Last week we reported to you the fact that you were now able to pre-order a Nokia N8 direct from Nokia themselves in many countries around the world.  Even, in the US.  The US!  Nokia and the US have always had a troubled relationship.

So why no pre-order availability in the UK from an official Nokia source?

Of course, any official response to this question would involve the words ‘out’, ‘roll’, ‘worldwide’, and ‘phased’.  Although not necessarily in that order.

Whilst this may well be the case, I’m praying that something more sinister isn’t going on.

You see Nokia like putting different product codes on their devices dependant on the territory they will be sold in.  This has a huge effect on when and how often, a particular device, in a particular country, gets it’s firmware update.

A few years ago, any SIM free unlocked Nokia device sold in the UK would usually come with a ‘Euro’ product code.  This was good.  The Euro product codes would normally be somewhere near the top of the list for firmware updates.  However, in the past couple of years the devices sent to the UK had something known as a UK CV (country variant) product code on them.  I know this because I bought an N82 from a Nokia Shop with the horrible little disease already infecting it.

The problem was evident right from the start.  The rest of the world seemed to be on v20 firmware, with my N82 languishing with V12.  The V20 firmware wasn’t just a couple of weeks behind like some would make you believe.  The Euro N82′s got upgraded to V30 before my N82 got to V20.

This is where I hope Nokia is not going.  Is the delay with the UK because they are up to their same old tricks and developing a country variant product code firmware solely for the UK?

I sincerely hope not.

If there is any official response from Nokia available, please try to word your answer ommiting those examples I used earlier. KTHX.

What do you think the delay is?  Am I just paranoid that Nokia will drop the ball?

Let us know in the comments or via Twitter @thenokianetwork

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NEWS JUST IN! – Latest update on this new firmware is AVAILABLE HERE.

According to this post on the Nokia Support Forum from a Nokia employee, the next firmware for the Nokia N97, (probably version 2.1) will be available for download via the Nokia Software Updater application from the 28th January 2010.

This news is highly anticipated since Nokia seemed to leave the ‘flagship’ N97 out of it’s Ovi Maps with free navigation announcement yesterday.

Whether the new firmware will add any other functionality besides the Ovi Maps update still remains to be seen, and as usual, it will almost certainly be a staged roll out, so not all product codes will be available immediately.

Only 6 days to wait folks!

Let us know what you think in the comments, or shoot me an email steve@thenokianetwork.com

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Follow me on Twitter: @steverowlands

News has just come through that the venerable Nokia N86 has just received it’s latest firmware update, this time to V21.006.

As usual, this will be a staged rollout of the new firmware, and is only available to certain product codes and regions.  Whilst the exact details of which regions are available, it would seem that the UK country variant devices are, as always, not in the first round of availability.

My white UK CV N86 running product code 0587709 does not have the update available, however, it is understood to be available for 0580406 and 0580669.

Operator branded handsets will not have the update ready just yet, as they usually have to get cleared for release by the supplying operator.

Initial feedback would seem to suggest this is only a minor update, stability bug fixes and speed improvements being the most likely outcome.

The N86 does have UDP (User Data Preservation) onboard, so updating should keep all your data intact, however, a backup beforehand is always recommended.

Clinton over at zomgitscj.com has got the update downloaded to his device, so head on over there to check out the improvements he finds first hand.

Is the update available for you?  Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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File this post very carefully in the “Possible BS Box”.  I really mean it.

There will always be rumours about when firmware is likely to be released, and Nokia is renowned for delaying just about everything they ever do.

However, xbungle over at the Nokia Support Forums is apparently an official Nokia person, and has the little ‘Employee’ tab next to his name, to mean he may or may not be an up-standing member of society.

Read the rest of this entry »

The business-person’s favourite QWERTY Nokia device, the E71, has a new firmware update released today.  This time updating to V400.21.013.

Details are fairly short on the ground so far, but it would seem that some of the reported bugs, such as the screensaver, and call answering delay ones are still apparent after the update.  There has been some chatter on doing a hard rest may or may not sort this after the update, but nothing has been confirmed yet.  Just remember to do a backup beforehand, whatever you decide.

No official change log seems to be available just now, but an unofficial one is over at AAS.

Have you got an E71?  How is the new firmware for you?  Is it even available for your product code?  Or has Nokia done it’s usual trick of releasing the update to everyone, apart from you?

Let us know in the comments.

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[Thanks to BarneyC for the tip]