DoCoMo cancels Nokia NHM850iG launch
by Evan Blass 
posted Feb 23rd 2006 at 4:00AM
So we're totally sorry to have gotten
the hopes up of all you Japanese consumers eagerly awaiting DoCoMo's FOMA-enabled Nokia NHM850iG that we
brought you last week, but it looks like the promised February launch has been postponed indefinitely. As you no doubt
recall, this 1.23 megapixel cameraphone sports Bluetooth and a 2.1-inch display, although it's probably not as sleek as
spoiled DoCoMo customers would prefer. Why the indefinite launch delay? "DoCoMo is confirming the handset's quality
and will launch the handset as soon as all the confirmations are completed," claims the carrier. Hmm, to us this
sounds suspiciously like: "The initial response to this chunky, underwhelming phone has been so poor that we're
quietly killing it under the guise of some vague quality confirmation program." Only time will tell, folks.
Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian, NTT DoCoMo
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Deluxe @ Feb 23rd 2006 4:57AM
Working in the mobile industry, this came as little surprise to us.
ISSEI @ Feb 23rd 2006 7:31AM
All the cool phones that DoCoMo is coming out with and now this phone?
By the time they get it out, it will be more out dated....
KC @ Feb 23rd 2006 11:19AM
Why would Nokia make this thing for DoCoMo? It is just so ugly and not Japanese styled at all.
Nokia should have reworked an N series phone ('cause even the mighty N series is only midpack by DoCoMo standards)for Japan not some outdated POS that no one will ever buy
Finished.Law.School @ Feb 23rd 2006 12:15PM
Nokia must not have performed any market research before thinking about releasing this ugly bastard of a phone in Japan...
xbit @ Feb 23rd 2006 1:58PM
Yeah, it's ugly and out-dated but dig a little deeper and it's very easy to see why this phone is heading to NTT DoCoMo.
Firstly, it's a WCDMA/GSM device. That will be a big plus to Japanese business who want to use their phone abroad.
Secondly, it's a true smartphone. NTT DoCoMo releases a lot of phones based on Symbian and Linux - but you're limited to Java apps if you want to install anything on them. The only smartphone they've released so far is the M1000 and this will be their first S60 device. I'm sure Japanese users will appreciate being able to install web-browsers, GPS navigation, console emulators, etc. on their phone for almost the first time.
Bryan @ Feb 23rd 2006 3:02PM
uhh I'm not up to date on all the cell phone terminology but... I was in Japan over a year ago, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a smartphone but the phone I got for free with my monthly contract had a web browser, GPS navigation, and you could at least play the first Dragon Quest game on it. Oh and it also had a FM radio, 1.3 megapixel camera, video, japanese-english dictionary, email, etc... so spoiled once I got back here... hadda pay almost 200 to get a Siemens S66
john b @ Feb 25th 2006 3:11PM
did anyone actually believe that DoCoMo would be stupid enuff to release this POS? Let's see Vodafone (Japan) has had the same phone out now for almost one year...i think they sold 3 nationwide...and I happen to know one of the 3 fools that bought one...hands down in the top 10 worst phones ever released in Japan...ironically Motorola and Nokia are the only makers on that top ten worst list...wonder why...
seriously, no Japanese person in their right mind would want to be seen with this phone...I had the rare oportunity to use one (on Vodafone)...i took about 1 min for the camera app to load...then 3 mins to get the email app up to speed to send an email...goes without sayin that this is unacceptable in Japan...no doubt that as soon as the DoCo boys got their hands on this phone they were havin a good laugh...well now the fun is over and the launch is canceled...go figure...what a joke...not only is the phone based on yesterdays tech, its ugly to boot, its candybar in a country where the clamshell or slider rule...
i just purchased my first s60 phone (6670) a lil while back and i'm a fan of what Nokia is doing with that OS and all, but seriously, don't pollute Japan with this garbage...I will be VERY suprised if this handset does ever make it to the shelf, with the DoCoMo brand on it...Vodafone can release it, as they have...but e'body knows that Voda is the worst of providers in Japan and desperate to get customers to sign up...funny the way they are going about it tho;)
To the Engadget guys, keep up the good work, hands down number one site out there now! Good work on launchin EngadgetMobile and the daily phone giveaway.
john b @ Feb 25th 2006 3:20PM
oh...and if the Japanese consumer wanted smartphones there would already have been a market for them...Japan doesn't need Nokia to bring "Smart" but ugly phones to them...
this phone does nothin that any Jap phone can't do, if u think about it...and as for installin apps...there are likely all of 10 apps written for S60 that have Japanese UI...
obviously Nokia has not learned from its past faileur in Japan...sad to see from the worlds biggest handset maker