The Nokia Guide

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic already available online

Yesterday Nokia announced  that the 5800 XpressMusic is now, or soon will be, available in select markets globally, including Russia, Spain, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Finland, etc. Lucky for us outside of these regions, the 5800 XpressMusic already seems to be available from popular online stores like Phonesource-USA, X1387 (on Ebay) and CTI Miami with prices ranging from $590 to $650. Knowing that these prices will fall soon, the 5800 will be going for  just above the original suggested price. While it's not quite the 279 Euros mentioned at the 5800 launch event, but it's much cheaper than what we expected.

Sandisk 16GB micro SDHC cards are almost here!

Our sources have informed us that the first shipment of Sandisk 16GB micro SDHC memory will be arriving shortly. Does before the end of September sound good to you? This should come as extra good news to all Nseries or other Nokia devices that are microSDHC compatible, but Nokia N95 8GB and N81 8GB users are of course out of luck this time.

Our sources tell us that the N95 passed the test with flying color using the firmware version 21.0.016. With older firmware versions: “the Nokia N95 will not handle the card well at all.” And that: “it may trigger some O/S freezing and rebooting when you try to open the Gallery or Music Player.” After upgrading the  firmware: “the phone performance was rock solid and we saw no more of the unpredictable behaviour.”

Over 10GB of music files were loaded onto the SanDisk card and based on the test we were informed that:

-Selecting music tracks via the File Manager was reportedly: “straightforward and quick.” We were also informed that the: “menu lists of music folders, and mp3 files from the memory card updating on the screen with no noticeable slowdown compared to onboard storage. (thats a massive improvement on early symbian phones).”

-“The playback of the tracks stored on the card was also faultless, without any skipping or buffering problems, from up to 320kbps encoded MP3 right down to lower bit rates.”

-“Going to the Gallery and into Tracks, or into the Music Player from the Music menu folder is a different matter. To those familiar with the Music Player app, this is where a scan of the card contents will commence to update the cached track list. Due to the large number of files (over 4000 MP3 files in this case) this process is very slow. However it is a once only operation, as after the first scan, the cached file is only needing a refresh. To avoid this lengthy scanning process it is possible to upload the tracklist via the Nokia PC Suite which stops your phone having to generate it for you.”

Once again it shows that having devices like the Nseries, that are firmware upgradeable is a must! It’s also clear that phones should not only come with built-in memory, but having a memory card slot makes them quite future proof.The first batch are set to arrive September the 23^rd

Be sure to check out our sponsored link to pre-order your sample right here, as they are set to arrive on the 23^rd.

Update on availability N82 Black Edition

Last week I wrote about the Black N82’s availability and at that time things didn’t look so good as Phonesource-USA seemed to be the only online store with the Black Beauty in stock. A week later things are looking much much better as as both Plemix and X1387 on Ebay have it in stock and ready to be shipped. Among all of these Phonesource-USA still has the lowest price among the online vendors who have it in stock at $480.95 (as of April 14^th 2008), but If you’re willing to wait a few days, ShopBLT has estimated time of arrival this April the 18^th for about: $479.63.

Update:  SNtrader now also seem to have it in stock. More info here.

If you’re already part of the N82 family or just joining by getting the black version, you might check out The N82 Blog for the latest N82 tips, tricks, news and review.

Black Nokia N82 now available through online stores

A few weeks ago Nokia launched the Nokia N82 in black, expected to “start shipping within weeks’, which usually means 2-3 weeks later. Most major online mobile stores still don’t seem to have it in stock and are still charging a premium on the silver beauty. With a lot of you asking about the black version I decided to do a little search at some of online store, and apparently Phonesource-USA is confirmed to have the black N82 and even the white model in stock and ready to be shipped. Buyers outside of the US should be happy to learn that they ship internationally. Both the white and black version seem to be going for just a few dollars more than the original platinum silver. If you’re interested in the black N82 (and I know a lot of you are!)head on over to Phonesource-USA. What online stores do you know of that have the N82 in stock?

Update: As for the package content I learned that not much has changed and reportedly includes the same 2GB microSD card as the Platinum Silver N82. So no extras. No word on the box art, but this is expected to be different.

Update 2: Having bought several times from Phonesource-USA, I know that all of their phones are from the APAC region (Asia-Pacific) and that sometimes the phones have Asian marking on the keypad. Sometimes you can request either getting Asian markings or not. I have heard reports that indeed these Black N82 have Asian marking. So I suggest you taking Mike’s advice from the Nokia N82 blog to give them a call or shooting them an email before pressing that buy button.

Black N82 is finally here, kind of.

A lot of potential buyers have been holding of getting a N82, waiting for the all-black version to arrive. Coupled with the best mobile camera around, small size and full smartphone functionality with GPS it’s clear that we got another winner here. These pictures come from Maevro from MobileCityonline where the black N82 is only being offered as a pre-order, with an expected release date of April the 2^nd. The black N82 costs $100 more than the Titanium silver version which to me sounds ridiculous if it doesn’t come with any extras. I can understand $50 more, but for $100 more there better be some cool extras like a bigger memory card. This all-black N82 sure looks good and maybe, just maybe might become a friends with my black N95 8GB :).

