back to article Nokia drops Lumia 900 price to $0 in response to bug outrage

Nokia is hoping an emergency rebate program will mollify American consumers who rushed out and bought the company's new flagship Windows phone - only to get bitten by a serious wireless data bug. The Lumia 900 is Nokia's big comeback phone - and also Microsoft's biggest ever shot at the mainstream US market. It was launched at …

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  1. vonBureck
    Coat

    I expect they were just holding it wrong

    Someone had to say it...

  2. Peter Gordon

    I have a phone with almost identical specifications

    Same chipset, same processor, same screen resolution, but mine has a real keyboard and a much better OS.

    I love my HP Pre 3 ;-)

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dear oh dear.

    First we had the Osborne effect (announcing new products before they were ready, and killing sales of the old ones in the process); then, the Ratner effect (announcing the old products weren't good enough anyway); now we have the Ashton-Tate effect (when the new products arrive, they're broken).

    Fix or no fix, find me a single salesman who's going to recommend a Lumia to punters now.

    How much worse is it going to get?

    1. alexh2o

      Re: Dear oh dear.

      They get commission. I'll find you thousands. Do really think salesmen care in the slightest whether the product they sell you is any good?

      1. Johan Bastiaansen
        Angel

        Re: Dear oh dear.

        I'm a salesman, and I care.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Dear oh dear.

          You're also a reg reader, which puts you a cut above other IT sales guys.

          I used to work for PC World. I've seen the bullshit first-hand. Selling hard on certain items not because they are good, but because of incentives.

          It's the same all over. Not everybody has morals when they can get an extra £5 for selling a crappy item that the customer doesn't need, or a store bonus for selling X number of another item.

        2. Shadowmanx2009
          Thumb Up

          Re: Dear oh dear.

          Ex Salesperson, but ditto!

      2. Thatvoiceinmyhead
        Stop

        Re: Dear oh dear.

        @alexh20 - not a lot of commission to be had on $0 (even with the contract)

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Dear oh dear.

        @alexh20:

        > They get commission.

        That was precisely the point.

        > I'll find you thousands.

        No you won't. You could walk into a phone shop and ask for a Lumia by name, and the salesmen would try and sell you something else. Reason is precisely that commission. The salesmen want to know that they're keeping it, without any quibble. Endless rounds of complaints, returns and refunds means a large amount of donkey work for them and the prospect of no money at the end of it all. That's what they've experienced so far with WP, and they're not stupid.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dear oh dear.

      "How much worse is it going to get?"

      Well, suppose that their only upcoming 2012 Symbian device (808 pureview) becomes a bestseller...

      I'm sure we'll see some heads rolling in Nokia's PR departement soon, perhaps even their CEO might get some red cheeks (as he's the on who personally and prematurely declared that platform dead). It wouldn't surprise me if certain people won't get their bonusses this year ;-)

  4. Arctic fox
    Headmaster

    The way its being reported in the States appears in fact to be fairly low key.

    This from Engadget appears to be fairly typical:

    "which confirmed that a small number of early handsets shipped with faulty software that caused memory management issues and eventually data connectivity woes. It insists this problem is now fixed, and that come April 16th, all affected consumers may swap their device at any AT&T store or merely download the update."

    http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/10/nokia-makes-lumia-900-free-to-all-att-customers/

    However, Nokia are indeed showing an unusual turn of speed on this one, their response being that anyone who has already bought it or buys before the 16th gets it, to all intents and purposes, free on contract. If it is the case that the number of customers actually effected is low then this may in fact do Nokia no harm. Indeed it may even do them some good. We have after all seen enough examples in recent times of companies at first denying that there is any problem and then when forced to admit to its existence, being very grudging about rectifying the situation. Nokia's fleetness of foot on this occasion may in fact turn the situation into positive publicity for them.

    1. Mephistro
      Thumb Up

      Re: The way its being reported in the States appears in fact to be fairly low key.

      Right on the money!

      I'd go further and say that Nokia/MS could be using this bug as an opportunity for giving their phones for free. If you want a massive market penetration, giving away the product -for a few days only- seems a very good move.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The way its being reported in the States appears in fact to be fairly low key.

        Can I get a tinfoil hat with that please?

      2. It wasnt me
        Thumb Down

        Re: The way its being reported in the States appears in fact to be fairly low key.

