My buddy Zach over at SymbianInMotion has a great article about the recently announced N95 8GB US 3G version. While we in the US are most certainly glad that Nokia is finally starting to notice that we enjoy high-end handsets AND that we have a solid HSDPA network here, there’s a bit of a problem with the way they’re doing it currently.
With the N95 and now N95 8GB, Nokia has announced and released the Euro-3G version, with no mention of a US 3G-compatible version coming. Thus, we go out and buy the Euro version, suffering through the EDGE in an attempt to enjoy the best features. Then, only a few months later, Nokia, out of nowhere, announces that there is now a US 3G compatible model of the same phone! To make it worse, they’ve been selling the Euro-3G version in the 2 Flagship stores here in the U.S., without letting us know that there was a more capable version coming for the same price.
In a perfect world, we would get the US 3G version at the same time as the Euro 3G version. However, I realize this isn’t a perfect world, and similar to days of old, when there were 2 tri-band GSM versions of a phone, there will likely always be a delay between the 2 versions.
What Zach is asking for, and I am echoing, is simple notification. Nokia, when you announce a device, simply let us know whether or not a US 3G version will be available in the future. It’s ok for you to say, “The European 3G version will be out in Q2 2008, with a US 3G version following in Q3 2008.” At least that way we know, and we don’t go drop $750 on a phone that only gets data speeds from 3 years ago, when we could easily wait for 3-6 months and get one with the current HSDPA speeds.
I don’t expect for EVERY new Nseries and Eseries to get the US 3G treatment, but at least let us know about the ones that are going to, please. Thanks.















