Nokia Finally Comes Around, Tri-band 3G N85 Gets FCC Approval

General

While everyone sits around waiting for the ever-delayed Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the first touchscreen S60 device that Nokia will issue, it looks like another first will be coming from Nokia long ahead of the Tube. Say hello to the Nokia N85. But wait, we’ve seen the N85 before so what’s the big deal? As we had heard a while back but not yet confirmed, the N85 will be the first S60 handset from Nokia to feature a tri-band WCDMA radio. In other words, one handset that will be compatible with 3G networks all over the world. Well, as long as you’re not on T-Mobile here in the US that is. It looks like there will actually be two versions of the N85. The big boy packing tri-band WCDMA and an “N85-Lite” that will omit 3G all together, likely a less expensive model for regions without well-developed 3G networks. So here are the specs as we know them so far:

  • Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and tri-band WCDMA
  • GPRS/EDGE and/or HSDPA data
  • 240×320 pixel QVGA Display
  • 5 megapixel camera with autofocus
  • Dual-slide form factor
  • WiFi, Bluetooth
  • FM Transmitter
  • AGPS

Still no word as far as a release date is concerned but we have to imagine an official announcement is pretty close and we may see this handset issued before 2008 is done.

Read

10 Comments
  • The Outside

    took them long enough

  • CanisMinor

    “Still no word as far as a release date”. Wow. You’re not calling it delayed? How come then the 5800Xpress music, which also still has “no word as far as a release date” is considered by you guys to be “ever-delayed”?

  • anmol

    i dont get the deal with this phone.
    is there anything at all exciting about this? its basically a n95 that looks worse.

  • http://www.bgr.com Zach Epstein

    The fact that the Product Manager stated that the first S60 Touch device would be released in Q3 2008 back at the Symbian Smartphone Show in September of 07 perhaps?

    The huge-dollar product placement in The Dark Knight that coincided with, umm, nothing perhaps?

  • This Guy

    Where is Evil Homer? Shouldnt he be posting something negative about Nokia about now?

  • CanisMinor

    @Zach:

    Well, you may have heard that somewhere in an interview. However, the official press release from the 2007 Symbian Smartphone Show clearly states that S60 Touch will be made available to device manufacturers in 2008. It states nothing about a Q3 Nokia release that I am aware of. Based on my knowledge, Nokia’s timeline has always been to release the Tube in December 2008 at a EUR400 price point.

    Maybe you’re thinking of an official announcement of the existence of the 5800Xpress. Nokia generally announces a phone 3 to 6 months before shipping it.

    But, hey, who am I to object. Call it severely delayed if that gives you a kick. This is not intended to be a US-market device, which is what your blog rightfully focuses on.

  • johdaxx

    Well I gotta say it’s about time.

  • blank

    the e71 and n82 were launched and made available pretty(in some areas)soon after. There are many spy spots going around so it be launched maybe in september.

  • GadgetDave

    So “tri-band WCDMA” is not all it is cracked up to be for this handset, since (after looking at the click through) it still does not fully support any US 3G network. It only supports Bands I,II, and VIII.

    To support AT&T US 3G, it needs BOTH 850 Mhz {Band V} and 1900Mhz {Band II}, and to support T-Mobile US 3G, it needs 1700Mhz {Band IV aka AWS}.

    Where is my 9 Band device ? I want GSM 850/900/1800/1900, and WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100. Oh, and unlocked please ;)

    ref:
    http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/wcdma%20band%20frequency.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands

  • Kale Consultants

    Darling,

    Get your facts straight ;-)
    “Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the first touchscreen S60 device that Nokia”

    It is NOT THE FIRST Symbian Touchscreen from NOKIA!!!…

    Nokia 7710 was… released in 2004 … WAY BEFORE apple dreamt of iPhone….

    The interface for N 7710 was way ahead of it’s time…. when it was released….

blog comments powered by Disqus