        "Nokia/MS could be using this bug as an opportunity for giving their phones for free".

        Errrr.... Let me educate you, MS fanboi. If you want to give a phone away for free with the goal being "a massive market penetration", then you just give it away. For free. There is no way that apologetically giving away a buggy, faulty phone will be for any other reason than damage limitation. It is unlikely, even in America, that people will be swayed to knowingly buy a faulty phone simply because the vendor is grovelling.

        You're welcome.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The way its being reported in the States appears in fact to be fairly low key.

        Errm, it's not free.

        The Verizon contract it's on, you end up paying $1000 for the phone. (actually $900 if you get the rebate).

        The $0 is not real, even someone of limited intelligence should be able to see that. Although I guess if you are foolish enough to consider Windows Phone to be a viable alternative to Android or iOS, then perhaps you are too thick to work this out.

        The bigger problem of course, is that the current Lumia phones are all dead end, they won't get upgrades to Windows Phone 8, which brings along the compatibility with the Windows 8 Tablet OS, so any apps you buy (not that there are many worth having on the Windows Phone Store), are as obsolete as your phone will be in 6 months time.

  5. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Wow

    The Samsung Galaxy SII sold by Sprint has been plagued with problems that kill the cellular and GPS radios, and they both act as if that's normal. I should have bought a Nokia.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Should have bought a Nokia?

      Erm, not if you wanted Android...

    2. Manu T

      Re: Wow

      Well I've been telling time and again that Samsung's products are crap.

      They only flood the market to make people belief that everything around is made by them. They only want to monopolize the market of consumer products.

      They're the whore of Telecom. They fuck everybody and with everybody.

      1. Version 1.0 Silver badge

        The Singer not the Song

        Samsung make a fine phone for Google - the Nexus S is a little beauty. Are you sure it's the Samsung phone and not all the little "extras" that your carrier has added (God bless their little cotton socks).

      2. SuccessCase

        Re: Wow @Menu T

        "They only flood the market to make people belief that everything around is made by them."

        What an asinine comment. How exactly does that business plan work?

        Let me translate your comment to make the stunning failure of logic clear.

        "they only give their product away for cheap to make people think it is popular and that they are a business that makes money."

        See the problem yet ? Probably not.

  6. paulc
    Thumb Down

    Yet again... bribing the punters to get sales...

    wondered why the sales figures were so high... they were giving them away in effect... this is so typical of Microsoft (and their satraps) these days... the product sucks so much that they have to fudge the sales figures by giving them away...

    1. Richard Plinston

      Re: Yet again... bribing the punters to get sales...

      > giving them away...

      And they may even try the trick they pulled on Spyglass* to avoid paying the manufacturer.

      * Spyglass wrote Internet Explorer for Microsoft on the basis that they would receive a royalty payment (of $5.00 I think) for every copy sold. Microsoft then gave IE away for free** and thus did not give any money to Spyglass at all.

      ** In my view if it was included on the disk that they sold with Windows then it was part of the sale regardless that it said 'includes a free copy of IE' on the box.

  7. DrXym

    Lumia 800 had bugs too

    It took about 4 months for Nokia to roll out a fix which stopped my Lumia 800 draining in about 18 hours. And if by misfortune the battery went dead it wouldn't wake up again even when I mains charged it. I had to trickle charge through a PC to coax it back to life. It's now working more on par with what I would expect of a smart phone though still nothing special.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      At least that's not a bug in the Lumia 900

      In my experience, the new Lumias are _designed_ to drain the battery in 18 hours.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What Nokia needs are bigger screens

    Their first models had 3.5" screens, and windows phone 7 didn't fit on the screen. Now they have 4.3" screens, and it STILL doesn't fit. They must be absolutely praying that 5" is enough!

    1. jayess

      Eh?

      What are you on about?

      Sending this from a Lumia 800, which is the best Windows Phone device I've used (and I've used many, right from the beta devices used by Microsoft to develop Windows Phone) - even despite the poor battery life (hurry up deploying that fix Orange!) and occasional resets when making/receiving calls.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Eh?

        They can't go any bigger, Windows Phone doesn't support Hi-Res displays (nor does it support multi-cores, nor does it support proper multitasking)...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Eh?

          "They can't go any bigger, Windows Phone doesn't support Hi-Res displays (nor does it support multi-cores, nor does it support proper multitasking)..."

