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I have had the nokia N8 for about 3 to 4 months now and I haven't seen any problems in it. I found the camera to be of very good quality and none of the youtube videos is freeze. THis is really very good mobile.

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Posted: 2010-12-09 01:19:30
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@ false_morel - i dont think you understand the various firmware versions correctly, since mine is unbranded.

Which is pretty obvious since its the limited edition orange N8, which you can only buy in the UK AFAIK from the Nokia website, its not available via any operator in the UK.

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Posted: 2010-12-09 21:12:10
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Your N8 is branding-free! But this is not the point.
Branding is usually known as one "brand" adding its signature on some product.
It could be exterior, or interior software branding where the logo appears after that of Nokia shows up at boot-up for instance..
Nowadays, soft-branding is more common, where an operator would only install its respective setting for some sercives and adjust others by restricting or deactivating them altogether..

Still, this is not the point though..

In brief, the point is:

N8 has now a core firmware version of 011.012.
There come a custom version (CFW) and a language packet on top of it.

Now, a product code (PC) corresponds to the combination of CFW, language packet, and color of the device.
When updating through Ovi Suit or OTA, Nokia's server reads the PC and looks for latest CFW updates for that PC.

Now, the story of the CFW or the custom version firmware:

For the free phones, Nokia release different CFWs depending on region. Two phones with different language packets could have same CFW. So it doesn't depend on the language packet as it's installed separately.
On what it depends i'm trying to figure it out right now, and that's why I'm asking for all members with free phones to post their CFWs..
But this is out of curiosity as it brings nothing to the following equation:
Free phones receive their updates directly from Nokia. No one has to approve or delay those updates.
It differs a bit in time between different CFWs, but not more than a week.


Now there remains two types of phones:
Operator branded, and Country Variant.
Each of those types has its own custom version.

Updates for branded phones are made on request by the respective operator. After published by Nokia, the operator checks it out first, then publish it for users.
So it all depends on the operator. Be it the delay, or updates support; that is at certain points the operator would drop support for a specific phone while Nokia would be still releasing updates for their free phones.

Country Variant phones come directly from Nokia, not operator branded, but made specifically to be compatible with all operators in that country.
That's why when an update arrives, it needs the approval of all operators to be published to customers!
Meaning, o2, Vodafone, and Orange should give their ok for the update to arrive to your N8! So expect some considerable delay. Even more than that of an operater-branded phone.

I have came across this piece of information, about the CV PCs, by more than one source. So I doubt this could be wrong. But you could still ask by Nokia Service or mobile phones shop..


To put it all together:
- Each oprator branded phone has its own custom version. Updates should be requested and approved by the operated to be published to end users.
- Each Country Variant phone has its own custom version. Updates should be approved by all operators of that respective country to be published to end users.
- Free phones have different custom versions mainly depending on regions. Updates are managed solely by Nokia, and published as soon as completely developed. Could differ few days between different regions, but Country Variants and Operator Variants could wait from two weeks to few months for same updates. Could be that at certain point for those two no more updates to be published.

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Posted: 2010-12-09 22:54:34
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I very much doubt Nokia nor any other company are going to delay their firmwares to keep a countries operators happy.

As complicated as mobile phones may be these days, using a universal firmware is the norm, where the only differences are regarding the specific country.

Since Bonovox bought his phone in the UK and if i remember right from CPW, where they only supply sim free unbranded handsets im sure his firmware version is identical to mine. I certainly do not think for a second that the colour of the handset determines its firmware either.

My N8 has no branding which you may think it has, merely slightly different firmware which is down to it being sold in the UK.

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Posted: 2010-12-10 23:47:35
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etaab,

As I clarified in the post above, it's not about branding.. At least not in its classical meaning.

Here are the operator branded PCs in the UK:

059C1B7 O2 UK GB v1 Dark Grey
059C0T6 Vodafone UK GB Contract Graphite
059D4T9 Vodafone UK GB Contract Green_COLOR
059C951 Tesco UK GB v1 Dark Grey

Surprisingly, Only Vodafone have two colors, and the rest only Dark Grey.. Someone else got some exclusive rights for the other colors maybe?

Anyway, here are the Country Variant PCs:

059C5Q6 Country Variant United Kingdom GB CU Blue_COLOR
059C5Q4 Country Variant United Kingdom GB CU Green_COLOR
059C5Q5 Country Variant United Kingdom GB CU ORANGE_COLOR
059C5Q7 Country Variant United Kingdom GB CU SILVER/WHITE_COLOR
059C5Q8 Country Variant United Kingdom GB V1 Dark Grey

And here are the generic Euro PCs for UK:

0599001 EURO1 BLU UK IRELAND
0598980 EURO1 DG UK IRELAN
0598997 EURO1 GR UK IRELAND
0599006 EURO1 OR UK IRELAND
0598986 EURO1 WH UK IRELAND

And one last time, Country Variant PC doesn't indicate branding. It indicates that the custom firmware installed on the phone is specific for the relative country.

