My dear Iacopo, Enzo, Kang and others, who complain about the delay in the availability of the Anna update in their countries, including myself.
I like to give my opinion about this phenomenon and to explain how I have reached that opinion. First I want to bring up my limitations. I have no inside information about the policy applied by Nokia and by the regions and countries. Also, I have no clue how Nokia is organized in that matter. I understand from Yvonne, an employee of Nokia, that first and for all the liability for the implementation of the roll out of updates is in the hands of the countries. I have to believe her!! But is such an approach with all those little separate kingdoms a good solution? Is this good management? In different countries are different cultures, in business as well. There must be room for a making a difference, but within limits. The preparation of an update policy must include the countries too and differences of more than two weeks show a poor preparation.
An other limitation is, that I will use the N8 and set up of the previous update of that phone. This was the update to 14.002, our (still) actual version of the FW. When you go to the website of Nokia in your country, you can sort out on that website whether you can apply the update Anna or not. You can do that by filling out the product code of your N8. What is exactly a product code and what will be the meaning of this code? When you fill out in your call feature *#0000# you will see a lot of information about the actual status of your FW. However, it is not just information about the FW, but also about the phone itself. Part of the information about the phone (the hardware) is the so called product code. Although you have to fill out the product code on the Nokia website, this code is only partial important for the version and content of the FW. Let me explain a little bit. The N8 comes in different colors and each and every color result in a different product code. Suppose you have a dark grey N8 and your neighbor a green one. Your phones will have different product codes, but the FW will be the same, if either one of you has bought the phone in the same country and at the same network provider or both phones are bought unsimlocked.
The USA and Canada form the region North America. In the USA I can find in the set up of the previous update 6 product codes (6 different colors) for the US alone. I can find 6 product codes (6 different colors) for the entire region. So in total 12 different product codes, however mainly only as a result of different colors. Network related product codes were not found!
Related to Italy I found for the euro region 6 different product codes, because of 6 colors. For the country Italy I found 6 different product codes, because of color differentiation. Network related product codes were not found. In total 12 different product codes.
At last my country the Netherlands. I could find 7 different product codes related to my country alone (called: country variant), because of the colors. One product code for a T mobile network related phone and two different product codes, because of 2 colors, for the Vodafone network related phones.
I'm for 100% convinced that the number of different product codes, which cannot and will not imply different FW versions and/or content, can be the reason for the delay in the US, Italy and the Netherlands. I have called the Nokia Care Center and asked the man, if he could update my N8, because I was not prepared to wait till the day on which the slowest network provider is ready with his part of the (update) deal. The Care Center employee assured me that this will not happen. When a segment of the phones (read product numbers) is ready, the roll out will take place without any delay. Interesting was his remark that in the Netherlands a lot of Nokia phones have been sold in the business area and those phones are never standard like my N8, which I bought without a contract with a network provider and without a simlock. So, only standard factory settings in my FW. E7 and N8 phones have been shipped with Anna FW on board in July already, because those phones had standard factory FW. I don't understand that I, and with me all the customers with standard factory FW, have to wait till the second half of August plus, that, moreover, many users like me must encounter a delay in regard to other countries. I don't know the situation outside of the Netherlands in regard of buying phones. I guess that a big majority buys a phone at the (web)shop of a network provider and these providers are big clients for Nokia and other phone manufactures. I guess that commercial reasons will play an important role in the choice how to satisfy a client. I suspect that network affiliated phones and phones of employees of big companies using SW modified phones will be treated with a certain priority. I cannot proof it, but it is for me the only logical explanation, because from a pure technical point of view factory based FW must be easier to update.
I bought a Nokia because of the reliability of the hardware. I didn't know that the reliability of the software and the maintenance of the software did not reach the standard of the hardware. My memory went back to the years that Microsoft launched their Windows ME. Microsoft could correct it. Can Nokia too?
Was signed by mobywil, retired electronic and teacher data communication.
