Nokia Chases Blogger To Recover N8 Prototype

boris writes "Nokia has approached Russian authorities to retrieve its N8 prototype from blogger Eldar Murtazin, in a case similar to Apple iPhone 4/Gizmodo fiasco. In its official blog, Nokia said, 'we formally requested the return of all unauthorized Nokia property from Mr. Murtazin and he declined to respond. As a result, we have contacted the Russian authorities to assist us in the return of all unauthorized Nokia property.'"

Comments

Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

[Joe The Dragon]

Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

As that how things get done in Russia.

Re:Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

[Haffner]

Incorrectly modded troll. That really IS how things are done. When the police pull you over, you pay them before you start discussing the ticket, and then possibly pay them again. That is how Russia works.

Re:Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

[Haffner]

The way a traffic stop works:

1. You get pulled over. Frequently, you don't know why.

2. You pay the officer an amount at least half the cost of what you'd expect the official cost to be.

3. The officer talks about your infraction, or talks about larger possible crimes you committed.

4. You pay the fine, or, if the officer is talking about other crimes, GOTO 2

Re:Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

[shutdown -p now]

Police in Russia are authorized to demand cash directly from drivers for perceived infractions. It's not like in western countries where the officer writes you a ticket and then you must pay it before a certain time.

Actually, "write a ticket" is precisely how it is supposed to be done by law in Russia (I know because I went through the procedure first-hand). Any direct cash extortion you may experience is unlawful, which isn't to say that it's not "authorized" by the officer's higher-ups (they usually get a cut of all bribes obtained that way).

Re:Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

[Jurily]

As a US tourist, couldn't I just poke the cop in the chest and say "Back off Ivan, we won the cold war!" ?

Smart people don't insult people with weapons, especially not in countries where human life has never been a priority.

Re:Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

[Fizzl]

Nokia is Finnish. You know what happens when da russkies piss off finns?
Fuckin' Winter War! That's what! And continuation war if they are not satisfied with the body count of the first one!

Putin and whatever-the-official-president-is are probably right now personally crawling around, trying to get back the Finnish marvel of forbidden technology, lest Tarja bestows them with unimaginable horrors of "motti".

Re:Did they pay off the Russian authorities?

[thegarbz]

As a US tourist , couldn't I just poke the cop in the chest and say "Back off Ivan, we won the cold war!" ?

Smart people don't insult people with weapons, especially not in countries where human life has never been a priority.

For a bit of context I highlighted the critical parts of both your statements.

Epic Blockbuster

[Monkeedude1212]

So, in 30 years from now, when the world looks back on current events and news stories as inspiration for movies - is this what they're going to be about?

If so...

COUNT ME IN.

Think Jason Bourne meets Verizon guy.

Re:Epic Blockbuster

[BobMcD]

Verizon Guy: Can you hear me...

BLAM

Bourne: Not now. Not ever.

Roll credits

Nokia just want its property back

[kangsterizer]

Actually in it's blog I believe Nokia wrote "please return our babies" or something like that. No lawsuit etc. They just want the phones back and avoid bad press.

And yes, the phone is an early N8 prototype (from march). The reviewers named it N9 and started a lot of false rumors on it, despite (at least my) posts indicating it was a N8 and early Symbian ^3 on it.

The N8 that will ship soon is slightly different hardware wise, and vastly improved software wise.

Re:Nokia just want its property back

[Anonymous Coward]

My 2 cents:
Nokia probably doesn't give a rat's ass about the device itself. They want it returned so they can check its serial number/IMEI and track down the person who is continuously leaking their prototypes to Eldar Murtazin.
They have publicly stated that they are trying to find his mole.

Yes, we have to take a look at ourselves, and we are diligently hunting down the source of these leaks.

http://conversations.nokia.com/2010/04/27/one-of-our-children-is-missing/

Re:Nokia just want its property back

[kangsterizer]

Yes, that's what I'm thinking. They want to shut down the leaks, not to punish the bloggers or whichever tech site end up getting the devices. That's why there's no lawsuit, they don't care going after the tech fans, they know it's a bad move. Eventually they'd rather not make noise about it.

The guy who leaks stuff at Nokia will prolly get fired and stuff however.

Re:Nokia just want its property back

[CRCulver]

Color me skeptical; what are the chances this is not another overpriced "flagship" POS from Nokia?

That it is running Symbian indicates that it is midrange, even if at the higher end of midrange. The coming MeeGo device will be their next flagship after the N900.

