a shame this compatibility thing. I didn't thing wimax would have all these issues.

So what does this mean for the tablets themselves and the Maemo platform?

I’m surprised they sold it at all.

As I've said elsewhere on these forums, they should have first delivered a N810 WCDMA Edition (with EDGE and HSPA), since that’s a wireless WAN that actually exists, and has a sizeable customer base. Instead, those numerous and established customers have to wait for the Maemo 5 platform (which will have HSPA support), while the niche customers who have WiMAX were able to get this marketing dud (but I’m sure it wasn’t a technical/engineering dud).

It doesn't. It was way too late for Nokia to be launching the N810WE. I'm surprised it got out the door at all with the next generation happening later this year.

They should've really focused on EDGE/UMTS/HSPA instead. Mobile data plans are booming now (at least in Germany).

As I stated in another thread I think NOKIA looked at the big picture and decided to get the hardware out of the marketplace and cut their losses. With the n810 series coming to a close anyway, they knew that by the time WIMAX shakes itself out, however that may end, they would have an antiquated device that still would not be that attractive and they'd still be stuck with inventory sitting itdle in warehouses. So instead of just blowing them out as they are, they bring them back, disable the WIMAX chip, put stock n810 OS on them, put new model stickers or case parts on them, and sell as regular n810's.

I think that this would be smarter for them then just price reduce the n810WEs because then they would have to support the units as WEs and worry about potential chipset / software issues. Make it a n810 standard and call it a day.

I live in DC and have a XOHM USB Modem active now. I would love a deal on a n810WE but doesnt look like their will be any new product "steal deals" which is a bit depressing. Because NOKIA has initiated a recall of the inventory, they will not be offering a reduction / price drop guarantee to their distribution points so they are still looking at a high investment cost to them, the distributer. They would rather send back the devices and get full credit back. With the ability to change devices online that would have been a nice addition to my fleet.

Oh well, the n810 standard continues to tether well with my BB8330 and when someone decides to make a Wireless Broadband Router ( like a Cradlepoint) that supports the ZOHM ZTE TU25USB Modem , I'll be good as well.

I tell you something else, this WIMAX thing should have been a TV Series instead of a Wireless Network. Never a dull moment!!!

Where it works, it works well. I get download speeds on my Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition that are better than public hotspots, causing me to prefer WiMAX over public WiFi. With the range of WiMAX, I can use my N810W "anywhere" in the Baltimore or DC Metro area. Leaving that area, well, it's the same as owning a standard N810...

I think it's a shame. I look at the N810 WiMAX and see unfulfilled potential. If Sprint were able to rollout WiMAX faster under their Clear brandname, if XOHM weren't so slow (nearly 2 years) in mergers and deployments, if only WiMAX were a year earlier and better deployed, the Nokia N810 WiMAX would have been a truly killer internet tablet.

Buying into WiMAX was like buying into Blu-Ray two years ago, being on the cutting edge brings it own risks, and own rewards. I still hope that Sprint & Clear can recover, but between the US economy in general and their own deployment issues, my expectations are lowering.

The way things are panning it out, I think a more apt comparison would be buying into DVD-HD 2 years ago, not Blu-Ray :-)

Sure, Sprint and Clearwire could reverse their fortunes, but by the time they do, where will LTE be? And, for a device makers standpoint, the conservative approach would be neither WiMAX nor LTE. It would be EVDO or HSPA.

A WiMAX version of the tablet would have made sense as Nokia's second WWAN tablet, not the first and primary one.

I was writing from personal experience. I bought the PS3 when it first came out, bought more BR-D movies than was probably wise at the time, and had serious reservations that Microsoft might win the HD-DVD battle. If it weren't for Sony throwing money around to the studios, the tide might have turned.

I think LTE might be slower in coming than once expected. The recession seems to be sparing few businesses when even Intel and Google take hits. I'd like to think that Sprint and Clear could use this to their advantage, but they've been so inept so far that I can't see them doing better in a worse economy.

Guess I'd better enjoy my Nokia N810 WiMAX while I can?

HD DVD.

And I suppose this depends upon perspective. If you're matching based upon outcomes of respective marketplace battles, then yes, it's looking like WiMAX may be following in HD DVD's footsteps. However, if you look at the technologies involved, then WiMAX may be closer to Blu-ray.

In HD DVD vs. Blu-ray, the physical format of HD DVD optical disks was a reactionary "safe choice" quickly developed to fight Blu-ray. Though Blu-ray promises greater benefits in the long term, replicators didn't like it because the physical format of the disks is significantly different from DVD media. Different enough to force existing DVD replicators to make expensive changes to their manufacturing operations.

At the danger of sounding like Lou Skriba, to me this gives LTE the feeling of HD DVD: maintain control, protect investments, and build on what you have rather than jumping to a promising technology with greater differences, especially since the alternative technology might open the marketplace to new competitors.

The tablets are, or were, research projects. Nokia has used them to take risks and develop new technologies and directions outside of their main product line. The selection of WiMAX made sense in that light.

Nokia wound up sitting on the WiMAX Edition units for too long waiting for Sprint to pull its act together though. And now it appears Nokia's decided the long term payoff potential of WiMAX is no longer worth the risk. Perhaps it's the world economy. Perhaps, if the Maemo 5 device is step 5, they've decided they don't want an unsuccessful N810 WiMAX Edition hanging around as they push Maemo mainstream next year. Perhaps, as a certain ex-Nokia person suggests, Nokia's retreating from the US market.