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Nokia comes to the table with 30.019 firmware for N85
Ovi Contacts features are making the rounds on newish Nokia firmwares as of late, and the N85's latest is no exception. Version 30.019 is starting to circulate around the world, bringing with it realtime contact location and status updates -- the big news here, obviously -- along with vaguely-stated "improvements in USB charging." If only it'd pull another 3 megapixels out of thin air, we could forgo the outlay for the N86 then, eh?
Nokia N79 and N85 blessed with firmware updates
Often you'll come across a firmware update for your beloved (but buggy) S60 handset that does nothing but fix issues without giving you anything awesome or new to play with, but happily, that turns out not to be the case with 20.175 for the popular N79 and N85. Yes, there are the usual fixes in here, thankfully -- but you've also got the addition of turning controls (as seen on some other devices like the E75) for performing actions simply by turning your phone over and email notifications on the home screen. It's available over the air, so don't bother with that tethered Nokia Software Updater noise.[Via All About Symbian]
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?
Win a Nokia N85 on us and eXpansys USA!
What could be the only thing better than an S60 3.2 dual slider with an OLED display and a 5 megapixel camera? A free S60 3.2 dual slider with an OLED display and a 5 megapixel camera, that's what! Engadget has hooked up with eXpansys USA to give away a Nokia N85 to one lucky reader -- so head on over to Engadget for the full details. (Unless you hate free stuff, that is.)
Engadget's recession antidote: win a Nokia N85!
This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn't want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back -- so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We'll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we've got a Nokia N85 on offer. Read the rules below (no skimming -- we're omniscient and can tell when you've skimmed) and get commenting! Check after the break for some photos of the prize!Special thanks to eXpansys USA for providing the gear!The rules: Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one Nokia N85. Approximate value is $449. If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Entries can be submitted until Friday, March 6th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck! Full rules can be found here.
Nokia's N85 and N79 ship Stateside at long last
It feels like a good couple millennia since we first spotted these phones sporting US-friendly 3G, and now Nokia has done the unthinkable and actually released them in the States. As has become custom for Nokia around these parts, the phones aren't carrier branded or subsidized in the least, so you're looking at $550-ish for the N85 and $400-ish for the N79, depending upon the retailer. For some reason the N79 is listed as in-stock at Nokia's own store, while the N85 says "backordered," but over on Amazon.com you can nab the N85 -- with the N79 "temporarily out of stock" for whatever reason. It's a crazy, mixed-up world we live in.[Via Daily Mobile; thanks Daniel]Read - Nokia PRRead - N85 at AmazonRead - N79 at Nokia
Nokia's North American N85 now shipping
Just days after Nokia's highly desirable North American N85 emerged for pre-order at Amazon (and Nokia, for that matter), we're now seeing reports that some of the earliest orders are beginning to ship out. The N85 NAM, of course, includes that lovely tri-band GSM support with NA 3G compatibility baked right in, and the US warranty doesn't hurt either. So, has your pre-order shipped out yet? No? Then get on the horn and find out why!
Nokia N85 pops up at Amazon for $556 unlocked
No matter how accustomed we should be by now, it's always jarring to see one of the Nokia N-series phones drop at some outlandish unsubsidized price -- if you think the $556 tag on this N85 is hefty, keep in mind that Amazon is claiming that's already been steeply discounted from an atmospheric $1,200 "list price." While the phone is available to "buy" right this second at Amazon.com, there's a 3 to 5 week ship time quoted, so there's no telling if this'll be the first spot to nab the hotly-anticipated, N96-besting AMOLED handset in the States -- though it might be the first to take your hard earned cash for such a purpose.[Via OLED-Info]
Nokia USA taking names for N79 and N85
Whoa, whoa! Calm down just a second there, buddy, we didn't say they're shipping -- they're not -- but keep your chin up, because they're getting close. To prove it, Nokia USA has started taking pre-orders for North American versions of its lovely N79 and N85 superphones. No estimated shipping date is showing up just yet, but we're assured that they "get it first, so you get it first" -- bold words for a direct retailer that frequently gets beaten by third-party distributors with the hot new models. We'll see.[Via Symbian-Guru]
Nokia's N85 drops by the FCC, dips head, inquires about what's good
Not that we ever (okay, maybe there was a moment of weakness in there somewhere) doubted that Nokia's N85 was North America-bound, but the handset dubbed superior to the flagship N96 by one Italian reviewer is indeed coming to US soil. And we've found the FCC documentation to prove it. At this point though, there's little the User Guide, external / internal photos and SAR report can tell us that we don't already know, so again, the takeaway here is that we're one (huge) step closer to having an N85 to call our own. Now that's what's up.
