February update for RM-821 - WTF?! - Nokia, get your act together

[jdhooghe]

All this blaming toward the US...again. And again. And again. How does Canada fit in to your logic? Please tell me.

EDIT: Look. I would be peeved too. What's getting to me though is this constant anti-US sentiment which makes no sense in light of Canada. We don't know what the **** is going on. We don't know if it's the carriers or what. Calm down because this rage post gets you nowhere. Email Nokia. Call Nokia. Call Microsoft. Do something that would make a difference for god's sake.

 

[Quist2012]

All this blaming toward the US...again. And again. And again. How does Canada fit in to your logic? Please tell me.

EDIT: Look. I would be peeved too. What's getting to me though is this constant anti-US sentiment which makes no sense in light of Canada. We don't know what the **** is going on. We don't know if it's the carriers or what. Calm down because this rage post gets you nowhere. Email Nokia. Call Nokia. Call Microsoft. Do something that would make a difference for god's sake.

Errrm, whose blaming anything on the US? We were simply reacting to a completely unbalanced situation with regard to this particular update. As an aside, I'm American myself. I have several prepaid accounts in the US that I try to keep active (two with AT&T and one with T-Mobile) and I spend a large part of my year in the States every year. How my life looks is exactly why I would never get a locked phone, here or in the States. Someone said earlier that AT&T surely paid Nokia to get updates first and I'm sure they did. Normally, however, those priority position sales would be limited to the coverage area market, i.e. AT&T before Verizon or Sprint or T-Mobile, but not fully globally. I mean, why would it make a difference if AT&T in the US gets an update before Rogers in Canada or EE in the UK? Even if it did, having a release difference of a few weeks is one thing, but more than two months? The disproportionality of the whole thing is what gets our goat.

"Do something that would make a difference for god's sake."

Errm, again, if you look at the posts in between these "friendly discussions" you might notice that I've been trying to get people info on the handful of unreleased Portico versions available on Navifirm. So, on that note, we'll return to the positive discussion we already had before the interruptions...

...so I finally managed to install the Belgium Proximus version of the firmware on my unlocked Swedish 920 (RM-821) and it went relatively well. I couldn't manage to get it to work on my 64-bit Windows 7 system, but it all went as planned on my 32-bit Windows 7 computer. I opted to reinstall my backup and ran into a few issues there. Because the backup doesn't save (or didn't for me) the wifi info, a bunch of the apps didn't want to install automatically. I put my local SIM card in and it took a few extra seconds to get the mobile data running. Whereas it said "4G" before, it now says "L" presumably for LTE, but I've speed tested it and I am getting 4G speeds. Also, I had a bunch of apps preinstalled on my original Swedish firmware, installed some with the region/language settings in Swedish and some in US/English, so I had to fiddle with that a bit.Still, a bunch of apps refused to install giving me some 8ffff error or something. That was sorted out by long-press on the download page in the Store and quitting the download. Then I was able to install or update those apps manually no problem.

As to the improvements, this Belgian firmware has the wifi always on option and the pictures feel a bit better, but I'll have to wait until I get more time to test it and compare it to my other phone cameras.That said, this work around has given my international 920 a new lease on life. Still, just to be sure, I'll be contacting my vendor to see if they've extended their return period for the Christmas holiday so I can make sure I'm certain I want to stick with it.

Having said all this, I'd just like to mention the fact that had I not felt obliged and free to complain a bit about this and if I hadn't received all the support from a good many of you (THANK YOU!), I wouldn't have found the energy or impetus to get this work around up and running. But now I have the update running on my international 920 with 4G working in spite of how Nokia is handling their official releases. Thanks to all of you who've been supportive! I hope my notes here might give you some options, at least until February.

 

[TheDvlsAdvc8]

OMG! You have to deal with soft pics for 2 months. I don't know how you'll survive. Funny thing is, if they had said everyone's update comes "february 2013", you probably wouldn't be complaining.

Its not the time, its the fact you wasted money thinking you'd get some earlier update benefit. Oh well, dems the breaks.

This has to be the whiniest forum I've ever been on.

 

[Quist2012]

OMG! You have to deal with soft pics for 2 months. I don't know how you'll survive. Funny thing is, if they had said everyone's update comes "february 2013", you probably wouldn't be complaining.

Its not the time, its the fact you wasted money thinking you'd get some earlier update benefit. Oh well, dems the breaks.

This has to be the whiniest forum I've ever been on.

