You've been labeled a nonbeliever

I think the Pandora folks have been consistent so far in willing to eat the exchange rate differences from a canceled order to a reorder. You just to have to provide your original order number and amount you originally paid in your currency.

The thing I find scary about the Pandora is the little item about testing. I am not involved in the consumer electronics business, but from where I stand testing always takes longer than you think, and you always find things you didn't anticipate. Without a thorough testing and QA program, defects will be introduced. The mantra should be test early and test often. I worry that the Pandora folks are so focused on just getting a complete unit to come together that they may have a tendency to minimize the testing aspect.

Back in the day, I purchased one of the first ipaq pocket pcs. They weren't sealed well and were plagued with dust under the screen. I had to send it off for warrantee service to get the screen replaced. Compaq was a big company and the ipaq was also a revolutionary device at the time.

My assumption is that Nokia spends a significant amount of time during testing, and without proof, I would also assume that changes have been made to released products hardware wise as a result of testing.

Oh there is definitely proof of that, lots of it.

You would not BELIEVE the lengths Nokia go to with their testing procedures. The resources they pour into testing are immense, and well beyond the means of smaller companies. For example just one impact-testing slow-mo camera costs over ten thousand euros, and is used to measure how the phone deforms when it is dropped.

Even if you totally ignore device OS and software, the hardware alone has to go through a LOT of hoops before it gets released: tumble tests, drop tests, multi-point bending tests, moisture tests, splash tests, temperature tests, repeated use tests etc.

All About Symbian was invited to tour Nokia's testing facility (which is based in the UK) and here's a video shot by my editor Steve Litchfield:

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/media...arnborough.php

You can also watch the tour on Google Video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...21695595&hl=en

And all this is just internal testing. A lot of tests have to then be repeated independently in order to receive certificates from various government bodies around the world.

How about: If I lose the bet, I'll show up at the Summit in a purple pimp suit?

With matching shoes, of course.

If I win, Fanoush has to show up in... um... a chicken suit.

EDIT: krisse, I've done some (accidental) submersion tests on my N800. Amazing how rugged those things are. You can tell that Nokia puts a lot of money into getting it right.

Earlier in the spring my 5800 got dropped so hard onto a concrete floor that the cover and battery flew off at high speed.

When I snapped it back together though:

-It worked fine, and has worked fine ever since (many many weeks ago now).

-Not a scratch! I swear this is true, I cannot find a single mark anywhere on the phone or casing. Nothing.

Unofficial replacement covers for Nokia phones tend to snap much more easily than the official covers, so I'm guessing Nokia uses materials which are exceptionally good at flexing and enduring physical blows.

Even so they managed to release the 770 with the WSOD and at least an N800 batch with the screen lasting just a year.

Well, the tests are on the device's design rather than every unit that leaves the factory.

If the design is followed properly by the factory and parts suppliers, it should be as reliable as the test results show. Unfortunately some problems will creep in during assembly which aren't necessarily anything to do with the design.

For example the very first batch of 5800s had an over-fragile earpiece which was caused by the earpiece part Nokia ordered not matching the spec they asked for. Once the problem was found Nokia switched to a different earpiece supplier and replaced every first-batch 5800's earpiece when they went to authorised repair centres for any reason.

How would Pandora cope if they end up in a similar situation? And even if the manufacturing goes without a hitch, is the Pandora's design durable enough?

Does the rumoured Nokia phone count for the purpose of the bet?

I would say yes, although it looks like Pandora may ship in July and beat it anyway at this point.

Pandora is looking tastier and tastier as time goes by. Hopefully a product will appear

I wonder whether is there a way to add cellular connectivity to the Pandie. My first planned approximation is a usb 3g modem velcroed to one side. Any better idea?