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Nokia fesses to looming N95-3 software update, fails to mention specifics
It's been a solid tick since the North American N95, also referred to as the N95-3, received a software update. For those clamoring for a little love from Nokia's dev team, listen up: an administrator over at the outfit's forums has admitted that the Software Update crew has a new version in the works. We're told that they've heard the demands for a fresh release, and they're toiling away in order to bring it to N95-3 owners by early June. Unfortunately, we're not told what new features we can expect, and even worse, "early June" seems like eons away, doesn't it? [Via Symbian-Guru]
Screen Grabs: Nokia's N95 appears to appear on the small screen
Screen grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. What say you? Is resident Big Bang Theory brainiac Howard Wolowitz super-stoked that Penny is conked out on his shoulder? Or is he just incredibly jovial to have his hand around what appears to be a Nokia N95? We're thinking a little bit from column A, a little bit from column B.[Thanks, Matt]
8GB Nokia N95 lands on Rogers, sticks tongue out at AT&T
Get this: the first North American carrier to offer up Nokia's 8GB N95 isn't AT&T. Heck, it's not even a US-based operator. No friends, it's Canada's own Rogers Wireless. Just as we had heard late last month, the N95 8GB has officially landed in the Great North, and starting on May 6th, consumers up that way will be able to secure one for a hefty $399.99 with a three-year activation on the Rogers Vision Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing Plan. Don't weep too heavily, AT&T users -- your time should be coming soon.
Rogers getting real with Nokia N95 next month?
For a phone that came out in 2006, it's kinda surprising how much interest (both from carriers and end users) that the Nokia N95 series continues to enjoy. With any luck, we'll be seeing it launch on AT&T later this year -- but Rogers is apparently poised to beat 'em to the punch. Mobile In Canada reports that Canada's 800-pound GSM behemoth intends to launch the N95 (the North American, non-8GB model, as far as we can tell) as early as May 2nd -- which, alongside the already-launched Sony Ericsson K850i, makes for a powerful one-two combo of 5 megapixel 3G Europhones. Only time will tell, but we're feeling good about this one, folks; only question is, N95 8GB next?
Limited edition Renault Sandero to boast Nokia branding, N95
Nothing shows your complete and unwavering devotion to a handset maker like buying an ultra-rare vehicle with its logos on there, wouldn't you agree? Those vigorously nodding up and down (well, those vigorously nodding up and down in Brazil) can get set to grab a limited edition Renault Sandero, which will come "fully equipped with Nokia's navigation system and [undisclosed] car add-ons." The super-special Sandero will come stocked with an N95 and cost around €17,650 ($27,693), but you'd better hurry, as only 1,000 of these niche motorcars are being built. It's like Nokia heard your cries for letting the chance to nab one of those co-branded Twingos slip through your too-busy-texting thumbs or something.
Nokia N95 8GB nabs new firmware, gets automatic screen rotation
The user community already had a number of hacks available for this, but you can't help but get a warm fuzzy every time a manufacturer snatches up cool functionality and bundles it into the official firmware. N95 8GB firmware v20.0.016 is now out and about, offering automatic screen rotation based on the device's in-built accelerometers (why this wasn't functional out of the box is beyond us, considering the requisite hardware was already in place) along with browser and WiFi updates. As always, we suspect this is hitting the Euro-spec N95-2 first -- but we imagine an update for the N95-4 can't be far behind.[Via All About Symbian]
Picture of N95 with touch UI leaves us confused, hot with passion
So Mobile Review's got its Sony Ericsson G700 review up in all its epic, War & Peace-style glory that the site is so well known for. Don't get us wrong, that's all well and good; it's an interesting phone and there's no question that we'll get around to reading the sucker from beginning to end in the near future. What really has our immediate attention, though, is one of the test photos taken with the G700's camera depicting some sort of touch user interface on a Nokia N95. Judging from everything we've seen of Nokia's own S60 touch UI, we can say with confidence that this ain't it; besides, the N95's design language is dead (just take one hard look at the N96 to confirm it) so we can't imagine some future device out of Espoo retrofitting a touchscreen onto an N95's shell. So what's going on here? Even if it's a third-party program, it can't work. It just can't. Or can it?[Via Perpetuum Smoking Mobile]Update: Turns out this is from the new Knight Rider series. Cars with Mac keyboards, modified N95s with touchscreens -- what other implausible goodies do these guys get? Thanks, everyone!
