Is Nokia readying a 3G N95 for America?

Nokia's N95, like many phones in America, has been a consistent letdown to those hoping to rock any decent online content on their phone, mainly because of the prohibitive EDGE data speeds which currently dominate the GSM market here (a matter of fact, no matter how much Mr. Jobs may protest). Well, it appears that at least Nokia is feeling our pain, because according to a recent GigaOM rumor, the company is readying a 3G variation of the N95 -- presumably with a US carrier in tow -- due out this September, which makes sense considering some of the company's recent shenanigans. If (and when) this happens, it should make the do-it-all phone, which boasts a 5 megapixel camera, built-in GPS, WiFi, and all sorts of multimedia functions, considerably more attractive to consumers in the States, even with its $749 price tag.

[Samo @ Aug 9th 2007 9:39AM]

Uhh, eh?! Unless I'm very much mistaken, here in th UK, we ONLY have a 3g version of the N95! What the hell, America?

Granted, we don't (as in standard public) use much 3G, but the biz execs types who are *insistent* on staying in touch with the office use it.

Personally, I think it's a great phone, everything in one, quite light, but lil' chunky :)

[CraigS @ Aug 9th 2007 11:17AM]

@Samo

Just what I was thinking. Looked at mine and there it was in the corner, "3G".

Also a nice little "3.5G" icon* when doing super downloads using HSDPA (and prob frying my brain to boot).

*Only on firmware v12+ I believe.

[Devin @ Aug 9th 2007 10:57AM]

Ours is 3g as well but it has the international bands that aren't compatible with our networks. We can only use the 3g while roaming in another country

[Cesar Cardoso @ Aug 9th 2007 10:22AM]

Samo: the USA doesn't have the 2100MHz 3G band, so N95 in its current form is an EDGE-only phone there.

Anyway, hope Nokia can do a tri-band 3G N95 version. Worldwide 3G roaming, baby!

[Samo @ Aug 9th 2007 3:09PM]

@Devin: Meh?!?!?!? We can only use it abroad?!?! What the hell use is that?! So, we'll get conned into paying extra EXTRA money when doing biz abroad, I'll bet. *grumble*

[tehpwnmstr @ Aug 9th 2007 9:50AM]

OMGZ IPHONE KILLER!

it had to be done. this phone needs to happen in the states. EDGE is teh suxxorz.

[Mrmean @ Aug 9th 2007 9:55AM]

LOL @ $750 for that laptop

[Argot @ Aug 9th 2007 10:10AM]

But hey, at least you can cut/paste on it.

[Jon @ Aug 9th 2007 11:53AM]

$750 I believe is sim-free price and you won't be locked into a carrier and 2 year contract.

Here in the UK we can get for free with a 1 year contract depending.

[nikster @ Aug 9th 2007 8:49PM]

Jon - It ain't free if you are paying for it. Don't let marketing tell you otherwise.

I don't know how you could squeeze $750 into a 1 year contract - would be a pretty expensive contract then, I presume?

This whole "free but we'll rip you off with the contract charges" thing is just silly and hopefully will go away soon.

We pay full price for phones here in Asia but guess what, calling & internet are way, way cheaper than back home. If you want to pay for your phone over 2 years you get a loan. It's called truthfulness in pricing.

One benefit is that we get phones for street price, not list. The N95 is USD 650 here now, including taxes.

[Anthony @ Aug 9th 2007 10:18AM]

The N95 is the only phone that's kept me from checking engadgetmobile 50 times a day- there's really nothing I'm waiting for.

3G isn't an issue for me. My company supports regular phone or blackberry only.

Don't worry, engadget- I'm starting to spend more time on the site again (especially after the N82 photos).

[Spenecer @ Aug 9th 2007 10:20AM]

Excellent. I can't wait for Cingular to put all their crap on it and cripple it like they did to the N75. Any idea if it will be HSDPA or UMTS?

[cm-rex @ Aug 9th 2007 10:23AM]

yeah i agree with Samo... here in DK, we got it in may. And it is a pretty mainstream cellular. i know about 3 persons, that got it.

more interesting is that it comes with:
Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live Hotmail
Skype
3Mobil-TV
Google
Orb
Sling Player
Yahoo! Go

http://threestore.three.co.uk/phoneplan.aspx?phoneDesc=Nokia+N95&phonecode=NON953DSL (in english)
http://privat.3.dk/mobiler/mobiltelefoner/Nyeste-mobiler/Nokia-N95-ny/ (in danish)

[Stomp @ Aug 9th 2007 10:50AM]

Don't forget the upcoming SonyEricsson K850i. 3G goodness as well.

http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=global&lc=en&ver=4001&template=pp1_1_1&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10868

[jaapv @ Aug 9th 2007 10:51AM]

Can you actually read those letters on that screen?