Nokia's N85 reviewed, called better than N96
We were always curious why a device that (at least on paper) was superior in a lot of ways to Nokia's N96 wasn't trumpeted as the outfit's flagship device, but nevertheless, an Italian reviewer has made us feel a touch better about our previously ludicrous thoughts. After spending a solid fortnight with the phone, the critic felt comfortable deeming the N85 a "very, very beautiful" handset, also noting that it was "definitely the best Symbian [device]" out there. He even went out of his way to recommend the N85 over the N96 so long as you're cool without DVB-H or a super-snazzy camera. As if you really needed more, he also found the OLED display to be spectacular, the audio quality very satisfactory and the GPS / multimedia functions to be top-notch. Wait, is that the N96 we hear crying? There's no crying in Espoo![Via All About Symbian]
Nokia's N85 films rooftop unboxing of another N85
We tell ya, these unboxers are really stepping up their game of late. Easily topping that trunk lid episode we saw back in July, this Nokia N85 unboxing sees one N85 film another N85's initial escape from cardboard purgatory... from the roof of a building in New York City. There's no real surprises here -- just an N85 twirled around on a video that's almost entirely out of focus -- and the absence of monologue is downright creepy. That said, we still highly recommend clicking through the break to see this puppy on video. Just bring your own tunes, you'll need 'em.
Nokia Italy lists N85 as in stock, legions of OLED fanatics cautiously optimistic
N85s were originally promised for delivery as early as September, but that didn't pan out; in fact, you can't really get an N85 through any non-nefarious channels at the moment. Or at least you couldn't, but Nokia Italy claims to now have Copper N85s in stock and available for immediate delivery for a cool €549 (about $749). If the product page turns out to be accurate and Italians start taking delivery of their lovely OLED-equipped dual sliders in the next couple days, it'll make Nokia's Italian outpost the first in the world to be delivering the goods.[Via All About Symbian]
Keepin' it real fake, part CXXXIX: who cloned who?
Well, this is new and fresh, as while we're used to seeing cloned handsets wandering our way from China, this time they've maybe beaten Nokia to the punch pre prototype-style. At first glance, this handset appears to be a pretty decent knockoff of the 6 or 8 megapixel N85 -- or something -- we mentioned some months back. But the fun twist here -- see what we just did there? -- is that the CECT K898 was spotted a year ago, and Nokia's prototype only in the last few months. We're not strangers to the good folks at CECT's cloning shenanigans, but we'll admit that they're likely a little chuffed at the prospect of beating somebody, anybody, to the punch in the design department. Sadly, like a year ago, we still kind find even a hint of what the specs may be, but we're ok to simply sit back and watch the lawsuits fly, and this time maybe in the opposite direction.[Via Unwired View]
Nokia N79, N85 and N96 hands-on
Well, they're here. Nokia's latest and greatest N-series devices just hit the market like a trio of well-aimed bricks -- or at least that's what Nokia's hoping. We got to spend a little bit of hands-on time with prototypes of the new devices, and while we came away slightly impressed, we were nowhere near E-series impressed. Here's our biggest problem with the lineup: the only one worth talking about is the N85. Other than minor screen size disparities, the 16GB built-in memory of the N96 and the fresh candybar form of the N79, these three phones are pretty much exactly identical on specs, and yet the N96 manages to be inexcusably bulky, while the N79 sports an inexcusably terrible screen -- we're hoping that was just the prototype being funky, but we saw two versions with the same problem. The N85 isn't exactly the pinnacle of thinphoneness, but its amazing OLED screen and more refined design make the N96 look like more of a rough draft than a sibling. On the interface side, the phones are much more responsive to S60's new motion and transitions, but Nokia has oddly chosen to disable the Navi Wheel scrolling in all three phones -- a weird move, but we can't say we blame them, we haven't had a single good experience with Navi Wheel since Nokia introduced it. In all, we're not exactly thrilled about Nokia's prospects for winning over the masses with this new series of devices. Sure, Nokia will protest that it's going after the high-end users, but 5 megapixel cameras, GPS and WiFi are no longer the differentiators they once were, and users have begun to expect thinner, sexier devices at prices far below the N96's gargantuan $895 pricetag.%Gallery-30509%
