As QWERTY-equipped Nokias go we're having a hard time taking our eyes off the
N900 (and the
E72, come to think of it) -- but it might be worth keeping the
N97 hanging around on the back burner, because Nokia certainly hasn't moved on yet. In fact, the company is crafting a rather hefty new update that'll be available next month, and on video, it seems to directly address a few areas that should immediately make the phone more usable, chiefly kinetic scrolling which makes lists behave in a way that's more natural and obvious for a full-touch device. There's also a smattering of bug fixes and performance improvements, more stock widgets available, alternate keyboard characters are now available via long press, and amazingly, they've managed to do all of this while still leaving more phone memory available. We'd venture to say it's still not an "N900 killer" by any stretch, but it's definitely a new lease on life. Follow the break for a video demo of the new firmware in action.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted Sep 7th 2009 8:41PM
Thats nice for all n97 users, now only if they could bring the prices down
Lol, isn't that the truth!
Depends where you live. Three here in the UK will give it for free on a £35/18month contract. The 18 month bit sucks though.
Just one problem: Three suck. Mediocre network and very poor customer service. Cheap, yes - but you get what you pay for.
Oh, and there's also the problem that Three will take months to 'approve' this firmware by applying their customisations (and crippling features in the process) before actually releasing it. T-Mobile UK were just as bad with the N95 - there were *three* new updates available before they finally made an old one available with their customisations.
I wound up de-branding both my N95 and my E71 (from Three) by changing the product code to a generic SIM-free model, so that the Nokia updater would update it to the generic firmware.
I've had enough of paying the same amount I would for a SIM-free model over 18 / 24 months to get a crippled version from a network that's always out-of-date - so I'm not doing it again. If I do upgrade to the N900, I'll be buying up-front.
After seeing the video, I would thought this phone had those already, but hey,an update an update.
When did 2.0 become the mobile phone world's 1.0. Seriously you though they would have been there because no sane person would expect a regular device of that caliber to be missing such basic features.
At least it had the app installation ability at 1.0 (I'm lookin' at you... well you know who you are.)
its actually v20.0.xxx when it releases in october.
there's also a rumor that 5800 will be getting a similar firmware update in the same time span. Not 100% confirmed though...
and chris/engadget, i APPLAUD. first time that I've seen here, an article on nokia that's not biased!!
FINALLY, but I think Engadget still has some hatred built up for Nokia. BUT, they'll just have to keep that in their minds, and not in the blogs.
@N900: We call it like we see it. You can count on that.
Of course, otherwise the blog wouldn't have spark, eh? Mindshare, if you will..
honestly, nowadays when i see an article about nokia in a non negative light the name chris ziegler tends to pop up below the title. therefore, i wouldn't necessarily put that evil on him.
some of his writers, however, i cannot say that about. you would never think that nokia would have a stranglehold on the global market from their articles.
i mean literally when i saw that thomas ricker video on the n97, i knew that this guy could never be taken seriously.
im just sayin, try not to put em all in the same bag
"When did 2.0 become the mobile phone world's 1.0. Seriously you though they would have been there because no sane person would expect a regular device of that caliber to be missing such basic features."
Hey, it took Apple until 3.0 to get their right. 3 versions to get MMS working? C'mon...
Nokia did quite a good job. I actually thought the n97 was great in the first place, but this can only make it better.
You did? lol
I have to disagree Trey, as a owner of the beast for just under three weeks. I've had to reboot it three times today because email notifications from Roadsync was sending it into an endless loop. The music player is ghastly, provides no way of rating music or finding frequently listened tracks, A-GPS and Ovi Maps works sporadically, and my list of annoyances goes on - and this is on the current firmware version.
And then we move onto response times - I half wish I'd just bought an E51/52 instead of this thing. Sure it didn't have all the fruit I wanted, but at least it was reliable and did what it was supposed to do.
This next version will need to give it some serious performance improvements, otherwise I'll find some fanboy who'll take it off my hands. A long time Nokia user and lover (14yrs now going strong) I may be, but this handset, like Dizzy Rascal has sent me bonkers!
This update makes me sorry i didn't spring for the n97 when it was $699 from dell coupled with an A860 laptop.
still double tapping..!!!!!fail!!!!
totally agree ! Double tap eh?
I am posting some of my queries if any vetran has answers pls HELP.
1) Contacts inaccessible – “Memory Full Error”. no other applications were active at the time of the error.