[Graham McLeod @ Aug 9th 2007 11:10AM]

You're not supposed to. That's the browser going backwards and forwards between visited pages. When you select a page it fills the screen and the text is bigger

[Phillip Donley @ Aug 9th 2007 10:59AM]

Just pinch out... Oh wait... Nevermind :)

[Antoni Elie @ Aug 9th 2007 11:04AM]

I hear that this going to be the Flagship for T-Mobile's 3G Launch. The equipment is already up and running.

[Rodden Shaw @ Aug 9th 2007 11:05AM]

This shouldn't be difficult for Nokia to achieve since there is already a 3G version of the N95 on sale in Europe (with HSDPA no less...)

[roc ingersol @ Aug 9th 2007 11:15AM]

Considering that the n95 can save you the price of a decent camera, it's almost worth it.

[Tom @ Aug 9th 2007 11:06PM]

I have this phone and it's alright.. Only problem is that the camera's quality is pretty bad. Don't even bother trying to take pictures in a room which doesn't have any natural sunlight. Your picture will become a noisy mess. And while the phones had some firmware updates to improve picture quality, the colors are still off, and there's lots of strange colored noise appearing on certain objects in photos. Don't bother using the digital zoom either.

[Montusama @ Aug 9th 2007 11:17AM]

I wanted a cellphone thats less like a cellphone and more like a multimedia/internet/camera device

[Bad Beaver @ Aug 9th 2007 11:38AM]

Nothing to look forward to, people. Unless you like shoddy plastic and a crummy interface, you will probaly wonder why in the world you just dropped so much cash on that thing. It does *everything* though, just without style.

[Argot @ Aug 9th 2007 11:42AM]

Would you rather have something that does NOTHING but with style?

[Bad Beaver @ Aug 9th 2007 11:50AM]

I'd like something in the middle.

[Argot @ Aug 9th 2007 11:55AM]

Like what?

[Bad Beaver @ Aug 9th 2007 12:01PM]

If I only knew!

[Mike Klein @ Aug 9th 2007 12:52PM]

50 points for the honest answer...touche Bad Beaver!

[Bad Beaver @ Aug 9th 2007 1:13PM]

He he he :) It is truly sad, the N95 does not spark a bit of interest inside me- and I have been lusting for a new phone for a good while. Friend of mine has it, and it's about as sexy as granny's briefs, and the material feels too cheap to call it utilitarian without blushing.

[Daley @ Aug 9th 2007 11:50AM]

I've been using the N95 in the UK for about 2-3 months now on the O2 network.

I too, was really looking forward to it's launch, but i have been quite disappointed with the phone. Yes it does everything, but as a phone it's really poor.

My journey home from work is 22 miles. My old Motorola V3i would loose the signal in 1 spot, the N95 looses the signal 7-8 times!!

If anyone else has this problem, would be interested to know.


Daley

[Jon @ Aug 9th 2007 11:57AM]

The Motorola is a 2G device. As 3G coverage is poor in the countryside it is advisable to switch to 2G only on the N95 because it tends to try to hold on to weak 3G signals, which explains why you lose signal plenty of time.

[jay @ Aug 9th 2007 11:54AM]

so there's no way i can flash my firmware to US specs if one does come out?

[Donald @ Aug 9th 2007 6:58PM]

Nope, requires a completely different antenna.

[fobunited @ Aug 9th 2007 12:03PM]

Sounds great. Too bad Nokia N-series phones don't pair with BMW's bluetooth. For me, that needs to be fixed before I ever buy another Nokia.

[Alex @ Aug 9th 2007 12:34PM]

What about those of us who bought the phone already! I thought buying direct from Nokia instead of a grey market reseller would protect me from this sort of thing.

[Bryan @ Aug 9th 2007 12:47PM]

I hope this means a US 3G E90 is on the horizon.

[Mike Klein @ Aug 9th 2007 12:52PM]

There's a camera on the FRONT and the BACK? Well CingulaTT will remove the front camera when they import it...sigh....

[Phillip Donley @ Aug 9th 2007 5:00PM]

Can you say "30 minute battery life"? Looks kind of clunky to me.

[Al @ Aug 10th 2007 4:04AM]

No I cant. They upped the battery size to 1200 mah

[Henry @ Aug 9th 2007 8:12PM]

Well I know for a fact that Rogers in Canada is getting the N95 by xmas so this would make sense...