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Nokia 900 Being Given Away Due To Software Glitch

joemite writes "On early Wednesday, Nokia said it had found a software bug in the new Lumia 900 smartphone, its big hope to take on Apple's iPhone, and was effectively giving the model away until it is fixed. It is offering anyone who has bought a Lumia 900 phone, or who buys one by April 21, a $100 US credit to their AT&T bill. The operator sells the phone for $99.99 with a two-year contract. Both Microsoft and Nokia still have big hopes for this phone. The bug apparently causes a random data connection drop. Nokia plans to push a patch the phone later in April."

8 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Not Even Close to Free by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Read the summary:

    The operator sells the phone for $99.99 with a two-year contract.

    Emphasis mine. Why don't you 'buy' that phone and then break your contract? I think you'll find out how 'free' those phones that come with two year contracts really are ...

    --
    My work here is dung.
  2. Funny considering... by A.Sleep · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... the newest Nokia ads claiming the "Smartphone Beta Test" is over with the Lumia 900. I hate to kick a dying dog but *point and laugh @ Nokia*

    --
    DO NOT TAUNT THE OCTOPUS
  3. Ad vs. Karma by Bill+Dimm · · Score: 5, Informative

    Didn't I see a Windows phone ad recently that claimed other smart phones were treating their customers as beta testers? Talk about tempting fate.

    1. Re:Ad vs. Karma by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Funny

      Other smart phone providers treat their customers as beta testers. We give you the feeling of true alpha testing! Windows Phone: Alpha quality software for alpha males.

      SCNR :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  4. That title got my hopes up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Nokia has TWO "900" phones -- the n900, and the Lumia 900. I was excited that Nokia was giving away n900s, the most open phone to date...

  5. Re:Fist by Ferzerp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Have fun with your five 2-year cell phone contracts which will probably cost you over $7000 over their course.

    The summary is rather inflamitory. There are no "free" cell phones, they only look free if you ignore the contract component.

  6. Re:Hardware maker blames software! by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're holding it wrong.

    Wait, what?

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  7. Re:Wrong summary, again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the lumia can be rooted, dual boot to debian, feature an usb to vga cable and a real keyboard, then it's a real smartphone. Else it's a toy, just like iphones and the average android.

    Toy is not a derogatory term. Definition of toy: thing with limited functionality and/or safeguards to prevent unintended actions by the "untrusted by default" users.

    Uh-huh. So let me make sure I understand your naming approach: if it doesn't have an incredibly specific feature that a rounding-error number of people would use, it's not a real smartphone? Your perspective is somewhat... off.