And what a positive contribution you're apparently making to it. You have really gone out of your way to be demeaning. Cheers.

On another forum I once said that I wouldn't be keeping the phone if Nokia didn't come out with a fix sometime during the holidays, so yes, I would be complaining if they said everyone's update wouldn't come out until February. The very fact that the phone obviously didn't perform as it claimed to and that Nokia admitted to it was enough to expect a timely fix. Coming out with an update for one region and saying the exact same update wouldn't be coming out for the rest of the world for more than two months just exacerbated the situation.

I get so sick of all these people complaining about complaining - what? would it be better if we were all mindless fanboys saying "this is the best phone ever and NOTHING needs to be changed to make it any better"? What a rewarding discussion that would be. We could just sit around and talk about how cool we all are.

 

[Tahiti Bob]

In the history of updates, I've never heard of unlocked phones getting updated after carrier-branded ones, let alone two months later. This is a first, and a very poor one. Now seeing people trying to find arguments to defend that is beyond me.

 

[ZiCoN_dk]

Doesn't matter.... The world's gonna end in about an hour anyway :wink:

 

[dabdoub81]

And what a positive contribution you're apparently making to it. You have really gone out of your way to be demeaning. Cheers.

I get so sick of all these people complaining about complaining - what? would it be better if we were all mindless fanboys saying "this is the best phone ever and NOTHING needs to be changed to make it any better"? What a rewarding discussion that would be. We could just sit around and talk about how cool we all are.

Just signed in to thank you , so thank you

 

[TheDvlsAdvc8]

And what a positive contribution you're apparently making to it. You have really gone out of your way to be demeaning. Cheers.

On another forum I once said that I wouldn't be keeping the phone if Nokia didn't come out with a fix sometime during the holidays, so yes, I would be complaining if they said everyone's update wouldn't come out until February. The very fact that the phone obviously didn't perform as it claimed to and that Nokia admitted to it was enough to expect a timely fix. Coming out with an update for one region and saying the exact same update wouldn't be coming out for the rest of the world for more than two months just exacerbated the situation.

I get so sick of all these people complaining about complaining - what? would it be better if we were all mindless fanboys saying "this is the best phone ever and NOTHING needs to be changed to make it any better"? What a rewarding discussion that would be. We could just sit around and talk about how cool we all are.

You're complaining that you haven't gotten the update... you're not suggesting something to be changed in the phone. Who knows why you haven't gotten the update, but whining about it is pretty useless... there's nothing there to discuss. That's not an issue of being a fan or not, that's just stupid.

Its one thing to say you need a notification center and talk about cool ways it could be implemented, but whining about not getting an update yet is just whining. What a rewarding discussion that would be.

 

[Quist2012]

You're complaining that you haven't gotten the update... you're not suggesting something to be changed in the phone. Who knows why you haven't gotten the update, but whining about it is pretty useless... there's nothing there to discuss. That's not an issue of being a fan or not, that's just stupid.

Its one thing to say you need a notification center and talk about cool ways it could be implemented, but whining about not getting an update yet is just whining. What a rewarding discussion that would be.

I've read this four times now and fail to see any point being made whatsoever. Except to be demeaning, that is. Read the whole thread and all of what's being said here by me and numerous others. Saying that we're "whining" is simply insulting. And I am indeed saying something needs to be changed on the phone - the camera software needs to be fixed along with numerous other issues, but it's not being fixed by the manufacturer in the timeframe promised, if at all.

Unless you won your phone in a contest, we've all paid a pretty large sum of money for this thing, whether you bought it on contract or not, and what we got simply did not live up to expectations. The manufacturer even acknowledged that fact and promised a timely fix. They then proceeded to expedite that fix for only a portion of their customer base and told everyone else that bought the phone that they would have to live with the admitted shortcomings for more than two months. Why shouldn't we be disappointed and outraged?

Moreover, if you read the thread, there is helpful information for anyone drawn to the subject line to get the "fix" early. As it is turning out, however, that fix is proving to be a big let down to a lot of us. The international version of the 920 is simply not seeing the massive improvement in images after Portico that the North American version is.

