Nokia on Monday admitted to some glitches during the launch of its 5800 handset in North America. The Finnish company has halted distribution of the phone in the United States.
The phone debuted on Feb. 26, but Nokia USA stopped selling the U.S. version of the much-anticipated 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen model at its flagship stores in New York and Chicago after consumers began reporting two persistent problems.
First, the phone’s earpiece speakers don’t have adequate protection against moisture. The speakers reportedly work well at first, but degrade over time. Given the phone’s positioning as a music device, speaker issues are a fatal flaw.
Second, Nokia’s phones are having trouble finding AT&T’s 3G network. Customers have been returning the phones in droves, and Nokia is selling the European version as a replacement. But the European model doesn’t work on the 3G network.
Turning Up the Volume
Nokia planned to turn up the volume on its music offering with the 5800. It’s Nokia’s first touchscreen device in the U.S., and the company has called it a top-priority product. Many billed the phone as a strong competitor against Apple’s iPhone. Instead of giving the iPhone a run for its music, though, the 5800 turned up the volume of customer complaints.
Despite the glitches, there are high hopes for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. It’s one of the first devices to support Comes With Music, the handset manufacturer’s service that offers customers one year of unlimited access to the Nokia Music Store catalog. The Nokia 5800 has marketed itself with the promise of more memory, loud and powerful speakers, easy synchronization, and direct access to important contacts and content.
The phone’s innovative features include a Media Bar, which offers a drop-down menu that offers direct access to favorite tracks, videos and photos. It also offers a direct link to the Web and…