:33AM]

That's a fake. Nokia doesn't make phones with dual SIM cards. Only knockoffs in china.

[Jon @ Sep 14th 2007 10:39AM]

That is not even running WinMob. Just showing a picture of WinXP wallpaper! I have seen this before on eBay in the form of Nokia N95 clones. Even has the same soft labels on the touchscreen.

[illutionz @ Sep 14th 2007 12:54PM]

This is a fake Nokia obviously...
1st sign is the 4 little "touch" button right on the bottom of the screen...
Just like on the iPhone knockoff form this link:
http://www.itechnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/CECT-P168-iphone-clone.jpg

[Eric @ Sep 14th 2007 4:30PM]

CECT is funny

[Maff @ Sep 14th 2007 5:14PM]

i agree this should be 'keeping it real fake' - i spotted the phone, as I was unsure whether there was a real nok N94i after reading Two Caravans by Marine Lewycka, also mentioned in the book the Nokia N95ii !?!? hehe

[Levi Figueira @ Sep 15th 2007 4:40PM]

This is laughable!! :p
How real can a Nokia candybar w/ stylus be???
Especially with Nokia going after Apple's "touch" UI...

Not to mention that picture does look like cheap knockoff.. with some bad materials being used there... hahahhahaha


The bad thing here is: I'm reading this on engadget... If it were a personal blog I'd be laughing, but on Engadget?? Good grief... What are we coming to?

[[LorD]buGSy @ Sep 14th 2007 11:58PM]

The phone is real alright, but it has symbian OS, and not Win Mobile.

[Ankur @ Sep 15th 2007 12:48AM]

Fake CHINESE ... running the OS chinese Miracle .... common ones .. Generally has DVBh enabled.

[Adrianrain @ Sep 17th 2007 3:08PM]

It's a fake, Here is a video i made of the differance between a N95 and an knock off import. If you look at the bottom of the screen you can see there is four icons on a black backround. Thats how you tell if there fake. Nokia would never do that.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/662870/nokia_n95/

[Ryan @ Sep 15th 2007 6:42PM]

that is sooo fake. that's just a background. do they even make windows mobile stickers like that? mine sure isn't like that.