          And they have a signal problem.

          Sounds like some phones made by Apple...

      2. Johan Bastiaansen
        Angel

        Re: Eh?

        So the best Windows Phone you've used has poor battery life and occasinoal resets when making/receiving calls?

        You're not expecting very much from your phone, are you?

        1. jonathanb Silver badge

          Re: Eh?

          Having used Windows phones in the past, I can confirm that expectations are generally not high.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Eh?

        @jayess Orange deploy a fix or an upgrade? Hope you aren't holding your breath.

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Eh?

        "hurry up deploying that fix Orange!"

        This is exactly the problem. Telcos should be nothing more than a dumb pipe thank you. Get your shit off my phone.

    2. DrXym

      Re: What Nokia needs are bigger screens

      Windows Phone has a deliberate design metaphor where stuff like titles appears to run off the screen. This can be seen in screenshots. But the stuff is fitting just fine, it's designed to look like that.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @DrXym

        Whoosh...

      2. Robert E A Harvey
        Paris Hilton

        @DrXym

        Are you saying it is supposed to look stupid? or just that it looks stupid?

      3. DrXym

        Re: What Nokia needs are bigger screens

        Wow 3 downvotes so far by idiots. Anyone who thinks Microsoft is incapable of making the UI "fit" really needs read their design docs. I'm not exactly pro WIndows but even I can figure out it's a conscious design choice and in practice its very clear what they were aiming for.

      4. JC_

        @DrXym

        The run off is a design conceit which usually looks good, but it's annoying with contacts who have similar and long (Polish!) names which get cut off.

        Off-topic: 3 downvotes for your entirely factual post? What is it with so many Reg posters? Y'all react like Pavlov's dog as soon as you see "M$".

      5. Michael Habel
        Linux

        Re: What Nokia needs are bigger screens

        And why is it that I find this to be utterly and completely pretentious, and indeed perhaps the single BIGGEST Eyesore yet devised by a Committee of complete dolts ever foisted on the masses of the general public at large?

        Microsoft are ohh so oft accused of nicking "iDeas" from Apple, what a shame they couldn't be arsed this time 'round to actually create something more sensible then the Metro Interface.

        Me thinks that perhaps that since I'm already skilled enough to use Linux on a daily basis (i.e. Command Line Linux not GUI!), that I might actually have to consider making it an OS option come the next 'round of Hardware Updates.

        There just is no way I'm ready to give up the age old Start Button for a touchy-feelly Metro thing-a-ma-jig. that's as completely as ugly on a +24" LED Monitor as it is on a 3.5" Phone.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    How low can you go....

    Nokia shares plunge on profit warning

    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7db37f7e-83ab-11e1-84ca-00144feab49a.html

    Surely Microsoft must be ready to buy them now, or can they do even more damage and lower the shareprice even further?

    1. Andus McCoatover
      Windows

      Re: How low can you go....

      Elop's first three words of the statement....

      "Our disappointing device..."

      must've been joy to Red (mond) ears...

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Accountability!

    Elop loves accountability! Whose head will roll? Harlow must be worried.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    See that Apple

    That is how you respond to a design flaw or manufacturing error with your products. You don't keep silent until public pressure forces you to say something and then blame the end-users. You man up, admit the fault and rectify it quickly.

  12. Nick Ryan

    Ouch. At least they fessed up though and immediately tried to fix the problem.

  13. Mike Judge
    Stop

    Nokia?

    Never heard of them

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How...

    ..do you miss a bug as big as that? How does "woops, here's $100" restore confidence?

    1. Robert E A Harvey
      Facepalm

      The real point

      How do you miss a bug as big as that?

      Not testing? or maybe they have a fleet of internal malcontents who would not bother doing anything about it if they did find out?

      Either way, it is a management failure.

      And yes, the response is uncharacteristically swift - but that should not engender praise: it is exactly the sort of response one ought to be able to expect.

  15. David Black
    FAIL

    DOOOOOOOMED

    Sooooooooooo lame, was always going to come to this the crappy Nokia and MS QA combine to give a fail as bad as the grip of death... guess they're just lucky nobody cares about Nokia in the US.

    Good luck Nokia purchasers, on a 2-year deal, you may even get a decent OS by the end (though I wouldn't bet on it).

