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Crippled N95

Posted by mikew on Apr 16, 2007 in This Is Broken | Comments | Share

Carriers have crippled another handset. This time Vodafone and Orange removed access to Internet telephony from their branded Nokia N95. Andy at VoIP Watch suggests that it may be possible to reflash the phone to Nokia’s original settings. But be warned, you will probably void your warranty in the process.

In his post, Andy also reminds us about the E62 on Cingular: it’s just like its E61 twin, except with Wi-Fi removed. That difference is a hardware change, so reflashing won’t solve the problem. Of course, this practice of crippling isn’t limited to GSM carriers or even just Nokia phones. Verizon Wireless is a major offender as well (note that it may be possible to fix Bluetooth in some Verizon Wireless branded phones after purchase, but the details are murky).

Yet another reason to buy your N95 directly from Nokia.

mikew

Paul, your instructions were enlightening. The way consumers are forced to feel (paraphrasing your post here) like pirates when trying to access features that came with their phones -- that's murky.

paul

Sorry about the murky instructions: it took so long to get there, I lost track of all the steps. I'm not sure there's enough there for a clueful self-starter to get going with (I hope so) but if not, I could try and document my work more carefully if I did this with another handset.

mikew

Hey Rick -- great thoughts. Phones are getting better but as you point out, there's still lots of room for improvement. This story with the N95 caught my eye because they removed functionality that would have benefited the customer. I wanted to post a reminder that in cases such as this one, there are better options.

Rick Gibson

Carriers have crippled another handset - a very interesting opening statement. Why do I as a customer have to conform to the UI and service offerings demanded by my carrier? Why can't I persoanlize my device to include naming icons, selecting which web or applications I want to have buttons direct me to, add or modify the on deck and off deck choices to create my own device based on my use and preferences?

What a world if I could have the flexibility to control my device like I do my desk top and not be at the mercy of each carrier.

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