2) Pbk2 error upon selecting contacts in the messaging application.
3) Audio Delay upon receiving a call. No Sound upon connection of incoming call. Especially when picked up quickly.
4) Network related issues. Shows as searching for network constantly many times a day. Whereas, our other devices like blackberry do not show any weak signal signs.
5) GPS Lock. Keeps searching for GPS locks constantly i.e Drops connection to GPS network frequently.
6) Battery talk time, standby & Charge time uncertain.
7) Voice inaudible at other end, when using loudspeaker & especially during calls from moving vehicle.
8) Camera:
a. Picture clarity issues. Secondary camera highly pixelated.
Primary camera shows light flooding on pictures. Clarity Missing.
b. Erroneous Time stamp on images.
9) Ovi Suite recommends erroneous updates for E.g Maps 3
10) Text Input touch t9 screen freezes / Hangs, especially when entering special characters like period(.), comma(,), exclamation (!) etc
11) Selectively Contact Name not displayed on Caller ID (sometimes)
12) Selectively Message & Message delivery display number, instead of stored names.
13) Sync Issue, All contacts not synced always. How to take “Categories Field” from Outlook to Nokia Phone
14) Format Mass Memory error, Unable to format. Unable to delete specific files.
15) The auto lock... When attempted to unlock with querty out .. it still opens in portrait mode ?
16) Any sms sent before storing a contact.... after storing or adding contact the number does not get automatically updated to the name. It reflects the number still in the logs.
17) Picture caller... The face is half cut ..Looks weird on most images... as the number is not transparent. In landscape mode there is enough space on the screen to put up the answer or reject buttons and displaying the numbers.
18) Lag in picture display upon call. Number displays first and after few seconds lag the pic pops up.
19) Call& Event Logs e.g Missed calls. If there are 5 missed calls The log will show the last called time only. In most other mobile systems Blackberry, windows each event is logged against a user. Requested know how on how this is handled in Nokia.
20) In a nokia i cannot also view the entire events as single thread.... No Provision for search display against keywords upon I can get call logs, messages - Here in Nokia, no search filters and all
searches not plotted to person/events. Requested Know How
21) Unnecessary taps additional taps...for eg.. sending a biz card from n97 requires 5 taps... in the other mobile phone systems it can be done in 3 taps. Requested Knowhow
22) Green tick yes button on top right of the text input screen. friendly only for big handed people. This could have been at bottom left. Is alternate screen for text input touch t9 available? Requested Know how.
23) Single hand use of phone impractical. Entering numbers on the querty is a nightmare... no shift on provison. Request Know how ( This seems to be resolved)
24) Select text from web page copy n paste.... Not possible on Nokia...? requested Know How
25) Predictive text where in the touch screen menu, the words don’t get auto completed. This increases the number of taps/input strokes. Request know how on how to edit custom dictionary. Does the n97 learn words from sms, contacts, emails. Request Know How
26) User Friendly is something where i would like to do the following with a contact or on contacts screen single view... see contact on google map, Help on contacts screen/n97 help, lookup contact on server, filter by category. new address, new group, view, edit, delete, activity log (incl sms, mms, email, calls), call, sms, mms, email, send as attachment, send as im, add a custom ring tone, add picture, options - sort by, separators, sync settings, actions, switchapplications, exit and its possible to be done.
28) When will Nokia enable usage of Native clients like google talk, yahoo like blackberry, iphone ?
29) Is there any planning for better email client? Likely Release dates?
30) The Java App for GMAIL on blackberry shows an indicator on icon in addition to customised alert setting tone & breathing light. How is it handled on Nokia ?
31) Is there a touch querty as an input method? like windows mobile ?
Request Know How
space n time Limitation will add more..
Far from good, and good from far....???
Ugh. so must screen real estate wasted between back and options
"Nokia N97 firmware 2.0 looks to squash major pain points"
Is it running a different OS now?
Did they fix the problem where the screen slides up?
....huh?
I came here for a snarky Nokia comment, but Engadget has let me down for the very first time. I feel betrayed...
Ziegler actually likes Nokia, and the N97. And why not, it's a sweet device. Super expensive? Totally. But I'd probably shell out $400 for one with this new firmware.
That phone sux you would shell out 400 for that? wow
@iRable
2 million people disagree with you. At least get educated before you troll...
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/04/nokia-n97-sells-two-million-units-in-three-months/
@trey
Yup People do buy it where the iphone isnt available.
