The Nokia N97 is a very much talked about smartphone and it seems there are still stock delays when it comes to T-Mobile, O2 and Orange.
Sales are picking up very well since its release two-weeks ago in Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4u and 3 stores, but T-Mobile and Orange are still waiting for the device, O2 will NOT be stocking the device. O2 are sticking with the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre which will keep them busy we are guessing.
Orange staff has been told according to Trading Markets that the Nokia N97 will not be stocked for another 3-weeks which is a long time, T-Mobile staff have been told that they will be getting stocks in two-weeks time.
The demand for the N97 is huge and these firms really need to be getting stock as soon as possibly whilst the buzz for these handsets are still high.
Orange won’t stock the N97 until they have managed to get their own crippled version of the firmware onto the device.
You can currently buy an N97 on Orange through carphonewarehouse, how? Because it’s the generic firmware, as Nokia supply it, just with the network locked to Orange.
Orange insist on installing their own “crap” firmware onto almost everything. You’ll get a horrible orange coloured theme, some odds and sods you will never use, VOIP over wifi crippled (if the N95 is a guide) and a huge delay in getting any further firmware updates (if you ever see them at all).
Needless to say, when I finally get mine from Orange, I’ll be changing that firmware for generic Nokia ASAP.
hi, just to comment with steve above, im on orange and i went into a orange store in brighton and the staff told me that the nokia n97 has been withdrawn due to software issues, so sort of ties in with comments that steve is on about, about orange wanting to put there own firmware on the device, can you install the firmware from nokia site and would it override the firmware that orange have installed? if orange dont sort themselves out, i’ll change networks,
Hi Steve h, in theory you can… On the N95 you just had to change the model number of the phone to a generic Nokia model (not an orange model), then apply the Nokia firmware update.
The reasons Orange aren’t stocking aren’t due to their ‘crappy’ software, its due to the phone being rubbish!
There are 54 known faults with the handset, and thats what Nokia have released to the networks so god knows how many there really are!
And Vodafone are also dropping the N97 from their network soon aswell, so its not just O2 and Orange
well i have the phone and mine is fine.
hi,
is this phone good or not? Because i really want to get a touchscreen phone with a keypad like the nokia N97. do any of you think i should get it or not? please write back:)
Kain,
Can I ask which phone company are you with?
Because I’m with orange contract and I would like to know if I can get the phone but how much it will cost me.
If you get this please comment back:)
Hi,
Wondering how you would go about getting the generic firmware when you’ve finally got this phone Steve?
Reckon this phone will be available on orange online by December?