 

While we’re on the subject, remember that N95 8GB NAM version that we discovered on the Mobile Nseries page? Well that model is set to be released next week! Which one are you getting?

N96 available on May 7th?

For those of you eagerly waiting for the N96, Mobile City online seems to have a possible date. They are known for being pretty accurate when it comes the dates that these devices are available and as for the N96 they are expecting it by May 7, 2008. If you are interested in the N96 you might have to mark your calendar for May the 7^th. For more info head on to the Mobile City online product page for the Nokia N96 where they plan on selling it for about $799.99. Are you getting the N96?

Psiloc’s irRemote available to current owners of other Psiloc’s apps

After waiting a long time and I do mean long, Psiloc’s irRemote finally became available for BETA testing. Latest news is now that the BETA version of irRemote is available for those Psiloc customers, who have bought and activated any of Psiloc’s S60 3rd application on the device they are using now (the Smartphone is identified by IMEI number). To activate irRemote, customers need to select Activate for free and follow the instructions. The beta version will be valid until 15th of November.

Psilocs informs that “The main feature of Psiloc irRemote is ability to remotely control audio and video equipment using your Smartphone. The database of compatible codes is continually being evolved by end users who can test and rate all the codes. It supports most brands of electronic devices available on the market. Moreover, irRemote is usable with no additional software or hardware required.

If you cannot find the codes you need, you can upload your own ones and build your own remote control using the online wizard at http://irremote.psiloc.com. Please rank the codes you have added within 48 hours otherwise they will be deleted.

We are still seeking the most proper way of communication between IrRemote and device you want to control so it will be a great help for us if you can choose different methods of communication and rank it. You can change the communication method by choosing: Options->Settings->IR mode.”

If you have you purchased any Psiloc app, you can get your free trial of irRemote here, more info about the app can be found here. I’m sure if they get this done by the end of the year, this should be one of the most popular apps for the holiday season. Is this one of the apps you’re waiting for this holiday season?

Nokia N95 8GB Availability for International buyers and mysterious new N95 8GB package pops up

As some of you might know, sometimes it’s very difficult to get the latest mobile devices, most of the time they aren’t locally available or the prices are way too high. That’s why a lot people rely on the Internet for their mobile needs. If you’re looking into getting the N95 8GB It now seems that the situation is improving for us International buyers as the N95 8GB is widely available and most importantly they don’t just ship to the US, but internationally as well. Phonesource-USA, Import GSM and CTI Miami seem to have it in stock and ready to be shipped internationally. If you prefer Ebay, power sellers like X1387 also have it in stock. While we’re on the subject I noticed that there two different packages for the N95 8GB, the regular grey box and the other that comes in a completely black package(see picture above) with an icon showing the Nokia Maps. Apparently that version comes with 3 months of voice guided navigation completely free. There’s  another icon of a blue box, but from the small picture I can’t quite tell what it is. If I had to guess this is probably an APAC N95 8 GB, as X1387 usually carries the APAC version of phone models. I’m still left wondering what that other icon below the Nokia Maps is. Maybe some extras goodies that are typical of Nokia APAC packages like a case or pouch maybe or some extra software? If you know other online suppliers or do you have an idea what that icon could be or what other goodies can be found in that mysterious N95 8GB box,  do let me know in the comments section.

Update: One of the readers of The Nokia Guide, Leonard, was able to provide me a bit more information regarding that mysterious box. Apparently the box is real and comes with 3months of voice navigation. The other strange icon is a deal to save on a Linksys WRT54GC router. See the picture for more details.

Update 2: SHOPBLT also has the N95 8GB and ready to be shipped internationally.

The Nokia Guide update

To update you guys on the N81, I was supposed to get it on Monday, but I had a few problems with customs as they couldn’t I identify the device! The thing is that customs needs to find a value before they release a product and seeing that it wasn’t available on Monday in any stores they couldn’t find the price either. Strange that they couldn’t find the press release as that included the retail price. Anywho, as promised I plan to get the device today or tomorrow and hope to have a detailed first look ASAP followed by small segments leading to a Mega Review.

I’m also planning on buying the N95 8GB and Darla is informing us that on Thursday the Nokia New York Flagship stores will begin selling the Euro 3G Nokia N95 8GB. The retail price will be $779.

Nokia N81 8GB now shipping

Just as expected the Nokia N81 and N81 8GB has begun shipping globally. This means that these two models should be available in large quantities in early November (as the end of October is already near). Well I’m part of a small group receiving the N81 8GB early on thanks to the guys from Nokia’s WOM World. I hope to have it today and be able to do quick impressions. Well it was already by Friday, but DHL was closed is closed during the weekend, so I had to wait till today.

Oh by the way, just in case you’re wondering about the price the N81 will 360 EUR N81 8GB is expected to retail for 430 EUR before subsidies or taxes. Stay tuned….