Nokia's N95 8GB for North America gets v20 firmware as well

It isn't hard to see to perks to Apple's "one size fits all" approach to software for the iPhone and iPod touch. After making N95-3 (the regular ol' N95 for North America) users wait months to get the software updates of their European counterparts, it took 'em another few days to get the N95-4 (the 8GB version for North America) up to snuff as well. Of course, the N95 8GB already had a few of the software improvements, but this seems to pull it in line with the v20 firmware all the cool kids are rocking. Unfortunately it's not all gravy, you're going to have to do all the heavy lifting of backing up and re-installing your apps, and we've been having trouble getting the update to work at all on our particular 8GB -- we'll let you know how that goes. Still, the speed gains are (probably) worth all the hassle, so fire that sucker up and get updating!

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Update: Problem solved, turned out to be a bum USB port on the PC we were using. You may also run into Vista compatibility issues using Nokia's Software Update app, though we had no problems when we told Vista to front like XP SP2 using the shortcut. Proceed at your own risk!

[Anthony @ May 28th 2008 12:29AM]

Watch out on this one! I updated on a Vista machine (downgrading the PC Suite software to XP compatible) & now the "driver cable Parent" won't work in my XP laptop!

After uninstalling everything & reinstalling it I'm syncing on the laptop via RF (slow).

However, since I'd backed up my software on the Vista machine I didn't have to reinstall anything. Just pushed the backup onto the N95 & away I went.

I think the camera's a little faster, videos save a little faster, but the media player seems slower (than usual) to open initially. Otherwise I don't notice a thing.

[Aguiluz @ May 28th 2008 12:33AM]

Vista has qualms on new hardware when inserted to my PC. It takes 20 minutes to recognize the cheep video player PMP I just got.

[Daza @ May 28th 2008 3:09AM]

20 minutes? I think you answered your own problem with "cheep (sic) video player PMP".

[macuser @ May 28th 2008 12:45AM]

doo doo dooo... doo doo doo... doo, doo, doooooo....

[Steffen Jobbs @ May 28th 2008 12:42AM]

That's the best way for Nokia to go heads up against the 3G iPhone. Keep upgrading the firmware every week. v22 by around June 9th should just be good enough to cream the 3G iPhone.

[Engadgetluvsappl @ May 28th 2008 6:23AM]

You're just stupid now. Wake me up when the iPhone sells half as much as the N95 does globally.

Yahhh trick yahhhhhh!

[huh @ May 28th 2008 10:15AM]

Sigh. It's not Nokia vs Apple. It's iPhone vs n95. I have an n95, and while it has great features.. umm, well, while it has a great camera, the software/UI is awfully inconsistent. The music player works, barely, but it's clunky. The GPS is nice in theory, but it's never been useful to me. At least unlike the iPhone it's not so much a garden path and there are lots of third party apps and a minimum of arbitrary lockdown.

[gabe @ May 28th 2008 1:08AM]

help me out - im a bit bored with my iphone - is the n95 that much better?

[Rich @ May 28th 2008 4:31AM]

It's got all of the features missing from the iPhone - 3G, decent camera, video recording, Flash in the browser, MMS, proper Bluetooth, USB mass storage mode, etc.

If you live in Europe and can get it for near free then it's a fantastic phone. I'm not sure if I'd pay $800 for it (or any phone) though.

[Al @ May 28th 2008 12:34PM]

dont forget the multitasking

[jkl @ May 29th 2008 5:14PM]

by a million times, too bad the n95 didn't get the marketing it deserved. It's what an iPhone wants to be when it ever becomes fully functional

[sccpu3d @ May 28th 2008 1:13AM]

Everything got deleted....... can't believe this thing even deleted my contacts.... lucky I had it backed up or I'd be pissed o.O

Oh, and on top of the improvements described by Anthony, the N95 can finally read Chinese. My music files are no longer boxes! Woohoo

[Anthony @ May 28th 2008 1:26AM]

I hadn't noticed the character display. I have tons of Japanese CDs & have always kept them on the PC only as really using them was such a hassle. Thanks.

[ynohtna @ May 28th 2008 2:09AM]

That's why the Software Updater explicitly tells you to BACK UP your phone before proceeding.

Anyhow newer Nokia's don't/won't have this problem as they've improved on it and stuff like contacts doesn't have to get wiped out during a firmware upgrade anymore. I can't remember the fancy name for it right now.

[sccpu3d @ May 28th 2008 4:35AM]

haha yeah my fault =/.

But when that start button was asking so dearly for me to push it I really didn't pay attention to the big yellow triangle with the ! in it =P. Much less read what it had to say heeh.

[DragonTamer @ May 28th 2008 4:24PM]

You guys must not get much money. I don't think i have ever had a bad USB port. My PSU or CPU normally blows up first and takes oout the rest of the system. (Though one HP all the ports quit working THEN the CPU blew up... i don't buy HP anymore)

[Najam @ May 28th 2008 2:37AM]

I want to some more usefull info about mobile and computer

[Engadgetluvsappl @ May 28th 2008 7:09AM]

Slightly off topic here but may I please request that you stop using that low quality image of the N95 8GB? There's much better ones available on google:

http://www.cnet.co.uk/i/c/blg/cat/mobiles/5megapixel/nokian958gb.jpg
http://ployer.com/archives/2007/12/31/Nokia%20N95%208GB-thumb-480x785.jpg

Thanks!!

[John P. @ May 28th 2008 7:42AM]

I love the retro user interface, it's so 1990's. Kewl!

[Anthony @ May 28th 2008 12:06PM]

One of the nice things about Symbian S60 is that you can control what the interface looks like to a large degree. I keep mine fairly simple, but I've seen much more complex layouts.

If you don't like what Apple (or other "dumbphones" give you) you're out of luck. MS is somewhat clunky too, but there are 3rd parties (HTC) fixing it up.

[Kevin Kowalewski @ May 28th 2008 10:50AM]

Yeah,

The N95 8GB is still a better phone than the iPhone.

Lets not turn this into another iPhone thread, but rather one that talks about the improvements of the newer firmware.


Thanks,

[namtastic @ May 29th 2008 10:58AM]

Anyone else notice S60 Browser not saving usernames & passwords after the upgrade?

I've set the preference in Privacy to do so, but I haven't seen it actually save anything yet.