I am currently downloading the update for my device, so it is already available for Nigeria. I howewer do not have any details of what this update fixes or adds to the devices.

Note: this is available only for new Symbian devices.

Source: @stevelitchfeld

But while waiting, we have titbits for you to digest, and some of these info will help portray the N900 accurately when the review is published.

First off, here’s what is in the Box:

• Nokia N900
• Nokia Battery (BL-5J)
• Nokia High Efficiency Charger (AC-10)
• Nokia Stereo Headset (WH-205)
• Video out cable (CA-75U)
• Nokia charger adaptor (CA-146C)
• Cleaning cloth

And here is the long list of specifications

• Dimensions: 110.9 × 59.8 × 18 (19.55 at thickest part) mm
• Weight: 181g
• OS: Maemo 5 software on Linux
• 3.5 inch touch-sensitive widescreen display; 800 × 480 pixel resolution
• 3.5mm AV connector
• TV out (PAL/NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable
• Micro-USB connector, High-Speed USB 2.0
• Bluetooth v2.1 including support for stereo headsets
• Integrated FM transmitter
• Integrated GPS with A-GPS
• BL-5J 1320mAh
• TI OMAP 3430: ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX with OpenGL ES 2.0 support
• Up to 1GB of application memory (256 MB RAM – almost 150 MB available after booting, plus 768 MB virtual memory)
• 32 GB internal storage (Store up to 7000 MP3 songs or 40 hours of high-quality video)
• Up to 16 GB of additional storage with an external microSD card
• Full QWERTY tactile keyboard
• Full QWERTY onscreen keyboard
• MicroB browser with Adobe Flash™ 9.4 support
• MP4 Video recording at up to 848 × 480 pixels (WVGA) and up to 25frames per sec
• Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263
• 5 megapixel camera (2584 × 1938 pixels); 3 × digital zoom; Dual LED flashCMOS sensor, Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens
• Photo editor on device
• Integrated GPS, Assisted-GPS, and Cell-based receivers
• Documents viewer (upgradable to full editing suite)
• Ovi Maps application

That is a very long specifications sheet, but the question is, Does the N900 deliver? While drooling over the specs and the hardware, it occured to us that we were not going to find out if we didn’t power on the phone; would we? So, we reached for the power button after slotting in a SIM card.

Power On and Firmware Update
A few minutes after powering on the phone, a system update notification balloon indicated that a frirmware update was available for the device. A quick check showed that the firmware on the device was version 2.2009.51-1.002.

The system notification further indicated that the size of the update was 16.2mb. The device also automatically checks for updates of installed applications and notifies the user the same way.

Everything was done Over-the-Air. No PC. No cables. No hitches. After the update was completed, the “About Device” info showed that the new firmware was version 3.2010.02-8.002.

So, there we were with the latest firmware on our N900 and we were ready to go!

Tomorrow, we will upload a video of how well the TV-out functionality works on the N900. Why TV-out first? Well, its an apt way to show you the user interface of the device – all on a big screen. You don’t want to miss it.

If you are a Zain subscriber and have been having issues with getting full internet access on your line, walk into a Zain shop with N1, 000 to request for activation.

Unfortunately, Zyb has left many subscribers with a bad taste in their mouths. Here is the story.

I needed to synchronise my contacts to a device I was testing, so I logged into my Zyb account two days ago to have the Zyb sync settings sent to the phone by SMS.

The first thing I noticed on logging in was that my account was reading, “Set location”, though I had registered with my full details, including selecting Nigeria as my country way back.

When I clicked through to set my location, presto! – instead of the extensive list of over 100 countries that had been there for years, I met a very concise list of a handful of countries. The majority of countries, who had been on the list before, had been cut-off.

The bad part is that I never got a notification from Zyb that they were pruning their service. Yet, Zyb regularly sent reminders that I haven’t synced my contacts, so it is clear that they have the capacity to notify users of a change of this magnitude. Perhaps they did send the notification, but it got lost in transit?

Anyway, I have suddenly discovered that I have been cut off. So, here I am with 492 contacts in my Zyb account, and I cannot synchronise them with any device at all.

This is NOT the way to provide service. A thumbs-down to Zyb on this one. Oh, yes; and a goodbye too.

Over the air firmware update (update done directly on the phone) is simpler, faster, lighter, and less problematic than doing it from a PC. It took less than three minutes to get the firmware on my 5800 updated and the size of the installation file was less than 4MB. If this same update were to be done from my PC, it would have taken nothing less than 40minutes and the file size somewhere around 100MB.

Please note that in order to be able to carry out over the air firmware update, it is best that you have a bundled mobile internet package from your network operator.

How To Update Over The Air
From the phone’s home screen click the dial pad short cut key, then dial *#0000#. The phone displays your current firmware version.

From that screen, click Options and select Check for updates. The phone will alert you of a new firmware version and then select download.

Once the installation file is downloaded, select Install and the new firmware will be installed on your phone. That is it, simple as ABC.

I have noticed a few changes since I installed the latest firmware version on my 5800. The changes include a considerably faster browsing experience on the built-in browser, applications launching faster, and the white menu button breathing at intervals in standby mode (though you’d have to enable that in the notification light settings).

For those of you who actually update your firmware version, please let us know the changes you notice after updating.

While deploying a data service is well appreciated, the networks should go a step further to make it convenient for subscribers to have access to these services.

For example, there’s no valid reason why the networks cannot provide their SIMs already provisioned for internet. It is a fact that at least MTN and Etisalat are doing it right in this regard. Etisalat especially is to be commended, for though being a new player in the Nigerian telecoms ecosystem, they are more forward looking in terms of user-friendly data provisioning than the older boys like Zain and GloMobile.

Surely, it cannot be so difficult for network operators to deploy over-the-air (OTA) configuration such that soon after inserting your SIM into a GPRS or 3G-enabled phone, the data settings are pushed automatically to the phone and the subscriber can simply launch his phone browser and start surfing the web away.

Both MTN and Etisalat are again the leaders in this department. And once again, Etisalat are getting two thumbs up from me for implementing this from the word go.

My experience with Etisalat is one I remember with fondness. I popped in my SIM into a phone, the settings were pushed to me via SMS, and within minutes I was browsing without having to go to their office, call for my line to be provisioned, or manually input any settings. I said to myself, “This is the way it should be“.

Network operators need to remember that the average phone user is not a geek, does not care to go beyond the basic menu of his phone, and would rather not be bothered with the extra hassles of getting value added services setup.

The average subscriber wants these services to work out-fo-the-box, and the networks that respond appropriately to this fact will have subscribers eating out of their hands. Mobile Data will become more mainstream when the hassles of data configuration are eliminated.

“Over-the-air” (OTA) means that the update is done on the phone itself without a need for a data cable and PC. Of course, in this illustrative video, the phone reports that there are no updates available at the moment. This is not quite true, because we succeeded in updating the 5800 via PC later in the day. Several reports from other mobile websites indicate that this is a common problem with the 5800. We hope Nokia solves it soon.

An OTA update results in a mere 12-15mb download, as against the 124mb download that an update via PC involves (plus the chances of bricking your phone during a PC update).

The video was shot on a Samsung i900 Omnia, and some editing done on PC.

We had to convert the video to 3GP format so it is smaller and as such is less cumbersome and less costly to download by all. At the current size of 1.2mb, even if you are on a pay-as-you-go data plan on MTN, Glo or Zain, the download will cost you not more than N180.00 only. Etisalat data users (browsing at 35 kobo per kb) will however be set back by a whopping N420.00!

Here’s the video: OTA on the 5800