Nokia's DVD-3800 player -- is this for real?

We know the rebadging / knockoff fiends have kicked out some seriously stupefying gear in the past, but we just find it (mighty) hard to believe that Nokia is actually venturing into the DVD player market. Nevertheless, a tipster reportedly snapped the above shot whilst out in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and while one may assume that the player was simply some other firm's "DVD-3800" with a Nokia emblem, both Denon and Astar's iterations look fairly different. So, dear readers, what on earth is going on here? If anyone has even a remote clue what this thing is, drop us a line in comments -- oh, and be sure to peep the other two snapshots after the break.

[Thanks, Javed]

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 3:15PM]

test

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 3:18PM]

I wonder if they have any DVD footage of the famous Almaty Zoo massacre...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 3:22PM]

The possibility of buying anything in Kazahkstan that has any connection with the company whose name is on it is so remote as to be not worth considering

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 3:22PM]

Can one use Nokia's mobilephone as a remote for this ?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 1st 2007 11:09PM]

ya off course ,,

throw your mobile near to it and than while grabbing increase the sound or fwd the cd- lolzzzzzzzzzz


viks ;)))))

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 3:36PM]

Keepin' it real... janky? Check out that sticky-outy svelte-aluminum power button, teased at an ever so slight angle.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 4:28PM]

Here's an old press release about Nokia selling off their TV/VCR division to a Canadian company, and does indicate the new owner had the right to use the Nokia name for a number of years...

http://r2.nokia.com/microsites/aboutnokia/company_information/news/news_htmls/ncp_960717.htm

So a DVD player isn't completely out of the question... Didn't they start out as a manufacturer of rubber boots?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 4:54PM]

Found this on their website's About link:
More than just mobile phones
Nokia is best known as the world's largest manufacturer of mobile telephones. In addition to providing handsets for all major cellular and PCS (personal communication system) standards, the Finland-based global telecommunications company pioneers digital switching and wireless communication technology for service providers around the world. Nokia also manufactures multimedia terminals and computer monitors.

SO its possible they build things other than phones. Our IT shop uses Nokia firewall hardware which is basically a Linux Box running Checkpoint FW software.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 5:07PM]

Knockoffs can be useless, yes, but some no-names / surprising names are damn good. Have had my cheap-as-sin "Daewoo" DVD player 5 years or so, plays VCDs, all regions, anything, and isn't afflicted by the usual one big problem of cheap DVD players - the subtitles aren't rendered incredibly unprettily (srsly, my friend's "Yakumo" box's subtitles make me sick. Serves her right for not reading reviews).

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 5:29PM]

Im from Iran, and there it is not uncommon for this kind of "brand"-swapping. They just take the logo from a major brand and put it on another product.

I do suspect that the market in Khazakstan works in similar ways!

[JPFrech Posted Sep 26th 2007 5:36PM]

I DO HAVE A NOKIA DVD PLAYER !!!!

It look just like this one, but can't remember the model number. I purchased it in 1997 or 1998 in a ''StereoPlus'' store here in Canada. It cost me more than 500$ back then but it still was cheaper than RCA and others at the time.

I will look for it in the closet and will take some pics to proove it.

PS ; i don't have the Jackie Chan splash screen but the menu does look as rubbish as what we see here.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 5:55PM]

My initial thought was straight knock-off... HOWEVER! if this is not a NEW product, I'd believe it' could be a real Nokia... I can see some Nokia design elements (though I'm not too familiar with their electronics--and a Google image search for "Nokia DVD Player" proved fruitless...) but the design is decidedly 1990's-era...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 6:10PM]

The Nokia logo looks either very old or not authentic. My Nokia logos, even on my old brick phone have some rounded corners on the letters.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 6:58PM]

Looks like the speakers in the picture are from a manufacturer by the name of Microlab. I know its not the DVD player, but still interesting.
www.microlab.com

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 7:02PM]

Nokia did make (or was gearing up to make) DVD players, here is an article from 1995 from Reuters...

HELSINKI, Finland (Reuter) - Finnish telecommunications and electronics group Nokia Oy said Wednesday it would join backers of Sony and Philips' proposed new high-density multimedia compact disc format.

"Nokia hopes to utilize MMCD to expand its consumer electronics operations and further its presence in the evolving multimedia ages," Nokia said in a statement.

The Sony/Philips disc is up against a rival standard being developed by Time Warner Inc. and Japan's Toshiba Corp., which has the backing of giants like Matsushita Electrical Industries Corp. for its digital video disc, or DVD.

Nokia said it had chosen the Sony/Philips format mainly because it offered "advantages in ease of use, manufacturability and affordability over other proposed disc formats."

Philips and Sony said on June 15 that U.S. personal computer maker Gateway 2000 had become the first personal computer manufacturer to back their new high-density multimedia CD.

Philips has said its new product will be available late next year. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd, backing the rival disc, said earlier this year that the first of that format's products will be available in the fall of 1996.

Sony and Philips have given no details on price, but Matsushita said players for the rival format will cost around $500, and discs $30 each.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 7:26PM]

Nokia also manufacturs the speakers in my BMW. Is it the same Nokia? Not willing to pull my door panels to find out

As are the ones in my E36 3-series. They are utter shite too. It's the same logo and Nokia used to make TVs. I guess it is the same Nokia.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 7:29PM]

Here is another article from Consumer Electronics from 1995...

Nokia last week became first consumer electronics manufacturer not directly affiliated with Sony or Philips to endorse MultiMedia CD (MMCD) format for DVD and multimedia applications.

