N97 firmware update coming July 1st
Just in time to make America’s birthday even more special, it looks like N97 owners will be enjoying a shiny new gift from our friends at Nokia this July 4th weekend. Just as the firmware version was recently updated on Nokia’s RDS service, so too will the firmware be updated on the N97. According to Nokia Conversations’ Twitter account, “N97 SW 1.1 (11.x.021)” will find itself in the hands of the people this Wednesday, July 1st. Rejoice! Sure, a firmware update isn’t going to resolve all of the issues we had with the handset — such as an off-center space button on the keypad (how?!) — but it will hopefully go great lengths to eliminate many of the bugs users are currently experiencing. As for exactly which regions/product codes will have access to the new firmware right out of the gate, unfortunately there’s no way of telling until the 1st rolls around.
Thanks, Nok-eee-ugh!
I think Nokia is not hitting the nail (Marketing wise)as apple does.
They should spend some money buying (keeping happy) these self acclaimed internet critics like apple does.
It is becoming a big factor in consumer’s decision making, see what hypes these blogs created by naming iphone the Jesus phone.
Typical of any N97 post so far on this website. Start with one topic (the software update) and throw in a comment about the phone (the spacebar) and all hell breaks loose yet again. Jesus, look at the phone, and go watch the youtube videos where the designer talks about the phone, and you’ll start to understand why it was put there. The phone simply isn’t wide enough to accommodate a fourth row where you could place the spacebar in a normal setup. And even if they kept the current 3 row and put the spacebar in the middle, there would still be complaints from people about certain letters not being where they would be on a normal keyboard due to the spacebar being in the middle. Maybe you should all go complain about HTC’s new QWERTY for Sprint that has its spacebar off center too.
I really hope that Nokia has an update ready for the NAM people as well. Surely if they can launch a phone at around the same time globally, then they can have a firmware update ready for every market. I wanna know what this fixes since I’ll finally have mine this week.
its very rockin …luks l;ike communicator but actually its not…now its time to get on the floor with dis…lets rock now…!!!
Just about anyone who hasn’t used the N97 is wondering about the space bar location on the keypad, so let me give my two cents as an actual owner. First of all, BGR definitely doesn’t like Nokia; it is very evident in their articles tone. Seems like they aren’t power users at all, so they like to be spoon fed by Mama Apple, LOL. Anyway back to my point: the keypad is awesome. The new location may be different, but boy does it seem a lot easier to use than you think. But alas, I Understand that the full keyboard layout in the N97 will not work for everyone, but is definitely not because of the space bar location. My suggestion, try it for yourself. Besides, not everyone wants an N97, so don’t waste your time knocking something you don’t like by being objective and biased.
No matter how much we N97 users brag, cry and what not and try to get it straight to BGR that the keyboard and the phone is not as bad as they made it sound like. But, the fact remains they won’t make a post on BoyGeniusReport.com to officially apologize to Nokia or Us owners. They are critiques thats what they do, hopefully Nokia will make a lot better device next time and than we and Nokia can officially thank BoyGeniusReport.
IT is just hard to believe that the whole crew at BGR despites the Nokia freakin N97. I can see some conflicts like Engadget Mobile.
im a n97 owner as well. it’s a little disappointing phone but about the keyboard. i like it a lot this whole space bar placement is being blown out of proportion. i got use to right when i started typing. its not that hard. so unless you own one stop crying about it or believing what others have to say about it.
how long before a hardware update?
I love the look of this phone and planning to buy it, I’m with At&T, can anybody tell me if this phone works with $15/month data plan? what is the different with $ 30 plan? thank’s
Yea dude, am on AT&T and i have the n97 for two weeks. Works on the $15 monthly data plan. Am actually killing this thing using the data plan. lol . Am loving this phone. A very well balanced for multitasking , the camera is right up there with the best and the best of both worlds, touch and physicall qwerty. You cant go wrong!
@ alvin, thank’s, for the confirmation, coz when i asked them, they said that all smartphone must be with $30 plan, $15 is only for phone with web capabilities but not consider PDA/smartphone. so they lied,figured.
Yeah, I’ve often wondered that too. What the hell is the difference between the data plan and “smartphone” data plan? I asked some guy at a store one time if the PDA plan was faster and gave me precedence over a regular data plan user in terms of connecting to the towers if they’re jammed up and he said yes, but sounded like he was talking out of his ass since he didn’t say anything else. I’d like to know if that’s really true, cause if I can run 200+ KB/sec faster on a consistent basis then I might switch over to the PDA plan.
agree with many of the posters. i don’t have any issues with the spacebar. in fact, i like it. position is better than on the centered spacebar on the e90.
data tethering also came in handy when my data port at work died for two days. our floor doesn’t have wireless. don’t think i would have been able to do that with an iPhone.
Surely there are far bigger issues than the spacebar such as the widgets which keep crashing and some usability issues such as a lack of shortcuts and the awful number input on the keyboard. Add to that the fact that it takes 2 keypresses to get a full stop or a comma and i think it is evident that almost all problems can be siolved with a firmware tweak. As for the spacebar – i have no problem with it at all.
Had this for a week now and for the most part really like it. I can’t believe that no one has mentioned the lack of smart dialing. Making a call is like a 6 step process, options, contacts, scroll through every contact to find the one you want, select it, select the right number and then you even have to select voice/video call…
SUCH A PAIN!
I have two words to those that do not own the N97 – Shut up!
There is NO issues with placement of the spacebar.
IMHO, what Nokia should have done is to do away with the navi pad and add more keys or even a 2nd space bar on the left. It would have made the keyboard even more functional.
However, on the other hand, I wonder if the navi pad is a requirement for n-gage?
You did know that you can set up 1-touch dialing right? Hit the keypad then select options.
@Andy
Not sure what phone you are using, but having owned it for one day i can say for certain… a full stop is definately a single key press! A comma is shift-. Unless this phone is diferent in the states or something (i am uk side).
@Russ
Put the contacts key on your shortcut widget, when you tap it hit the search box, a quick keyboard appears – hit one letter from your contacts name, any letter, it does an entire word search same as n95 – select the contact and hit the green button. It really does not take that long!
you should get nokia to come measure the height of (wherever you put your nokia phone) so it will face EXACTLY to your FACE when you type, as well as customizing a keyboard SPEcifically to your specification… while you’re at it, why dont you just have the world evolve around u. wouldnt that be nice.
its not a design / ui fault, this is called… PREFERENCE. and congratulations for leaving the lames feedback which one one even bother to respond to you…cept me coz i have never come across such ignorant mentality hence me finding ur feedback rather amusing.