Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

Just as I did with my Nokia N810 pre-order last October, I've begun watching Nokia retailers here in the US to see who has been promised how many, on what dates, and for how much.

I pre-ordered my original Nokia N810 on 10/23/2007 2:55:24 PM. Due to multiple delays from Nokia, it wasn't until November 21st, 2007 when I got my N810. Despite the delays for hardware and last minute flashing of OS2008 by the Nokia team, I was very happy with my pre-order and with my N810.

I have been involved with the Clearwire WiMax project as a systems engineer, and I'm pretty happy with where it's going. I'm especially looking forward to using the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition with Clearwire. As of 5/9/2008 11:57:41 AM, I have a Nokia N810 WiMax Edition on pre-order.

Two weeks ago, retailers in the US were expecting NOKN810WIMAX in mid-July. On Friday, May 16th, retailers were notified that stock would not be received until mid-October.

Does anyone know the details (and can say them) behind the N810 WiMax? With so many players (Clearwire, multiple Nokia teams, Maemo), I'm expecting the N810 WiMax release to be as much "fun" :p as the original N810 was last November.

The Nokia N810 WiMax is going to be the most fun I've had with the N800 and N810 series... there's some real potential here! :D

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

Looks like you have done good on your homework... :)

Clearly the recent Sprint/Clearwire deal had shuffled the original schedule quite drastically...

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

Thanks... but I don't think all the details and markets have been ironed out just yet. Do you think it's pretty safe to say we'll probably see more sliding? How secure are Nokia folks in preparing for an October shipment of Nokia N810 WiMax?

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

Engadget says it'll be Mid-July -- however waiting on the Xohm/Clearwire/etc merger to go through (and all the rebranding and reorg that's associated with it) is what's going to hang it up I believe. So I'd project mid-to-late October at the earliest.

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

Cool, that's what I was figuring.

So what will the final branding be? If Sprint becomes the majority shareholder, are they going with Xohm? My understanding was that the JV with all its partners will still headed by Clearwire (ie "WiMax will live; Xohm dies"). Xohm has a pretty strong brand, even if Sprint itself is finding itself weaker.

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

Hard to say what the new brand name will be. I figured it'd be Xohm due to the shareholder requirement, but the name has been tarnished a lot for not delivering. So, it wouldn't surprise me if they just completely rebrand with something new/fresh. I hope Sprint and the rest get their act together, cause they're really hurting the technology (and scaring off early adopters) with all the delays.

I was going to get one with wimax, but decided the other day to finally just buy a regular n810 due to delays. :/

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

I for one hope they go with Clearwire instead of Xohm. Why use such an odd looking brand that consumers might have trouble pronouncing? I've had Clearwire in the past (In the Abilene, TX market, one of their firsts) and it was really nice.

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

Xohm is less syllables; as for spoken, most people will get the pronunciation right, and the few saying choam won't really confuse anyone...

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

If the WE is branded with anything other than just Nokia then I'm not buying. They would be missing the whole point of why I'm not in the cell market at all, provider lock in. Unless it is open and free to use on any provider that offers service there is no way it will meet my needs and price point. Even if there is only one provider at first I want to feel that the protocols are open for other providers to come in at some point. Otherwise it will be the same old game of high cost and low quality service. It isn't about the price of the device but the price of using it.

Right now my WiFI is mostly free to use, and yes, it is a phone to me. WiMAX promises better mobility so I'm willing to pay something for that but expect a service not unlike the simplicity of regular internet. Just get me online and I'll use my own choice of services most of which I'll provide for myself.

Re: Waiting for the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition
 

For a new market like WiMax, I don't see how it's possible for them to open up the service without mid or long term contracts to build up their initial user base.