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LG Electronics CEO resigns in wake of waning mobile phone sales
Times are tough for top-level executives these days, from HP to Nokia and even this side of Dell. The latest in that dubious list is LG Electronics. Wanting to "take responsibility for the slack performance" (i.e. declining sales) in the handset market, CEO Yong Nam has resigned and will be replaced next month by LG International head (and member of the founding family) Koo bon-joon. Sad to see Mr. Yong after three years and nine months in the position, but on the bright side, as far as we can tell this won't have an effect on the company's upcoming Windows Phone 7 lineup.
Nokia serves North American X6 up for pre-order: $455 unlocked
Nokia's downright seductive X6 just started shipping to those across the pond, and shortly after the company announced a Comes Without Music edition, along comes this: a NAM version for those who call North America home, sweet home. The pre-order page (which is live this very moment, by the way) makes no mention of a Comes With Music requirement, giving you complete freedom to shove whatever you darn well please onto what's left of that 16GB after the OS install and a hidden 'thank you' note from Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. So, is that $455 peeking out of your Fifth Pocket really that important to you?
Nokia E72 NAM up for $469 preorder on Amazon
It's not hard to find Nokia users that believe the E71 is the finest S60 device (if not the finest device, period) that the company has ever made, so expectations for the E72 are at a stratospheric high. Impatience for a retail release is also at a stratospheric high, coincidentally, so Americans will be pleased to see that Amazon now has the unlocked North American version of the "zodium black" phone listed for $469 -- without a release date, unfortunately, so it's still a guessing game as to when these will actually be shipping out. All things considered, it's not a bad price for an unbranded phone of the E72's capabilities, but when you figure how easy it's been to find awesome deals on North American Nokias around the interwebs this year, it still might give some potential buyers pause -- just imagine if it were $299? [Thanks, Ani]
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic gets America-flavored firmware update
It's not going to turn as many heads as the recently-launched N97 update, but Nokia's other S60 5th Edition handset got its own firmware boost earlier this week. Version 21.2.025 for the NAM 5800 XpressMusic doesn't seem to do much in the way of new features, so odds are this is going out strictly as a stability release -- which, in itself, is a testament to the fact that Nokia seems to care more about the North American market right now than it ever has before. Keep it coming, guys.[Via Symbian-Guru]
Nokia N97 NAM unboxing
We've just taken delivery of one of the very first retail Nokia N97s ever to be sold anywhere, and we wanted you to revel in the experience with us. We haven't formed any impressions yet, but we're being told that the retail device includes some last-minute improvements to keyboard feel -- and we can confirm that it feels pretty usable (the tiny right-aligned space bar could still be an issue for some, though). Stay tuned over the coming days for plenty of coverage on this sucker, but for now, enjoy a quick unboxing, won't you?
Nokia N97 NAM launching June 2nd?
The Nokia Blog's got it on good authority that the Finnish phone maker's giving its North America distributors the heads up to expect the N97 to arrive on June 2nd for $699, although that price might end up lower. We've been hearing an expected June launch for some time, so it's definitely not out of the question. This does, however, serve as both an exciting and somewhat painful reminder that, should a couple other rumors pan out, June's gonna be a busy month for smartphones. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nokia flagships throw up sale signs this weekend, slash $100 off E75
We can understand that Nokia would want to charge a little bit of an "early adopter fee" to anyone nabbing an E75 on day one -- but we also figured it wouldn't last long at the original $529.99 seeing how the similarly-equipped E71 is way, way less. Fortunately, the discount came even quicker than we'd expected. The company's US flagship stores will be charging $429.99 this weekend only for the dual-keypad business slider, a price that makes it a whole lot more palatable when put in context of the entire product lineup. Thing is, the E71's officially $289.99 for those same two magical days -- so it's still got some catching up to do before the new-phone-smell premium evaporates altogether.
Nokia E75 NAM hits the US flagship stores
If you're up for a trip to New York or Chicago (both are lovely this time of year), you now have a shot at scoring the North American version of Nokia's landscape QWERTY slider, the E75. Of course, "scoring" costs you $529.99 in this case -- and you can only get it in black right now -- but if you spend a lot of time in the seedier parts of either of these towns, the concept of scoring for several hundred dollars should be very familiar.[Via Symbian-Guru]
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic NAM firmware update puts misbehaving units in line (update: or not!)
