Firmware Updates - How Do You Keep Up?
I was browsing through my RSS reader the other day and came across this awesome rant by S60 blogging newcomer, Jake at S60tv.com. He’s frustrated with the Firmware Update Alerts that are part of the new PC Suite. Apparently, the only way to find out if there is an update is to plug your phone in and check. For most people, this isn’t likely to happen all that often.
I personally find out about them via blogs like Darla Mack and Symbian-Freak, or on Howardforums.com. Sometimes I’ll get it word-of-mouth, but not often. However, what about the general consumer that Nokia and S60 really want? The person who probably doesn’t know what an online forum is, much less who Darla Mack or Symbian-Freak are. How are they supposed to find out about firmware updates? Personally, I think my phone should tell me.
I wonder if it would be possible for Nokia to send out an SMS to a phone that’s tailored to that phone’s model or product code? For that matter, would the person know what to do if they got such a message? I think this is something that Nokia and S60 seriously need to look into, especially considering the number of firmware updates that Nokia S60 devices get following their launch. My N95 has already gotten one, and there’s rumor of another major update coming in the next few weeks.
What do you think? How do you find out about new firmware updates for your mobile device? Do you have any ideas for how Nokia should handle this?
At least you can use NSU … Cingular kills that “feature” so that the Cingular Nokia phone owners can’t use NSU at all … no clue how we would EVER find out about an update
PC Suite should have a tiny daemon installed that keeps a record of all phones that have been connected to that particular install (with product code and firmware version). It could then poll at regular intervals a server that would check for a newer version and alert you from the application tray (a little bubble above the PC Suite tray icon) saying something like “A new firmware is available for you N73″.
-kap
This is pretty cool as well: http://hunajatehdas.net/nokia/firmware/index_en.php
-kap
This works well too:
http://europe.nokia.com/A4305060
Simply enter the product code. You then compare the latest firmware revision with what’s on your phone.
I think Kappy has the best idea thus far. It has to be something that an average user could pick up on. Going to different sites is easy, but you gotta think like it’s your mom or dad. They’re not going to care enough to go finding firmware, but if it popped up like that, easy cheesy.