Nokia announces N95 8GB NAM availability; we already knew
Seems like Nokia could've used this press release... oh, about two weeks ago when we first got the fateful call from our local store about its availability. Alas, a late press release is better than no press release at all -- especially for a device of this magnitude and symbolic importance in the North American market -- and maybe this is indicative of broader availability. In fact, the release specifically mentions that the N95 8GB "will be available through Nokia Nseries retailers across the United States, such as the Nokia Flagship stores in New York City and Chicago, as well as many online e-tailers," so if you can stomach the $749 outlay, it shouldn't be terribly difficult to come across.
New firmware trickling into the Nokia N95-1 ecosphere
It's not every day that a manufacturer makes a conscientious effort to keep an older product in feature lockstep with the new, so our hats (and hearts) go out to Nokia for this latest round of love. The original Nokia N95, the European N95-1, has started getting blessed with firmware v21, which brings it in line with the N95 8GB's recent update to offer Flash Lite 3, in-browser Flash, and a host of performance and stability improvements. It seems that folks are still having limited success getting the new update via Nokia's software update app, but it's starting to trickle out there. North American N95 owners, though -- well, as you can probably guess, you're left out in the cold for the time being.[Via Boy Genius Report and Nokia Users, thanks Jonathan]
Keepin' it real fake, part CXIV: the N95 FM radio... from Asaki
It's just what you've been waiting for -- a Nokia N95 running Windows Mobile. It looks like the rumors were true after all! What's that? This is not a real phone? It's just an FM radio with a sticker on the screen? Oh bother. Yes folks, thanks to eagle-eyed tipster Eric, you're looking at the next evolution in gadgetry -- the Asaki N95 FM radio. We're not sure what the going price for this is, but we'd imagine slightly less than $779, though the real N95 doesn't come with those totally pimped-out headphones, does it?
North American Nokia N95 8GB now available
We just got a call from our friendly local Nokia flagship store, and lo, it seems the mythical N95 8GB with HSDPA 850 / 1900 is now in stock. The all-black monster of Nokia's current Nseries lineup will run you a stiff $799 -- so get your credit card out, get your 3G on, and find out exactly what 8GB of music you want to carry with you.
A look at AT&T's pipeline, early March 2008 edition
We've already mentioned that the LG Vu is looking solid for a late March release after being held up (or so they say, anyway) to work through a few MediaFLO issues; we've now received independent confirmation that it's true -- assuming no more issues arise, of course -- but that's not all. No, far from it, in fact. The Sony Ericsson Z750 is apparently inbound for a release within two weeks, and along with the rugged Motorola W760 "Hurricane" (pictured), that should close out AT&T's March docket.Moving on to April and beyond, the Pantech "Breeze" is expected some time next month, but don't get too excited -- it's an entry level flip that should move out the door free on contract. The Motorola Z9 slider should lackadaisically stroll into stores in late April, and finally, we've heard that the Nokia N95 has been approved by the carrier's powers that be (!!!) and should be available in the second quarter; no word on whether it's the standard N95 or the N95 8GB, though. How about an N96 with MediaFLO while you're at it, guys?[Thanks, Kal]Update: We've just heard from another tipster that the N95 in question is the original for the North American market, the N95-3. It apparently just started going through the arduous approval process last week, a testing marathon that takes roughly 400 hours -- four to six months -- to complete. By then, we'll all have 4G radios embedded directly within our brains and be living in terraformed colonies on Mars, but it was a nice thought on AT&T's part nonetheless.
GDC08: Nokia talks N-Gage, First Access, release date, N95
Following a short overview on the state of the N-Gage platform, we had a chance to ask J. Dan Scott – the Global Head of Production for Nokia Game Publishing – a few questions about the platform and the nebulous launch date. First up, Scott said there's no solid release date for the service -- the First Access program is supposed to help iron out any kinks in the admittedly ambitious launch. Launched earlier this month, the First Access program was initially limited to just the Nokia N81 handset, to limit the testing concerns, Scott said. Nevertheless, the internet had other plans, quickly enabling functionality on the N95 handset which, curiously enough, Scott said accounted for more than half of the connections to the service.Roughly 30K users have downloaded the client to date – far more than the 2K or so Scott anticipated – and those early adopters have purchased "thousands" of games, a conversion rate that also impressed Scott (though he did admit these consumers are particularly passionate about games). The largest challenge: getting out of the mobile industry's "landfill stage" and prove to consumers (and skeptical game bloggers!) that quality gaming is possible on a mobile handset, while proving to third-party publishers that investing in developing quality games can be a lucrative endeavor. Yikes, best of luck!