We'd initially been told that the first round of bunk Nokia 5800s for the North American market would have to be exchanged despite the fact that the 3G reception fix was a simple "configuration change," but now... not so much. Firmware 20.2.014 has just gone live through Nokia's Software Update application, bringing the same rich, buttery 3G quality to buyers of those first few devices. Other than that, changes are unknown and presumed to be minor, so if you're still struggling with getting your 5800 to appreciate the finer things in life -- like HSDPA, for example -- give this one a shot.[Via Symbian Freak]Update: We've been contacted by Nokia and told that the "configuration change" cannot, in fact, be fixed via firmware update. Sorry, early adopters, looks like you're in for a date with customer care after all.
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic NAM firmware update puts misbehaving units in line
We'd initially been told that the first round of bunk Nokia 5800s for the North American market would have to be exchanged despite the fact that the 3G reception fix was a simple "configuration change," but now... not so much. Firmware 20.2.014 has just gone live through Nokia's Software Update application, bringing the same rich, buttery 3G quality to buyers of those first few devices. Other than that, changes are unknown and presumed to be minor, so if you're still struggling with getting your 5800 to appreciate the finer things in life -- like HSDPA, for example -- give this one a shot.[Via Symbian Freak]
North American Nokia 5800 XpressMusic available once again, with feeling
We received a call this afternoon from our good friends at the Nokia flagship store in Chicago to let us know that the updated North American version of the 5800 XpressMusic is now in stock and ready to go. This means that existing owners should be good to exchange their units, and of course, new buyers can go ahead and dive in. Not all at once now -- we don't want riots at the entrance, now, do we?
North American Nokia N85 gets remixed in black
Yes, the business end of the current N85 is black -- but for most North American buyers, flipping the thing around reveals a copper back. Stylish, yes -- nice, sure -- but it's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea. For you stealthier types, it seems that an all-black version is starting to circulate with retailers, featuring a light gray pattern on the back to complement the 5 megapixel cam. Seems that vendors are taking advantage of the situation and jacking the price of the new version just a tad, but just look at that beaut -- can you blame 'em?
Nokia confirms North American 5800 3G reception issues have been fixed
It's official: Nokia has a fix. It seems that a "configuration change" -- which we're assuming means a software-based setting of some sort -- was responsible for the 3G disaster on the first batch of North America-spec 5800 XpressMusics to hit the market, and the company has been able to fast-track a new firmware (not a common occurrence for those guys, but clearly, time was of the essence here). Revised units will be on sale "shortly," while existing owners are being asked to call Nokia's customer care, or alternatively, they can step into a flagship store to have their device exchanged. Too bad we can't update these things ourselves, but at least we get the pleasure of unboxing it all over again, eh? Follow the break for the full statement.
Reception issues with North American Nokia 5800s to be fixed with firmware?
When you're dealing with a major signal reception issue on a phone, it's easy to believe that the problem isn't gonna go away without retooling the innards and releasing revised hardware -- but for North American owners (and would-be owners) of Nokia's stricken NAM version of the 5800 XpressMusic, there's new hope. The Nokia Blog is claiming that word from an inside source confirms that the problem has already been fixed with an unreleased firmware update, which would lead us to believe that Nokia could conceivably get devices back on the shelves relatively quickly -- and that current owners will be able to fix their woes without physically exchanging phones. Of course, firmware updates have never come out of Espoo at a firehose pace -- particularly for North American versions of devices -- so we'll believe this is resolved when we've seen it with our own eyes.