While MMCD format has scored endorsements from CD-ROM drive companies and PC direct-marketer Gateway 2000, only previous consumer electronics firms to support MMCD have been subsidiaries of Sony or Philips -- Aiwa, Bang & Olufsen, Magnavox, Marantz. JVC, Matsushita subsidiary that has endorsed SD format, also has said it will support MMCD, but specifically for system's Video CD and karaoke applications.

Helmut Stein, vp-technology & new businesses at Nokia Consumer Electronics, said decision to support MMCD was "unanimous" because "we believe it offers advantages in ease of use, manufacturability and affordability over other proposed disc formats." He said that system's compatibility with existing CDs "ensures that our customers will enjoy the greatest range of benefits that technological advances in digitization offers." Nokia is world's 2nd largest supplier of mobile phones (after Motorola) and is largest in Europe. Company described itself as "a significant European supplier" of consumer electronics products and PC monitors, generally is regarded as 3rd or 4th largest European TV manufacturer.

Hyundai Digital Media, Milpitas, Cal., said it has started sample shipments of industry's only single-chip MPEG-2 decoder for decompression of system, audio and video data streams. It said unit is targeted at start to set-top box decoder and other "digital media system" markets, including DVD. Hyundai quoted sample quantity price of $ 190 per device, projecting production quantity price of "under $ 55" after start of volume manufacturing at Korean plant in Oct.

SDL Inc., San Jose, announced consortium with Hewlett-Packard, Xerox and 4 other partners to develop semiconductor blue lasers and blue LEDs under $ 4-million, 2-year contract from Defense Dept.'s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Announcement said consortium, whose members also include Advanced Technology Materials Inc., American Crystal Technologies, U. of Boston and U. of Tex. at Austin, will contribute additional $ 4 million. It said consortium members have achieved lowest defect density gallium nitride material, which it described as "key requirement" for producing semiconductor blue lasers. It said blue lasers "are the key missing components" in building ultra-high-density DVD players.

Toshiba announced $ 3-million research center in San Jose to study new ideas for computers and communications devices, joining 5 other U.S. centers working on microchips and TVs. Wire service reports quoted Toshiba America spokesman as saying San Jose center also will contribute R&D work on high-density SD project.

LOAD-DATE: July 12, 1995

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 8:12PM]

Why the hell are you so ignorant? Quick to make judgements about a country that you don't even know a single thing about? In fact it's even worse - since you think you know shit because of a silly movie. Whatever you guys think Kazakhstan is far from a shithole, and we don't have fakes all over the place. Oh, and btw Almaty IS a friggin metropolitan city!
Ah, almost forgot why i wanted to post: this was put up on a recreational web site as a joke. Amazingly funny to watch all the gadget sites going crazy, almost beliving this shit. I bet no one expected such a reaction!

P.S. Nevermind the whole thing. I forgot you guys don't learn geography in school. Nor ancient greece, or else you would have actually known what metropolis even means

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2007 8:37PM]

The roll of toilet paper I used on my a$$ was manufactured by Nokia...

;o)

[artifex Posted Sep 26th 2007 8:47PM]

I think a key to cracking this is finding out what the word is, embossed on the top of the player. Looks like MP something, maybe ending with a 4 with a circle around it. Also, what's that model number on the front? DVD-3000? 3800? Are these the best resolution images you have, or did you shrink them for the web?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 27th 2007 4:13AM]

urm MPEG4 maybe?!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 27th 2007 9:54AM]

hi guys,

well that "Nokia" DVD player is i think made in china.

in manila a bunch of people are also selling low quality DVD players like that also.

there was one incident that someone was trying to sell me a dvd player then told me that i can pick my own BRAND well out of curiosity i just said ok i'll go and look. the guy showed me a dvd player and then pulled out some sort of photo album. when the guy opend the album WTF! it has a lot of stickers from all sorts or brands, from nokia, sony, etc. just for fun i want to buy a dvd and put a sticker of SONY ERICSSON or apple hahahaha!

here are some of the screwed up names they've come up.

SONY - SUNNY
Panasonic - Pensonic

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 27th 2007 11:53PM]

Pensonic are a legit company - their name & logo is a rip-off of Panasonic.. but they are at least making their own products & not just copying someone elses designs!
Cheap & cheerful stuff that does the job (cheaply).

http://www.pensonic.com/

Suprised they can get away with the name & logo similarities!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 27th 2007 4:38AM]

People - where are you coming from?
Nokia was even making VHS video recorders.
The world didn't start with mobile phones.
Check this:
http://www.tweedehands.net/pics/00/00/49/61/96/1c.jpg

[anantha92 Posted Sep 27th 2007 7:45AM]

A friend of mine who is from Finland but lives in Bangkok HAS a Nokia branded TV and uses it everysay, although it is old and if im not mistaked its has a 21" screen. Everything is authentic looking on those 3 pictures, but what had to spoil it was that ridiculous splash screen with jackie chan on it. It reminds me of those NES knockoffs from the 90's that always had jackie chan somewhere on them.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 23rd 2007 8:48AM]

Dude, it's the new Ngage.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 1st 2007 8:14AM]

Heyyyyy,, Javed,,

you ruined my DVD Player, it has all the functions like others,,
Picture quality - too good,
Sound - Surroung 100.0 Dolby lolllllllllzzzzzz

any ways mates , I bought this in Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan, actually It was a Gift to me from someone ,who wanted to gift me something but dint want to spend too much .. it costed him 1200KYRGYZ SUMS = 31 US Dollars,

I Have been using it since 6 months and now I will tell tremedous activities which this palyer do -
1.it shows some cds blank or no cd , particulariry when CD or DVD is too much original,
2.sound is good but you can shake it and increase the sound ,, lolzzz


AFTER ALL THIS, STILL I LOVE MY DVD PLAYER..

Vikram