    1. Richard Plinston

      Re: DOOOOOOOMED

      > you may even get a decent OS by the end

      That is unlikely. WP7 is restricted to single core CPU both by directive from MS and by capability. It is also similarly restricted to 800x480.

      The next WP is supposed to be WP8 based on Windows 8/WOA. This, however, seems to _require_ dual core. All current WP7 phones will be obsolete within a year as it seems they will never be able to get WP8.

      Anyway with only 800x480 they will not match up to the current crop of Quarter-HD (960x540) phones, let alone higher resolutions which will come during this year.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: DOOOOOOOMED

        >The next WP is supposed to be WP8 based on Windows 8/WOA. This, however, seems to _require_ dual core. All current WP7 phones will be obsolete within a year as it seems they will never be able to get WP8.

        it doesn't require a duel core, it supports it, there's a big difference, various pieces of FUD out there have suggested that WP8 wont work on WP7 devices, there is no real evidence to suggest that, in fact there are reports of MS personnel saying that yes not all features from WP8 will hit 7. This sounds about right given that you would need to be stupid to think that by upgrading the OS you'll magically get a second CPU core. hardware dependant, WP7 will get some of the WP8 good news.

        The tango update shortly to be releases has done a great job in lowering the spec needed for WP, meaning that with the release of WP8 there will be an OS that supports a much larger hardware base then it currently does.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Such a shame

    This is a real real shame for Nokia. It is a massive PR disaster for them after such a huge launch.

    Their share price shows they are in real trouble and they were pretty much putting it all on black with this phone in terms of high end devices. This is a real black eye and is going to cost them any traction they may have gained before the launch of the Galaxy S 3, the iPhone 5 and before people hear about the HTC One X

    I wonder how much they are making on these devices now they are giving them away for nothing upfront? Anyone got any ideas how much the manufacturer sees of the money made on the typical 2 year contract?

  17. Ian Chard
    FAIL

    The company will push out a patch

    that won't be received cos the data doesn't work.

    1. JC_

      Re: The company will push out a patch

      Patches are applied when connected to a PC, same as an iPhone, so no problem... ah, why bother, trolls will stay trolls.

    2. Andus McCoatover
      Joke

      Re: The company will push out a patch

      I wondered why I got a square 5¼ inch square envelope in the post this morning...

  18. ThomasW
    Childcatcher

    Enjoy famous Windows 3.1 & outdated, unreliable C++ engineering!

    Hey, it's <MS>. They don't know how to write secure or reliable code -- witness the appalling engineering practices they teach in *every single* MSDN example.

    Google enjoy elegant code & map-reduce, I like OO composition & the strategy pattern, Microsoft are stuck back in 1983 at the IF statement with a hell of C-structs and undiagnosable pointer errors.

    Didn't you notice how their advertising promised 'snappy performance'?

    Where Google and Apple run LLVM or JVM virtual-machine opcodes, giving a fairly reliable & secure system.. Microsoft by comparison has unleashed its most junior team of Windows 3.0 C++ hacks. And you will suffer :-(

    Blue screen of death, enjoy it on your Windows Phone, malware, viruses, coming here! Step right right up.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Enjoy famous Windows 3.1 & outdated, unreliable C++ engineering!

      You really haven't a clue what you are going on about do you

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Enjoy famous Windows 3.1 & outdated, unreliable C++ engineering!

      You've not heard of C# and CLR then. It's only been around 10 years.

      1. Richard Plinston

        @ Dan55 Re: Enjoy famous Windows 3.1 & outdated, unreliable C++ engineering!

        Windows is written in C and C++. The CLR is written in C++.

        1. Dan 55 Silver badge
          FAIL

          Re: @ Dan55 Enjoy famous Windows 3.1 & outdated, unreliable C++ engineering!

          Windows is indeed written in C/C++ however after reading the OP's post twice you realise he's on about mobile platforms.

          As for the JVM, what language do you think it's written in? Esperanto?

        2. ElReg!comments!Pierre
          FAIL

          Re: @ Dan55 Enjoy famous Windows 3.1 & outdated, unreliable C++ engineering!

          > Windows is written in C and C++. The CLR is written in C++

          Unlike MacOs, iOS, Android and pretty much any virtual machines they use which are all written in... oh wait, mostly C and C++. Point status: missed.

    3. Kristian Walsh

      Heard of "the right tool for the job"?

