These are the nightmares that we never want to happen.

I remember in the days before we allowed users to do their firmware updates, this was one of the worries that could have killed the whole process.

I think what makes it hard for us is all the disintermediation - the, sometimes small but crucial, gap between us and you.

And what concerns me is that we know when it happens to folks like you who write about it. Yet, that leads us to a one-time fix.

How can we spread a policy or procedure down the line that helps anyone with this issue (and without costing the company or you an bundle)?

I don’t know, and any more speculation on my part might be irresponsible.

For sure, the more folks who bring this up, the more likely the company will come with a plan that can deal with this in a way we are both happy with.

Tchau,

Charlie

The Nokia brain behind the new Nokia Conversations blog is Charlie Schick. I had the pleasure of participating in the Lifeblog Wasabi project with Charlie in 2004/2005. Charlie is dynamite in the best way and I am very excited about the opening that he and his team will be providing between Nokia and the public.

When my Nokia N80 bricked last summer, just before the iPhone release, I had to think & blog long and hard about which device I would choose to purchase next. I chose the Nokia N95 over the iPhone for the fact that it is a creativity based device rather than a consumption based device like the iPhone. I want to make things not view things. I want to take photos & video and post them directly to the web.

I love my N95. I love the 5 megapixel camera (oh the N82 is even more drool worthy) & the GPS on the N95. I love the fact that I can use ShoZu to embed the GPS data and send it with the photo to Flickr. I love that I can moblog photos & text directly from my N95 to my blog. Love it.

But I want more love from Nokia to North America. Then again, maybe I don’t. The North American N95 (N95-3) has the European bands taken out in favor of compatibility with the US 3G / EDGE but leaves the Asia 3G spectrum available. I live in the US and travel to Europe at least 4x a year. I want a world phone, not one geography favored over the other. And the North American spectrum that the N95-3 is the same that the iPhone is using and overloading, at least in the LA area. Many of my friends with iPhones in the SoCal market are having a terrible time with dropped calls and data connections on AT&T’s EDGE network. My Euro N95 is chipping along happily on its 2.5G spectrum in SoCal with no EDGE & no drops.

Yes, Nokia needs to ramp up in North America, esp. in retail and customer care. But how many other devices even allow one to not only update the firmware but also let you add whatever applications you want to? iPhone has an update, but the range of applications is very limited. What Nokia needs to do is increase repair options and provide a flasher that will revive bricked phones.

There is a non-Nokia repair center in Glendale, Calif, that will revive dead bricked Nokias. Let me find the URL tomorrow, and I will post it here.

I agree — Nokia really needs to get the service/repair side of its US business in order if it wants to sell such a high-end phone in the US market. There is no reason why people who plunk down that much money for a phone should have ANY uncertainty about whether they can get it fixed or replaced quickly if it bricks.

Also, you’re right — the firmware update process needs to be much simpler and safer, regardless of the type of computer the Nokia owner uses. This PC-only crap is sooooo 20th-century.

Apparently tomorrow Nokia is debuting it’s own online public conversation with bloggers and users. Think they’re ready for us? They’d better be.

- Amy Gahran

I had a similar problem happen last June with my Nokia N80. I bought it in the UK the year before and was using the UK update when it bricked. I had the opportunity to have two conversations with 2 Nokia North America VPs this last fall about how if they want to break into the North America market they need to be providing customer support equivalent to Dell & Apple regardless of region.

I don’t want to spend $738 on a device to have it be dead in 9 months. I now have an N95, purchased on Amazon last July, of which I have updated safely 5 times now.

Here is my technique:

1) I have a MacBook Pro. Under no circumstances will I use the Windows XP that I have on Parallels to do the updating.

2) I borrow a PC from my brother to do all my updating. First I make sure his PC is to date with all the MicroSquash updates. Then, I make sure that Nokia’s PC Suite is up to date and then make sure that the Nokia Updater is up to date.

3) I then make sure my N95 is fully charged and fully backed up. Then I plug it in and start the update.

4) Even though I live in the US, the Updater has successfully every time sussed out that I have a European N95-1 (RM-159) [has lens cover for camera & is plum colored] and will tell me if an update is available.

5) If a new update is available, then I update it.

So far so good. Now I am also a bit scared every time, as I don’t want a $649 N95 brick. I am glad to update, as the most recent one really increased my battery time & function.

What do I think, well, as I have been blogging about it since last June and also shared with the Nokia VPs - Nokia needs to do the following:

A) If they are unable to have retail stores with repair centers in every major city in North America, then they should have authorized repair folks that one can take one’s phone to be repaired on the spot or within a few days either under warranty or for charge. Before Apple opened the Apple Stores, they had Authorized Retailers and service centers all over the US and Canada. Nokia needs to do the same.

B) Nokia needs to increase the scope of their customer service to be like Apple or Dell, in that all of there devices can be repaired in any country that they sell their devices in. Don’t tell me that the US customer service can’t help a device bought in Europe or Asia. If that is the case, then sell the US devices at the same time you sell the European or Asian devices rather than 1.5 years later.

C) Nokia needs fully functioning “Suite” for updating & backup & multimedia for Mac & Linux folk. While the worldwide market for mac is only 4%, it is much higher in North America (17%?). Demographically & psychographically, the folks who buy Apple/Mac computers in North America are most likely going to be the market for Nokia Nseries (prefer design & high end function over cheapness). Folks buying $299 PCs at TigerDirect are unlikely to purchase a $649 Nokia N95.

All that being said, if you run the *#0000# on your Nokia it will not only tell you the most recent firmware, but also the device’s model number. My N95 currently tells me: V 21.0.0.16, 14-02-08, RM-159. It is the RM-xxx that is the important number. If you search this in Google it will tell you if your Nokia is US, European or Asian. The Nokia Updater should also announce that what device number it is and if the update is available.

smiles, jen ;o)

Yes, to clarify, I had the N95-3. (I’ve mentioned that in previous posts, but not this one.) However, as far as I understand it, the firmware upgrade problem I experienced depends not on which of the four models you have, but on whether it’s a “US version” of the phone.

I don’t know yet exactly what constitutes a US version of the N95, but obviously it has something to do with the firmware. So it wouldn’t just be an external feature thing (like color or lens cover).

Thanks,

- Amy Gahran

N95-1 - Not US. Silver + Lens Cover.
N95-2 - AKA N95 8GB. Black. No Lens Cover.
N95-3 - AKA N95 NAM. Silver. No Lens Cover.
N95-4 - AKA N95 8GB NAM. Black. No Lens Cover.

If you type any of the above codenames (’N95-3′ for example) into flickr you should be able to compare and contrast which variant of the N95 if you have.

I hope this helps. I’ve bricked many a phone in the past. The Nokia Software Updater is a terrible piece of software and Nokia should take ownership of the problem that they have.