Nokia's N79 and US spec'd N85 now mucho official
We're not going to re-hash the details of Nokia's N79 and N85 yet again. After all, we just went through it less than 24-hours ago. We will tell you that both the N79 (tri-band GSM, 900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA) and N85 (quad-band GSM/EDGE with either 900/1900/2100 or 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA) will hit Europe in October for €350 and €450, respectively, pre-tax and pre-carrier subsidies. The N85 could also be Stateside sometime soon given those frequencies and prior FCC approval. Oh, and pictures, lots of pretty pictures. %Gallery-30473%Read -- N79 Read -- N85
Nokia launches the N79 and N85
Nokia promised us two new handsets today, and just as we heard last week, it's the N85 and N79. Not a lot of surprises with the N85 since it popped in the FCC database a couple weeks ago and started appearing in the wild: 2.6-inch AMOLED screen, GPS, five megapixel cam, N-Gage compatibility, 8GB of microSDHC storage, WiFi, and a 28-hour music playback battery life. The N79 replaces the N78, similarly bumping the cam to the big five em-pees with a dual-LED flash, GPS, 4GB microSDHC storage, WiFi, swappable back covers, and a 24-hour music playback battery life. Should be out in the UK as of next month, but we're hoping to see these hit our fair shores posthaste. N79 pictured after the break.[Via Electronista]
Nokia N85, 8800 Carbon Arte slated for October release?
The N85 at retail in October? Yeah, sounds totally believable, especially considering that an October release would give the populace enough time to wrangle one for the holidays, the fact that Nokia's known to be revealing two hotties this month, and that the date comes from none other than Mobile-review's scoop-tastic Eldar Murtazin. A graphic scored by Murtazin has the N85 and the just-announced Carbon Arte variant of the 8800 series both slated for grand entrances in the tenth month of the year. One, we stand a fighting chance of affording; the other, just like the Artes of old, probably not.[Via Mobile Phone Helpdesk]
Nokia promises to spill details on two new handsets next week
Nokia isn't dropping many hints with this one, but it's apparently just let out word that it plans to show off two new handsets next Monday, with an actual launch set to follow a week later. Not one to let an opportunity for speculation go unheeded, The Boy Genius Report says it has a hunch that these may, in fact, be the N79 and N85, which were recently spotted alongside Nokia's XpressMedia 5800 "Tube" handset but very light on details. That certainly seems as safe a bet as any, and we certainly don't have very long to wait to find out for sure.[Via The Boy Genius Report]
Nokia N85 hits FCC in two flavors, one with just a touch of North American 3G
We're still trying to figure out exactly how Nokia intends to position the N85 slider in its Nseries lineup, and frankly, the FCC documentation that's been outed for it isn't helping much. Seems there are two versions of the thing: one with no 3G -- likely for China -- and another with WCDMA on the 900, 1900, and 2100MHz frequencies. That little dose of 1900 in there will be enough to give owners partial access to 3G while out 'n about in the colonies, but by and large, the phone appears destined for Europe where 2100 (and to a lesser extent, 900) is the name of the game. Both do quadband EDGE, so at the very least, you'll be able to roam the better part of the globe and get some semblance of coverage -- just don't expect it to be particularly speedy everywhere you go. To be fair, Espoo's been getting pretty good about crafting special versions of its hottest handsets that are ripe for North American use, so we're not giving up hope just yet that there's a third version floating out there.[Via Cell Phone Signal]