Those who know me are aware that I get very loyal to a brand when they treats me well. Many times, that brand loyalty doesn't make sense to those around me, and I've come to accept that, even if I try to convert people. I was a fan of Apple, even during their dark times, though that has waned a little bit. I am a huge Chrysler fan, though the past couple of years have been lackluster. I do blame that on Daimler.
I really love Nokia products, too. I've owned five of their handsets (3390, 3650, 6682, 9300, and E61i), and two of their internet tablets (770, N800). One thing that really drives me nuts about Nokia is their software updates, or their lack of software updates. Back before the 6682, it was impossible to get software updates for your phone unless you managed to find a Nokia Service Center, an impossible task in the United States, or you downloaded a pirated copy of their Phoenix software and managed to find a pirated release of their firmware. Last year, Nokia started offering software updates to consumers via their Nokia Software Updater, supporting all of the S60v3 handsets, N and E series handsets, and the last of the S60v2 series. They've even started including S40 handsets on a limited basis. Mind you, this was last year, and those with Windows Mobile smartphones have been getting major software updates for a few years now.
Since then, Blackberry has entered the consumer market after dominating the US business market, and Apple introduced the iPhone as a consumer smartphone, and when their 2.0 software comes out, will start taking chunks out of the business market as well. Both companies are offering major software updates after the hardware purchase, without requiring a hardware upgrade every time they add a major feature. Nokia continues to only offer bug fixes.
I really appreciate the fact that we get bug fixes and all of that, but with the new competition out there, it would really be nice if we weren't dropping over $400 on new handsets, only to have them obsoleted within a year. Whenever I bring this up on one of Nokia's blogs, it is either ignored, or a Nokia apologist starts talking about how the hardware matches the software or some other nonsense. It's like Apple fanboys, I swear.
I think I'm just ranting. But at least I took the opportunity to rant to Nokia Support. I have a strong feeling I won't get a good answer from them.
I'm curious if Nokia has any plans to upgrade the E61i to S60v3 Feature Pack 1.
I know that Nokia doesn't really have a track record of updating older handsets to new feature packs, much less new S60 revisions, but given the amount of competition that Nokia has in the smartphone market, I'm hoping for a change of heart. As someone who is generally willing to spend $400-$500 for a phone every year or two -- and I've been through many, made by Nokia and others -- it seems odd that a phone that expensive is obsoleted by the manufacturer within a year. It seems most new software products Nokia is releasing for their S60 phones are now requiring FP1, and FP2 is right around the corner.
As the E61i is a capable phone with a processor matching or exceeding other S60v3 FP1 phones, is FP1 in the future, or am I stuck buying another $400-$700 phone every 8-12 months when Nokia updates their software? If that is case, wouldn't it make more sense to go with a smartphone manufacturer that offers updates to users, like Samsung with Windows Mobile, or Apple with their iPhone? I love the Symbian operating system, and find Nokia handsets to be the best of the bunch, but it just doesn't make financial sense to upgrade that often to get features other handsets are getting for free.
Your reply would be greatly appreciated.
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