One of the rumors surrounding the unannounced Nokia E71x for AT&T is that it will use S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2, whereas the unbranded version that is currently available actually uses S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1. There are a few key differences in Feature Pack 2 as opposed to Feature Pack 1, including a redesigned Active Standby, a new Device Manager, for getting information about the handset, and support for Destinations, which is somewhat of an access point prioritization feature.
There have been photos, ebay listings, and user manuals of the Nokia E71x, but unfortunately, there haven’t been any screenshots to show exactly what version of S60 it is running – until now. Below are two screenshots, taken by HowardForums member bimmerd00d, who purchased an E71x off of Craigslist. You can clearly see that the Active Standby is changed from the standard S60v3 FP1 view, and that the phone now offers to much improved Device Manager view, rather than the simple popup notification found on the unbranded Nokia E71.
This brings up several important questions:
1. will existing E71 owners have the opportunity to apply a firmware update and get S60v3 FP2 on their device?
2. If Nokia is able to create a custom upgrade for a carrier, what else could they do?
3. Can you just change the product code on your unbranded E71 to get this AT&T-branded Feature Pack 2 firmware, and if so, is branding worth the update to Feature Pack 2?
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this phone, and will try to get those questions answered in the future.