To make it all clear, once and for all:
What's the difference between two phones, one with this generic PC: 0599006, and the other with this CV PC: 059C5Q5?
(Check the list above to know what each PC represents)

Similarities: Both are Orange (color), both have same language packets, both come with English preset as the main language. There could be some similar preset or isntalled features.. Not of any interest right now however.

Differences: Two different custom firmware versions.
What's the effect?

Minor setting differences. And the phone with generic PC will get its update as soon as it's released from Nokia, whereas the phone with CV PC will get its update later.

Why is that?

Because for the generic PC, Nokia develops, manages, and releases the updates which are then immediately published to end users through Ovi Suit.
For the phones with CV PC, Nokia develops the updates, then the management will be tackled by the country's operators and then released to end users.

About the reason of CV's updates delays, you could ask some official source for confirmation.
But it's certain that CV phones will receive their updates later. Some times could last up to 12 weeks or more! And a minimum of one or two weeks.

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Posted: 2010-12-11 01:01:51
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My US Green N8



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Posted: 2010-12-11 02:14:19
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Nokia N8 Product Codes Statistical Research Completed:



There are exactly 398 Product Codes. 295 of them are generic (with generic custom versions), 103 non-generic.

There 13 generic custom versions, and 35 non-generic.

69 out of the 103 non-generic Product Codes are Country Variant. The remaining 34 are Operator Variant.

The 69 Country Variant Product Codes correspond to 17 custom firmware versions. This means there are 17 countries supported with this type of dedicated non-generic custom firmware versions.

The 34 Operator Variant Product Codes correspond to 18 custom firmware versions.This means there are 18 operators all over the world featuring their own branded phones. 16 of them in Europe, the remaining two in Hong Kong and Malysia.

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Here are the 13 generic custom firmware versions:


011.012.00.01 : All Europe, CIS, Hong Hong, Taiwan,
011.012.C01.01: China
011.012.C02.01: Most of South East Asia, Australia
011.012.C03.01: India
011.012.C04.01: Most of MEA
011.012.C05.01: Parts of MEA
011.012.C06.01: Parts of MEA
011.012.C07.01: Parts of MEA
011.012.C08.01: Syria, Sudan
011.012.C09.01: North America
011.012.C10.01: Latin America (Without Brazil)
011.012.C11.01: Brazil
011.012.C13.01: New Zealand


All 295 generic Product Codes that correspond to these 13 custom versions are constituted of seven digit numbers, with the exception of Nepal and Sri Lanka where both have the letter "B" as the fourth character (overall of 10 Product Codes).

Non-generic Product Codes all have numbers and letters mixed in the seven-character code.

Note that MEA is dedicated 5 different generic custom versions. However, there are no Operator nor Country Variants for this region.

Note that there is a jump from C11.01 to C13.01 with C12.01 missing!


Accuracy of the whole research: 99%.

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PM me if you want the whole lists of Product Codes categorized as the following:


N8 generic Product Codes with respective custom firmwares (295 PCs)
N8 non-generic Product Codes (103 PCs)
N8 Country Variant Prodcut Codes (69 PCs)
N8 Operator Variant Product Codes (34 PCs)


Note that only I possess those lists, as I made them myself.
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Posted: 2010-12-11 05:41:20
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Thanks Jake for the snap.
And so you too have a Country Variant PC and you too pre-ordered it from Nokia online if I recall right?

There were some suggestions that Nokia only delivering Country Variants to UK off their online store..
As it seems, for the countires with this type of PCs "enabled", Nokia ships CV phones rather than generic ones!

The question remains, how could some in the UK or USA for instance order a generic PC phone!

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Posted: 2010-12-11 05:55:12
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Exactly, have you thought that possibly there is no such thing as a "generic PC phone" ?

I very much doubt any company is going to develop their software to the point where it is exclusive to a certain group of people, just because they're from Finland for example, the home of Nokia ?

I dont think you'd find a single N8 owner on this forum with a "generic PC phone". Not that it matters, im sure my N8 will get updated days or a week later than those in Finland due to it simply not being native to the companies country of origin.

As long as my phone is unbranded, which mine is, i wont have a problem.
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Posted: 2010-12-13 00:11:23
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ok folks in english, what is the difference between generic and CV, in my case is US version and latin america generic??? thank you...
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Posted: 2010-12-13 00:49:45
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