Re:Nokia just want its property back

[Tuntematon]

Color me skeptical; what are the chances this is not another overpriced "flagship" POS from Nokia?

I think Nokia's hype machinery has failed at least partially if you are tellimg me you haven't seen any specs, hands on's or rumors about N8. As moderately satisfied Symbian user I have good feeling about it. But I'm looking forward for the camera maybe more than the next person probably.

http://conversations.nokia.com/2010/07/08/nokia-n8-camera-2260-days-in-the-making-part-12/

Legit concern

[Anonymous Coward]

I actually read the articleyea yea blasphemy here on Slashdot.
The guy isn’t just a blogger apparently he also describes himself as a consultant to the mobile industry. I think Nokia has a legitimate concern that he will “consult” for their competition after he’s already seen their hardware, so they want it back.

Re:Legit concern

[kangsterizer]

I've read the new Nokia post as well now, and the guy not only wrote a lot of crap "haha Nokia you can't get me etc" on the net, but on top of that he's working for Samsung and gives away the Nokia prototypes there. (it's all in the comments here http://thenokiablog.com/2010/07/07/nokia-n8-property-eldar-murtazin/ )

Quite of a bad guy actually :P

Re:Legit concern

[shutdown -p now]

The guy isn’t just a blogger apparently he also describes himself as a consultant to the mobile industry.

"Describes himself" is very apt here. The guy is very well known in RuNet, and is largely the laughing stock of the industry and people interested in it. His "consultancy" is a single-man company where he is a senior (and only) consultant, and its only known outlet is his blog. He is also quite famous for making incorrect and downright laughable predictions.

Re:This is a non-story

[Kenshin]

An individual comes into an unauthorized posession of a development prototype.
Apple politely asks said invidividual to return their property.
Individual responds dickishly.
Apple involves the authorities.

Replace a few words, and there's plenty of story. What makes Nokia so different?

Re:The only difference is...

[iammani]

Really? Does any other phone have a better API & App dist system than N900? Boring and difficultly are subjective though, I consider N900 much more interesting and easier to use (atleast easy to customize it to my use) than other major smartphones. Maybe thats just me.

Re:This is a non-story (how it actually happend)

[TrancePhreak]

An individual comes into an unauthorized posession of a development prototype.
Individual politely asks Apple if they want it back.
Apple denies existence of property.
Individual sells property to Gizmodo.
Apple involves the authorities.

Re:Planned "leak"?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

IMHO there's been way too many leaks lately. I smell covered-up, underground marketing techniques.

IMHO there's been way too many accusations of underground marketing. I smell cover-up, karma whoring techniques.

Re:The only difference is...

[_LORAX_]

Maybe thats just me.

The N900 is a limited success *despite* Nokia's best effort, just like the "NIT"'s before it. I mean come on, the firmware has bugs that are 2 generations old and still stewing. Development for the device is a joke since it was ( last I checked ) still basically tied to running debian or ubuntu on your development system unless you wanted to use Python.

I have developed for the N810 and was sponsored by Nokia to the first Maemo conference. What I saw and heard lead me to the conclusion that it was a dead-end without partners. MeeGo *might* change my view if they can finally bring a mainstream success to the table without the continued alienation of their development community.

Re:You're too drunkski!

[shutdown -p now]

On an unrelated note, the proper way to say Vodka ("Wodka") sounds awesome when a Russian says it.

"Wodka" is not a proper way to say "vodka" in standard Russian, unless you're talking about some regional dialect, or you're a German. IPA for it is ['vodka].

Indeed, there is no sound directly corresponding to /w/ in Russian at all, and in loanwords it's approximated by either /v/ (as for "Washington") or, more commonly, by /u/ (as for "Watergate")

Re:Planned "leak"?

[toadlife]

I smell cover-up, karma whoring techniques.

With all the trolls that Anonymous Coward dude posts, I don't think his karma is going anywhere.

Re:This is a non-story (how it actually happend)

[UnknowingFool]

No that's not how I remembered it.

• An individual comes into an unauthorized posession of a development prototype.
• Individual through a third party makes a call to the generic Apple support line inquiring about prototypes. Vaguely asks if there are any rewards for missing prototypes.
• Level 1 tech support guy who has no knowledge of prototypes brushes guy off.
• Individual sells prototype to Gizmodo.
• Gizmodo contacts Apple about prototype. Wants Apple to publicly acknowledge it in exchange for prototype back.