Lastly, a smartphone is not just a static device, it is an entire package - from the hardware and software provided at purchase/launch to the apps available that can be installed on it to the updates it gets during its lifetime, both app-wise and firmware-wise. When I bought this phone, I trusted Nokia when they said it had an excellent camera. When that later turned out not to be the case, I trusted Nokia when they said they would fix it this month. Instead, they postponed any kind of fix, leaving me to wonder how foolish it was to believe them. Now as it happens, we can flash an update ourselves using unofficial channels - should we really have to do that? Of course not. For those of us that have flashed the fix ourselves, has it fixed most of the issues? Some, but certainly not the camera. Where does that leave us? Well, our return periods have long since passed or will have expired by February when the OTA update was promised. So we've spent $450-850 for a phone, a Nokia PureView phone, that has a subpar camera. Is there anything right about that? No. Are we entitled to be disappointed? Absolutely. Should we refrain from posting about our disappointment in the hopes of finding a solution? Don't be daft, of course not.

 

[TheDvlsAdvc8]

Last, but not least, how is it that folks that have gotten their update even bother to wade in on a topic that has nothing to do with them just because somebody else is expressing dissatisfaction? Wouldn't you have been dissatisfied if a major fix like this was made available only in Northern Europe or China and you were told it wouldn't be coming to your phone for two months?

I had an original AT&T Samsung Focus. I don't think the thing ever got the Tango update. THAT might have been complaint worthy... having to wait of couple months, not so much. I did that too with Mango. What would the point of complaining about this be? To garner sympathy?

I don't care that you bought a unlocked phone, I don't care that you paid more. I just don't see the point in complaining about a two month wait. Stop complaining and just return the phone if its really a big deal to you.

I'm not at all surprised that North America has gotten the update first. Its a large homogenous market that generates the vast majority of media/news/reviews... success of windows phone rides more on its success in the US than any other country. That's just how it is. What was surprising was that we were among the last to get the mango update in wp7 - and that fact did a lot of damage to the phone's reputation.

Just a heads up, but all devices have problems, even with major selling points of the phone. iOS 6 has been available some 4 months and it still periodically loses cellular data connection. It still has bluetooth audio issues. LTE didn't work for many european carriers until the December update. Wifi also had a bug that wasn't fixed until December. You're getting an update within 4 months of launch... it doesn't sound torch and pitchfork worthy to me.

 

[TheDvlsAdvc8]

I've read this four times now and fail to see any point being made whatsoever. Except to be demeaning, that is. Read the whole thread and all of what's being said here by me and numerous others. Saying that we're "whining" is simply insulting. And I am indeed saying something needs to be changed on the phone - the camera software needs to be fixed along with numerous other issues, but it's not being fixed by the manufacturer in the timeframe promised, if at all.

All phones have issues. What timeframe was promised you? The only thing I've seen regarding your market is "early feb".

Unless you won your phone in a contest, we've all paid a pretty large sum of money for this thing, whether you bought it on contract or not, and what we got simply did not live up to expectations. The manufacturer even acknowledged that fact and promised a timely fix. They then proceeded to expedite that fix for only a portion of their customer base and told everyone else that bought the phone that they would have to live with the admitted shortcomings for more than two months. Why shouldn't we be disappointed and outraged?

I was disappointed in the camera, but overall satisfied by the device. Do you think Apple customers were satisfied with Apple Maps? How many do you think are returning their iphones over it? This is the case with nearly EVERY product. Getting an update within 4 months of device launch is a fairly timely fix imo. If it continued at that pace, it would mean 3 updates a year... this would be dissatisfying?

Where does that leave us? Well, our return periods have long since passed or will have expired by February when the OTA update was promised. So we've spent $450-850 for a phone, a Nokia PureView phone, that has a subpar camera. Is there anything right about that? No. Are we entitled to be disappointed? Absolutely. Should we refrain from posting about our disappointment in the hopes of finding a solution? Don't be daft, of course not.

The return period provided by most carriers and manufacturers is generally expired by the time the first update for a device is available... so its a moot point. I don't know why your camera issues aren't fixed manually flashing... maybe that's why they want you to wait till february. Maybe they know something we don't about what needs to be done. Maybe they decided to prioritize north america and address the largest segment of their customer base as quickly as possible.

Be disappointed, sure. But no matter where you go you're going to be disappointed if you expect all problems to be resolved in the first 4 months. My wife has an iphone that randomly loses its cellular data connection for 5 minutes at a time even after a couple updates... I'd say that's a major selling point of the phone that was unfulfilled too. You have to deal with camera softness for a couple months and its the end of the world.

