I read that the N95 is selling extremely well - in the Nokia Q2 results, it states that 1.5 million N95s were sold in Q2. That's over 10 N95 phones sold per minute for three straight months! Pretty good demand, similar or better than the iPhone (1m in 3 months, albeit US-only). Then you have the E65 selling 1m in 3 months, and 25% of sales in India (a huge market) are for E and N-series phones.

And that's how Nokia can gain the upper hand with the service providers, by having the devices that consumers demand - then see if the service providers refuse to sell Nokia phones. Sure, there'll be some pain along the way, but this is what Nokia needs to do - get tough with the service providers and stop them dictating the terms, stop them controlling access to content and stop them from deleting functionality from phones which impairs the overall experience.

It's a shame that Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and SonyEricsson etc. can't get together and agree a united strategy to rest power from the service providers, although that might have questionable legal implications.

One day - sooner rather than later - the service providers will realise their purpose is to provide and maintain the network, and nothing more.

Nokia tried that in the US, Milhouse. The other phone providers took advantage instead of realizing that approach was in their favor as well. Or maybe realized it but were too fearful to rebel also. Either way, it's back to square one for Nokia in the US market.

Nokia actually entered the U.S. market? Odd, I'm not seeing any Nokia phone commercials on TV like I see for the Helio, iPhone, etc.
While it's nice to have not one but TWO [snicker] "flagship" stores in the U.S. they aren't going to be worth a damn if Nokia doesn't get off their *** and ADVERTISE THEIR PRODUCTS IN THE MARKETS THEY HAVE STORES IN.

Seriously, find the Finnish guy in charge of U.S. marketing/advertising and kick him in the nuts.
Repeatedly. Many times. Until he dies horribly.
Then hire someone who at least has an inkling of what to do.
I've come to the realization today that talking "nice" about Nokia and offering them sound advice isn't working so we all just need to start kicking every Nokia employee we meet in the jimmy until they finally get a phucking clue.
Sometimes violence is the answer.

I've also come to the conclusion that sticking native Finnish speakers in front of English speaking audiences with the intention of announcing the latest gadgets and technologies just doesn't work - the presentations (and I've watched a few, believe me) lack charisma and any shred of enthusiasm. This isn't their fault, it's probably lost in the translation (and they're doing a better job than I could ever hope to achieve in reverse) but the fact of the matter is that it simply doesn't work as well as their competitors.

Nokia - hire some decent presenters for Christ's sake, you'd save a fortune in advertising if you only achieved 10% of the media coverage generated by a single Steve Jobs demonstration.

I'm considering to buy a new iPod for my music - since the old one breaks down all the time with strange "1418" error messages that Apple denies are any real problem - but I wouldn't consider the Touch. I want a great mp3 device.

Specifically:
- Small and pocketable. Nano is great, Classic somewhat acceptable. Touch is rather brickish.
- Easy to use, under different conditions. Adjust volume, change to the next track. Now this is the biggest reason why Touch is a no-no. I can press "next track" blind, with the ipod in my pocket, as well as adjust the volume. Try doing that with a touch screen.
- Plenty of storage space for a reasonable price. Classic is great, Nano and Touch ... Well, I want 40 gigabytes at least for about half of my music library.

I'm sure the Touch will sell reasonably well, but I doubt that these people really think too much about the fact that it's simply worse to use as a mobile mp3 player than the Classic or the Nano. Touch screens aren't the holy grail for everything in the world.

Bingo. I can't wait until all of these Touches are out in the wild and people realize they have to LOOK at the screen to see where they're at.

Give me the wheels, buttons and other hardware doodads, thanks.

You're by yourself on that one. A touch screen is what's essential on the Nokia Internet Tablet... it's good to have on the iPod as well... just like it's great to have on the iPhone.

What's being swayed around too much in this thread is personal opinion, imho. Apple has a commercial hit on their hands. It will sell well within their lineup of products. NAND Memory and touch screen will be their answer to the people that want iPhone-ish tech but not unhappy with their phone.

For casual users, it's wifi abilities will be enough to whip out and use at a hotspot. I personally need a bit more - I use Pidgin, among other things a bit much (Nokia 770 user here, so Skype is a wet-dream) - and my access to multiple POP3 accounts is stellar on my internet tablet.

But honestly? Nokia isn't marketing in the US at all. The iPod Touch will sell in numbers that will make it more of a mainstream success. And if anything, Linux for the masses has been proven to not be as universal as it can be. Things have to be dumbed down and "just work" in order for it to be a commercial success.

I personally need root access. But I wish that Nokia would build a button less Internet Tablet... practical? Perhaps not. But it'd be a bit sleeker than the "retro styling" on the N800. And I'm one of the few that's happy with the 770's styling. It's sorta like the Commodore 64 of styling that does it for me.

Oh... and this...

Moot point. You have to look at your Internet Tablet in order to use it too. Only volume and full-screen and navigation (something you have to notice while looking at it) work well... and only one of them is something you can do without looking at it on the Nokia IT's.

I use my Internet Tablet. So that means I will look at it while using it. I turn my iPod on, set shuffle, lock the controls, slip it into a case, and walk with it.

The iPod Touch will be used the same way by me. I'm now waiting for the hackers to get a chance with it. Seems like the iPhone hacks will work on the iPod Touch as well.

Yeah, there's a lot of reasons why the touch controls Apple added to the 3G were removed for the Click Wheel in the 4G. Believe me, I've owned both. Of course, if they had announced a remote for the iPod touch, that would have helped greatly.

Note: it's the same reason why I don't use the Nokia as a primary media device -- usability demands that *some* actions are buttons for speed and accessibility in tasks. When I go out with my iPod, I'm holding it in my hand or in my pocket, thumb on the wheel, unconsciously adjusting volume levels, skipping back and forth, pausing to hear an announcement on the train, etc. all without looking at it. The N800 design just isn't as specialized for media, from the lack of a hardware media controls that work regardless of foreground app to smaller bumps like the unfortunate distinction between system volume and media player volumes.

[Edited: corrected the whole 3G-4G thing]

Yep. The American market is just too different. Not enough carrier variety/competition, GSM not ubiquitous enough, too many 2-year contracts, no end-user SIM market, etc. etc. If you can't play nice with the carriers to get your handsets into the stores and into official channels, you're selling to the hardcore minority only that know how to support themselves.

To rebel is to take a beating to your bottom line and leave a nice big gap for another manufacturer to fill. Only regulation will solve this, and good luck beating those lobbyists.

Now... an iPhone designed as an unlocked phone might have been the breakout mass-market sensation that finally got citizens to care about the issue -- they definitely had the public momentum to do so. But they went with AT&T exclusivity because they needed them for features and support and that's exactly why networks are so annoyingly powerful in this business.

And now for something completely different:
The main reason why the N800 will trump the iPod Touch:
When browsing, the ability to have the option to "Save picture"