A US Version of the Nokia N81?
This is pure speculation on Ricky Cadden’s part, but I hope he’s right.
This came from Stefan’s post over at IntoMobile where he talks about the lack of operator support for the Nokia N81 in the UK for one simple reason: the competing music store. All the UK operators have their own music offerings and likely feel threatened by Nokia encroaching on their turf.
From a practical standpoint, the Nokia N81 could be offered in the US today. Heck, the US 3G-less version of the Nokia N95 was selling like hotcakes. No reason this sexy little number couldn’t either.
To throw my speculation into the mix–and I want to be clear I don’t have any inside information here, so that’s what it is–I suspect the reason the N81 isn’t being offered here in the US yet is because the Nokia Music Store isn’t launched here in the US. (It’s not launched in Europe, either.) If I were going to pick a time to launch a US version of the N81, complete with US 3G, timing it to the launch of the Nokia Music Store in the US would make the most sense to me.
Hopefully when I go to the Evening with S60 event in San Francisco next week, I’ll get a chance to fondle an N81.
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Tags: n81, nokia, nokia music store, nokia n81 Fnord
Comment by Ricky
It’s sad, also, to note that when I asked in London about the US store, it was mentioned that it was towards the bottom of the release list. That puts it roughly mid-2008. At which point the handset will be grossly outdated. I wonder if, given the reaction of the European carriers, Nokia is considering pushing *that* store back, and moving the US to the head of the line? Seems they might have a better chance with that, honestly.