FCC approves Nokia 5800i; don’t get too excited, it’s headed to China
As Apple’s effort to launch the iPhone in China continues, it looks like Nokia’s ever popular 5800 XpressMusic may find its way there first. This new version of the handset, dubbed 5800i, has just cleared the FCC with specs that are nearly identical to the 5800, at least from what we can tell. The 5800i rocks WCDMA 900/2100MHz alongside quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, which lines up nicely with China Unicom. Oh, and then there’s the fact that the label is in Chinese. As for the rest of the specs, we’ll have to wait and see — though the 5800i is lacking Wi-Fi, like the China-bound iPhone. It would be interesting however, if this turned out to be the capacitive screen-rocking 5800 refresh that rattled around the rumor mill a few months ago. Unlikely, yes, but interesting. Hit the jump for more shots.
Thanks, D!
It makes no sense for this device to be capacitive.
1/ you can still see there is a stylus on the picture
2/ handwriting recognition is a very commonly used method for chinese input
Two reasons to think it’s resistive.
iPhone headed to china without wifi? Get excited Verizon there is still hope!
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Cincinnati United States
Why would the FCC evaluate a phone that will only be sent to China?
Ran-o-matic took the rant right out of my mouth / Why in the he!! would the FCC need to be involved with a device headed to China??? Is that simply the devices first stop or are they standardizing their approval process, which is just downright idiotic – if China doesn’t care if their citizens get head tumors with lax standards, then that’s their issue!!!
They could care less about the lead they put in our products, so forget them!!
the screen is resistive BECAUSE OF the Chinese market.
Right. Nokia used shitty old touchscreen tech in the 5800 XM BECAUSE they were releasing a Chinese version a year later. Good call dude.
I guess we can expect an N97 for China next year then.
whats the point of going trough the FCC is is going to china ?
@Mmm Hmm
The N97 for China, the RM-506 China with EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 (i.e. no 3G), was announced when the N97 itself was.
@christexaport
While serving the Chinese market was no doubt a consideration, I rather doubt it was the only one.
@ hypnotist,
of course it wasn’t the only reason for a resistive screen, but its a major one considering the monstrous growth Nokia and others are having in China. Other Asian countries use handwriting recognition, and it works great on the N97, especially after about 4 days of using it exclusively.
Its just like the FM radio. It seems like a luxury piece of hardware for most, but in Africa and some Indian cities, its a necessity. It is the biggest selling point for a mobile device in Africa, and lacking it will get you a cold shoulder. Nokia makes world phones, not American niche market devices with premium prices and not premium standard functions. Symbian devices are asked to replace or substitute for desktop computers, and nothing but WinMo comes close to the functionality, but the UI is just that bad.
The fact this is going through the FCC could have to do with TMobileUSA, but that’s just a guess. With a NAM model already available, the only carrier that wouldn’t benefit from the NAM model is TMO, and this could possibly be a way to get it subsidized, since the Chinese numbers will be high enough to warrant production if paired with a TMO frequency.
China Mobile has had the 5800 for at least 4 months now. That’s part of the reason Nokia is selling more than a million a month.
Perhaps this is for CHINA UNICOM