      The Linux kernel gets on pretty well with if statements and C-structs.

      MapReduce, Strategy and Composite are patterns, not languages. As such, they can be implemented in any language - even assembly language if you so desire (I have recognised Visitor, Composite, Factory, Facet and Flyweight in really old 68k code). However, I have seen too many contrary examples to believe your assertion that using design patterns extensively is the mark of good code - good coders like patterns because they solve common problems; bad coders like patterns because they can be used to obscure how ill-thought-out their code really is.

      ...and incidentally, Windows Phone 7 uses the same architectural pattern as Android - a bytecode VM running in a lightweight native-code VM.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Enjoy famous Windows 3.1 & outdated, unreliable C++ engineering!

      You really have no clue.

      The hardware on the 900 is lower-specced than the wife's iPhone. My Lumia 710 is lower-specced still, yet it easily outperforms her iPhone.

      As for virtual machines and C++ you are aware, presumably, that java is the most common malware attack-vector? To the extent that most security experts recommend not using it. Ever.

      One of the biggest gripes from developers is actually the *lack* of native code on WP7 as it uses *managed code*. My C# stuff also compiles down to virtual-machine op-codes. If you'd done even basic research that would have been obvious.

      BSOD? Doesn't even exist on WP7. Literally not there.

      Viruses? You must mean Android. Check out some Reg stories for more details.

      Each ecosystem has it's ups and downs and adults can happily debate them. Uninformed MS-haters like you, though, are just an embarrassment I thought had been left behind in the school playground.

  19. Kristian Walsh

    A good example. Any one else care to follow it?

    Offering the $100 rebate was probably unnecessary, as simply apologising, giving a fix date and offering an exchange would have satisfied pretty much all but the most unrealistic customers.

    Still, it shows how important this launch is for Nokia. This phone is their main product for the US market, so everthing needs to go well.

  20. John Robson Silver badge
    Joke

    You're making it wrong...

    unlike certain other manufacturers...

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ooops

    Well it could be worse. Imagine the embarrasment if Nokia had run an advertising campaign mocking other companies for releasing buggy phones...

    http://youtu.be/quoelNJxR-o

    1. M Gale

      Re: Ooops

      Dammit, they disabled comments.

      Wonder why?

  22. Caff

    Fair play to them for a prompt speedy response to the problem. Other companies could learn from this level of openess.

  23. Mike Brown

    wow. how on earth did a bug like this get missed? nokia is finished.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Positive spin?

    Reading the attempts by Nokia and its apologists to put a positive spin on this I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

    "We shipped a phone with a show-stopping bug; we didn't bother testing it properly; we made an egregious schoolboy blunder. Better still, the phone is our flagship product and the future of the company may depend on its success or failure. A strong release was imperative. But we fouled up like never before.

    And here were are, offering an instant rebate and a speedy fix to everyone who bought one! What a great company! Other companies could learn from this! Wow! Awesome!"

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Nokia 'put people first'...

    Which ironically enough is also the supporting slogan which MS is using heavily with their Window Phones.

    Quite frankly I think this will blow over. Sure; its a nasty bug and one which shouldn't even have been there. But if you play your cards right, which I think Nokia is doing here, then you can even turn a possible major setback into a marketing strategy.

    I don't like the design of the Lumia myself (prefer Samsung) but this is a recommendable action!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "remarkably decisive"

    Maybe they feel the need for speed

    from all the heat below their feet?

    For while the world too quickly turns

    the platform burns and burns and burns...

  27. Trev 2
    FAIL

    Perhaps by the time they release the Nokia Lumia 5000 (following the 950, 1000, 1050...) they'll actually have tested it before release!?

    - My g/f has the Lumia 610 which fails on the most basic of functions like "end call" and has to be turned off if the phone call was more than a few minutes long. Nokia took at least 2 months to work out the fix then released it in India with "other areas coming as demand dictates" - it still not being offered to UK punters!

    - Then there's the 800 which has serious battery life problems for many and has the above bug too although seems less frequent on that one. Would think so for a phone that can cost £500.

    - Finally we come to the 900 which just fails completely at being a phone for a "small number of users". If it was a genuine small number they'd not be giving refunds and $100 so publically.

    Oddly they do make good phones, just not good smart phones and whoever runs the testing lab needs hanging by painful bits outside in the middle of a Finnish Winter.