Nokia trial turns N95s into traffic sensing tools
Sure, we've seen cellphones intermingle with traffic data before, but Nokia's looking to up the ante in a big way by utilizing a large network of GPS-enabled handsets to actually predict traffic patterns and help you avoid congestion before you even leave for that afternoon appointment. In a recent trial involving 100 volunteer drivers (and an equal amount of N95s), the handset maker teamed up with UC Berkeley to test the effectiveness of using a device most people already own (read: cellphones) to beam out traffic data rather than installing permanent sensors in roadways. Eventually, Nokia hopes to expand the experiment to over 1,000 folks, and just in case you privacy junkies can already feel your heart racing, you can rest assured that all "personal identifying information" was stripped before being sent back for analysis.Read - Nokia turns people into traffic sensors Read - Video: Nokia test drives traffic monitoring system
Red Nokia N95 for North America now available
Personally, we're holding out for the more lustworthy US variant of the N95 8GB -- but for some, we imagine a reddened original N95 is just what the doctor ordered. With no fanfare whatsoever, the handset is now available alongside its black and bronze cousins for the same $699 -- not the $599 we were promised when we spotted the sucker at CES last month, but then again, we weren't necessarily expecting it quite this early in the year, either. Maybe we'll see the price drop when the US N95 8GB ships?[Thanks, Jason]
N-Gage First Access hacked for N95 8GB, others
That didn't take long. A mere day after the release of Nokia's N-Gage First Access gaming preview exclusively to N81 users, the app has been cracked open to work with any N-series device with enough horsepower. The hack was performed by Nokia regular P@sco, and comes in a convenient downloadable form, or an only slightly involved guide to hacking the app yourself. No rocket science here, and while we're sure Nokia could easily fight back, what we've really got to ask ourselves is why didn't Nokia just open it to everyone in the first place? [Thanks, Michael J.]
3G + N95 + JoikuSpot + WiFi + iPhone = 3G iPhone (the hard way)
In the unlikeliest of unions since Julia and Lyle, we bring you some hot iPhone on N95 symbiotic action. Using the free JoikuSpot application released this morning, you can now turn any S60 smartphone into a WiFi hotspot. Yes, just like WMWifiRouter does for WinMo devices. Sure, the solution doesn't make much sense from locations with tethered Internet and you can't encrypt the http and https (only) traffic. But if you've ever been in a WiFi dead spot and needed to share access (think PSP gaming), this type of solution is pretty unbeatable. Assuming you have an unlimited data plan that is. Click the read link for the video. [Via IntoMobile]Read -- VideoRead -- JoikuSpot
Nokia N95 8GB, now in "copper"?
Nokia has historically had a tendency to release new colors of existing phones without much of an official announcement, and we could be dealing with that sitch again here. Retailer Plemix is now offering the N95 8GB in the black that we're all accustomed to along with a new shade -- copper -- that runs a few dollars more than the original. Hey, you've gotta pay to play, right? We're hearing that the copper version maintains the black front end, which would be inline with the original N95's tendency to sport silver up front regardless of what's going on around back. If anyone gets one of these copper suckers in their hands, do let us know, won't you?[Via IntoMobile and Cell Addict Blog]
Softbank Mobile's Spring 2008 collection
Right on KDDI's heels comes Softbank, roaring in with fourteen new models (not including the oh-so-pricey Tiffany phone) for the spring season. Though the lineup includes the usual array of crazy clamshells, this particular group includes a curious model designed specifically for stock trading and the Japanese introduction of a couple phones we're already well acquainted with. Can ya spot 'em in the picture there? Read on!
Nokia N95 8GB with US 3G passes FCC
We certainly can't guarantee that your wait for the US 3G version of the Nokia N95 8GB is nigh, but it did just pass through the FCC, meaning the last major hurdle to selling the things in the US is over. We don't blame you for gawking, just hang tight until Nokia drops the official word giving you occasion to lose somewhere close to a grand from your already badly abused bank account.