 

[Quist2012]

I had an original AT&T Samsung Focus. I don't think the thing ever got the Tango update. THAT might have been complaint worthy... having to wait of couple months, not so much. I did that too with Mango. What would the point of complaining about this be? To garner sympathy?

I don't care that you bought a unlocked phone, I don't care that you paid more. I just don't see the point in complaining about a two month wait. Stop complaining and just return the phone if its really a big deal to you.

I'm not at all surprised that North America has gotten the update first. Its a large homogenous market that generates the vast majority of media/news/reviews... success of windows phone rides more on its success in the US than any other country. That's just how it is. What was surprising was that we were among the last to get the mango update in wp7 - and that fact did a lot of damage to the phone's reputation.

Just a heads up, but all devices have problems, even with major selling points of the phone. iOS 6 has been available some 4 months and it still periodically loses cellular data connection. It still has bluetooth audio issues. LTE didn't work for many european carriers until the December update. Wifi also had a bug that wasn't fixed until December. You're getting an update within 4 months of launch... it doesn't sound torch and pitchfork worthy to me.

I still can't fathom what made you so compelled to post in this thread in the first place. You got the update more than a week ago with a huge improvement in the camera so why respond to a thread about a delay in the update to the RM-821? You don't even have the same phone as the one we're discussing here, but apparently are so upset about the fact that somebody is complaining about defective performance and poor follow through by the manufacturer that you feel you have something to add to the discussion.

We get your point - you think we have no right or reason to be upset or to post about it on this forum - fine. Thanks for your opinion. Now if you let those of us that actually have an RM-821 continue our discussion, it would be greatly appreciated.

Back on topic, it would be interesting to hear from the first people that get the RM-821 update OTA. Nokia has been populating its servers with a Portico update for several versions of the RM-821 in the past few days, but far from all regions are being covered and none has gone live OTA as yet. A few people are reporting some improvement to the camera, but most with the RM-821 who have flashed the update on the servers are reporting little to no improvement in the pictures. I initially thought I saw an improvement, but on closer inspection only the contrast and color balance seemed slighty better, but the pictures were still fuzzy on numerous versions of the update. That leaves me wondering if there is even a camera fix in the update being prepared for launch on the RM-821.

 

[Hiro2]

Well I agree as well: fine give update to RM-821 later than 820, but in February? For something that used for hours, everyday - 2 months this is a very long time to wait. Moreover, I would of flash it myself to 820 to force the update, but with current WP8 backup system which takes ages to setup the phone, flashing isnt really worth the hassle. If we would of had an option to backup to PC and restore from there, (similar how itunes does it for iPhone) then restoring the phone would of been painless...Nevertheless, we picked WP8 which is less polished than other platforms but more innovative at what it does. Remember, no one force you to buy Lumia, but polishing something like a major eco system takes time...

"good things come to those who wait..."

 

[erzhik]

The reason why US got the update first, was because it's a much smaller market for Nokia at this moment. There are a lot less 920s in US then there are in other parts of the world. The update came here first because of mass testing purposes. If something went wrong, it would've been a lot worse with unlocked 920s then with AT&T and Rogers versions. So stop complaining, CHILL OUT. You paid higher price not for immediate updates, but for actual UNLOCK and no carrier involvement. Not only that, but unlocked 920s have better retail value and better retail packaging. AT&T doesn't get color matching headphones.

 

[Quist2012]

I love how everyone who is telling us to stop complaining got their update already, which unless they flashed the update themselves also means that they don't even have an RM-821...

...I was just in the middle of writing yet another post defending our right to be disappointed and justifying that disappointment when I started thinking about ever having run into so much attitude to complaints and an honest interest in seeking improvements back in the day with Windows Mobile on XDA Developers, more recently at XDA with Android or on any of the multitude of Symbian developer and owner forums over the past 15 years. I have never seen anything of the like on any of these forums, yet here, a load of people who have the RM-820 feel obliged to highjack threads on the RM-821 and to hound anyone and everyone who has a complaint. The prevailing attitude here among a small, but vocal minority appears to be "keep your mouth shut or get out". It's just sad. Especially considering how many posted their thanks for this thread and many others.

That said, I can't be bothered anymore. We could have been talking about our flashing experienced with the firmwares that are available. Helping those who need help to flash or don't dare. Talking about the results from Portico we're seeing on the RM-821 compared to what seems to be working on the RM-820. Instead, the focus here has shifted to these peoples' problems with the fact that we are not happy with a two month delay in the update. I can only repeat myself - it's just sad.