  28. 0_Flybert_0

    remember Windows marketing stategy

    The next O/S will be so improved .. more stable .. better features

    repeat for next O/S

    I always thought Windows ME was purposeful shit to tout Windows 2000 and eventually XP, when Win 98 SE served most people's purposes just fine ( never had a problem with it )

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Having had a Lumia 800 for a few months, my conclusion is that it's actually pretty good hardware let down by the OS. I've experienced most of the bugs mentioned on the Nokia forums like the never ending call, poor battery life etc but they do seem to be gradually fixing these. What kills it for me is the small OS design issues that haven't been thought out properly. For example, not being able to set a static IP address on a wireless network - it's DHCP or bust which just seems a bit crap.

    1. Colin Miller

      pseduo-static DHCP

      Most wi-fi/adsl routers allow you to map a fixed IP address to the device's MAC, so when you connect at home you'll always get the same IP address. Otherwise, they'd have to have per-wifi-point network settings in the phone, and that'll probably confuse the muggles.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > Having had a Lumia 800 for a few months, my conclusion is that it's actually pretty good hardware let down by the OS

      Funny you should say that; I understand the N9 has done rather well....

  30. Chris 171
    Megaphone

    The 808 Pureview is Nokia's flagship product.

    Not this (still rushed) abomination of a move to market with an OS that can't do shit all when compared to S^3.

  31. John Jennings
    Thumb Up

    Good on them!

    Though I haven't owned a Nokia in years, I must say that their prompt action (over holidays too!) has to be applauded.

    They didn't do an apple. They came clean, and are fixing the issue. Its more than can be said for others in the market.

    Best of luck to them!

  32. Shannon Jacobs
    Thumb Down

    Small OS from Microsoft is worth twice that much!

    A small OS from Microsoft? How much is it worth?

    Twice nothing is still nothing.

    How much will you pay me to use it? Seriously, the only reason I use ANYTHING associated with Microsoft is because someone is forcing me to. I cannot recall the last time I voluntarily bought anything Microsoft was selling. The ONLY good thing I can think of to say about Microsoft is that they have done a little good against the spammers on the upstream end.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Magnificent

    > How do you miss a bug as big as that?

    >

    > Not testing? or maybe they have a fleet of internal malcontents who would not bother

    > doing anything about it if they did find out?

    >

    > Either way, it is a management failure.

    The company that doesn't do software unites the the company that doesn't test software... and yes, this is what you get.

    If the bug only affected a few early users after the launch, it's because you would have to pay any sane person to take one of these Nokia Stupidphones. Even giving them away doesn't make them attractive. It's like pig on a lipstick.

    Well done Nokia, you have entirely met my expectations. Magnificent, truly and utterly magnificent.

  34. Christian Berger

    Reminds me of a German network operator called Quam

    They already marketed their product when it wasn't ready. When you became a customer, you got a free mobile phone as well as 240 DM credit for your bill. Subscription cost nearly 10 DM a month with a minimum subscription duration of 24 months....

    So... you got a free phone. They were quite popular for the few weeks they did it.

  35. toadwarrior

    It's easy to say you'll give a rebate to existing customers when there are none. WP7 is pure and utter shit imo. Nokia bet on the wrong OS and they'll probably go under because of it. Microsoft will get to keep going along attempting to get people to buy their turd of a mobile OS.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Phones 4 U

    ... now offering a 'free Xbox 360' when you buy the Lumia.

    Yeah, the high-end business users are really going to leap at that. Try offering them a free iPad.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Stop

      Re: Phones 4 U

      Buy one broken product, get another one free...

      Genius...

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One word: desperation

    The turd ecosystem is not going well.

    Here's a song to Microsoft/Nokia/MicroKia/NokiSoft/WinKia:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BwOXlGbW6Q

  38. plrndl
    Linux

    Choose Wisely

    When Elop joined Nokia, he effectively had the choice between the leading smartphone OS, Android, and the trailing one from his previous employer, the seventh generation attempt at a smartphone OS from Microsoft.

    The fact that he chose the one that was falling off the bottom of the graph tells you all you need to know. To expect anything decent from this platform is futile.

  39. mllogic
    Gimp

    too bad, they jumped to wrong ship which isn't sailing well like android or ios.

    many rats with drown with it.

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