But the 3gs did sell 5 million in the first months so its an easy win
If Nokia's modus operandi of past models remans constant, we should see at least two or more major firmware updates for the N97.
Look at the N95, it was pretty mediocre for the first few firmware versions, but after 12.0.0 and 20.0.0, it became an absolutely fantastic device.
Good job Nokia, for improving the touch interface and responsiveness. It's nice to see an update like this. In the past, usually Nokia did a software "update" by releasing a new phone model months later and abandoning the older one.
And what's with the guy? All he did was talk and talk without showing/doing anything on the demo units. Somebody should have Leo Laporte dub him over... LOL.
technically that IS a new model...he is using the N97 mini...
So is it like a rule of thumb to NEVER buy an Nseries flagship as is on launch but rather wait a few months for a plethora of updates that'll make the phone...usable
I think that applies to EVERY multifunction gadget/smartphone/OS etc. from ANY manufacturer. Didn't the RIM CEO say that recently (and didn't he also get slammed for saying what everyone else was thinking)? Heaven knows my Curve 8900 got better with the updated firmware.
That goes with being an early adopter of just about...everything ;)
Seriously, new version of S60, and touch based at all. Did anyone expect them to get it right the first time? I didn't.
I did expect them to keep working on it though, which it seems they have :)
"We'd venture to say it's still not an "N900 killer"... Why would Nokia want to compete with one of there own devices?
because lets be honest. this device, hardware specs wise, sucks.
434mhz processor and 128mb ram, the SAME damned thing thats in low end touchscreen 5230 and 5530, which means the same mediocre performance. there's no hardware accelerated graphics in it either. just the processor. so it can even be defeated by nokia's pretty old n82!!
sure this firmware update will help A LOT, but under the hood, its still not as powerful as the n900's 600mhz arm cortex a8 processor and 256mb ram.
lol, Nokia products have been competing against each other for quite some time now...lol.
Lol he sounds like Elmer Fudd
Smooooooooth kinetic scrolling now with RESISTIVE touchscreen just like Capacitive TS.
Stop the hate, engadget!
Why stop hating on such a crappy product?
Word, Truth bringer.
i hope it makes the Garmin XT run a little faster. sometimes, i've already passed the street while on my screen, i haven't gotten to that street yet.
Looks great!! I hope, Nokia brings out similar firmware for 5800 XM and also for American market at the same time as other markets.
This is such old news.
Oh one things seems to be missing from the new firmware still and this is alpa numeric keypad in dialer?
I don't understand why they omit that. They are aware of the issue, but somehow, don't seem to include
in their update. I had talked with Nokia CC before 2 months abt this issue with my 5800, they said they are
aware of the issue, but are not implementing it, so thats surprising.
these nokia guys are unbelievable... u'd think they'd give a little more attention to the 5800xm as it has sold more than the n97!! lots of 5800 owners can't even upgrade their firmware to the so called v30xxxxx and nothing whatsoever is being done about that.. instead their rebadging it as the X6!! As a first time nokia user this has been a painful/sad experience for me.. i think i better stick to my former brand.. at least their updater works well...
as a former nokia n97 owner, i have to say that its is the best mobile device out there.. so me a better phone with better specs? i switched to a samsung i8910 hdor known as the omnia hd (yes with the same cpu as the nokia n900 and iphone 3gs) on paper the omnia hd kills every phone in the world. but as far as real use of the phone's the nokia is faster in every meaning of the word and it does not need a video accellerator. play a mp4 movie on it it will play better than any htc phone ever i promise you that!! the only real down side to the phone is the speakers are on the weak side (sadly) but when it comes to every thing else wow and now you add kinetic scrolling watch out every other phone maker. i know every one wants to hate on the n97 but trust me its not as bad as engadget makes it out to be. (side note) when did low screen res, bad speakers no key board,sucky camera, no mms until just now, and a very simple os) become the greatest thing in the world?? oh yea when apple made a phone (iphone).... nokia and htc make way better devices hands down, and htc has to use windows moble and still manage to make the device good so stop saying the iphone is the best!!!! the best at what? sucking?!!!! surely not the best at all the other things i just mentiond.
Apparently the N97 lacks a shift key.
Kinda?
I'd be amazed to see if Nokia can actually get this piece of crap for a phone to work properly. I think it's S60 heritage is too old.
Yeah, they should go completely over to Maemo or Android, which is brand new, with a core that originates in... 1991?