The plot thickens: Nokia investigating 5800 NAM issues, says problem is limited to Chicago and New York
This whole 3G performance thing on the North American version of Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic is shaping up to be one of the great made-for-TV gadget industry dramas of the year. First it didn't work, then we found that it kinda did, and now Nokia has put out a totally cryptic statement that clarifies little about what's going on (likely because they don't know either, if we had to guess). In a nutshell, they're acknowledging that "some" NAM 5800s are having issues, they're investigating why, and owners are advised to contact Nokia Customer Care. Here's where it gets crazy, though: they go on to say "only NY and Chicago affected, in Dallas and Miami the devices are working OK. The investigation is ongoing on the device itself and the network used in these cases." It's possible that there's a very specific combination of equipment being used in these two markets that's causing the 5800s to choke, but in all likelihood, it has more to do with the spectrum in use -- in which case, the problem is probably far more widespread than just two cities. If this shakes out to be a hardware issue and Nokia's gotta send 'em back to the labs to get retooled for a few weeks or months, are they better off canning the model and moving on?
Nokia NAM 5800 XpressMusic pulled from NYC flagship store, replaced with Euro edition
While we did manage to eventually commandeer 3G on our Nokia flagship store-purchased NAM 5800 XpressMusic -- albeit not first without leaving the Chicago area -- The Nokia Blog went by the NYC store yesterday afternoon and found out the phone had been pulled from shelves. We put in a call to the store ourselves and confirmed that the NAM version is currently being eschewed in favor of the Euro-spec edition. No word on when it'll return, but we're still waiting anxiously for Nokia's official statement on the matter.
Our Nokia 5800 magically starts working on 3G
We powered up ye olde NAM 5800 XpressMusic today, and the weirdest thing happened: it worked on 3G. This comes after a day of frustration trying to get it hooked up to UMTS yesterday -- a sentiment echoed by several others who took the plunge. The only theory we can come up with is that we were in Chicago yesterday at the Nokia flagship store -- a place where many of the "defective" units were sold -- and today we're elsewhere, so it's conceivable that there's an issue with AT&T's 3G network in Chicago. We've noticed an uptick in 3G loss on other devices in Chicago the past few days, so it's possible that the 5800 is just particularly sensitive to crappy networks; then again, there seem to be others in New York that have the same issue, so it's anybody's guess. All we know for sure is that we're showing a big, fat "3.5G" logo in the upper left corner of our unit at the moment -- and we're going to cross our fingers that it stays that way. We have a request out to Nokia for official comment on the issue, and we'll let you know as soon as we have more.
Nokia's E63 NAM now on sale at Chicago flagship store
So when Nokia said "in the coming weeks" at CES, we definitely expected the North American E63 to be available in the US before now. But hey, if you've hung in there this long, there's nothing sweeter than snagging a device you've been longing after for longer than originally anticipated. According to Symbian-Guru, the Chicago flagship location has received stock of the blue model, while the red flavor should be arriving at any moment; there's been no direct word on stock at the New York location, but we can't imagine the Nokia mother-ship leaving those in the Big Apple hanging. In case you've forgotten, $279.99 buys you a QWERTY-packin' S60 handset, though you should be absolutely sure you're okay without HSDPA.
Nokia N96 gets updated for the yanks
Remember that awesome firmware update for the N96 from a few weeks back? It's finally available for the North American version of the phone, carrying on Nokia's time-honored tradition of stringing North Americans along just a teensy bit longer than their European friends. The platform now rests at v12.043, bringing better image quality from the camera, better Bluetooth, a new version of the Switch app, and countless other goodies. One thing it won't do is magically turn your N96 into an N85, but nothing's perfect, now is it?[Via IntoMobile and Symbian-Freak]
Shellshock 2 experiments with drug lore of 'Nam, just in time for holidaze
Shellshock 2: Blood Trails is Rebellion's sequel to the Killzone gang's Shellshock: Nam '67 (shucks, we must've missed that one). This second tour of doodie, brought to you by Eidos, is presented with this thumb-tingling pitch: "a brutal and twisted psychological first person shooter, coming to disturb your Christmas." (We prefer our holidays quite undisturbed, thank you.)What we're dealing with appears to be a rehash of Jacob's Ladder, replacing the film's "The Ladder" drug (loosely based on BZ) with "Whiteknight" ("an enemy that ultimately has no side") -- oh, and scantly clad babe-soldiers. Or is that just one of the frightening hallucinations...? Dah-dah-dumb.%Gallery-33094%
