After spending about a month trying to connect to T-Mobile VPN after a firmware update and then finally spending 40 minutes on the telephone with level 2 Nokia techs I came to a hypothesis about why I can pair but not connect to T-Mobile VPN with my Sony Ericcson T610 phone after a firmware update to the the December 30, 2005 firmware. This post is intended to test the hypothesis. Clearly the Nokia 770 is paired because I can read and transfer files. It starts the connection process (gets a globe on the phone) and then aborts with an Internet Connection Failure error. With the old firmware the same T610 phone worked fine to connect to T-Mobile VPN. After the tech told me that they will only guarantee connection with Nokia phones, I specifically asked whether they had added any non-Bluetooth compliant routines to the new firmware to exclude non-Nokia phones from their bluetooth connection (which, of course, they do not advertise). While the tech pointed out he could not even off the record tell me because we were on a recorded call, I was left with the firm impression that Nokia may have intentionally disabled some or many non-Nokia phones from working with the new firmware. Has anyone been able to connect to T-Mobile VPN or any other GPRS service with a non-Nokia phone since upgrading the firmware? If not, does anyone else see this as a potential false advertising, standards departure, and anti-trust (tie-in) problem? Let's see what other peoples experiences have been with the upgrade and non-Nokia phones? Please post your results.

PS. Does anyone have a copy or know where I can get a copy of the old firmware so I can downgrade and get my phone working again? Nokia would not provide it so I could get the 770 back to original condition (a further hint regarding my hypothesis)