I've no doubt it's a great phone, and those are all good features.

But it's late, it's not shipping today, it's only on one carrier in the USA (odd considering capturing the American premium smartphone market was the whole rationale for 'Burning Platforms'), it's based on an ecosystem that's still a distant third-to-fifth in many metrics, and it's part of a brand that's struggling mightily to mean anything in the minds of customers.

Nokia's late 00's Symbian lineup wasn't necessarily competitive with the premium side of the market, but it was quite competitive in the lower tiers and was still selling like gangbusters in the lower-grade markets. Publicly throwing them all out overnight was an extraordinarily bad move that suffocated Nokia just as they needed cash to compete more than ever before. Their ASPs dropped like a rock, carriers told them to fuck off now that they had a legitimate and thriving alternative (Android 2.x), and the idea of Nokia being a vendor of status phones evaporated overnight. One great phone isn't going to fix their situation.

I don't see a reason to go with anything else than the 920. The exclusivity thing is a bummer for US users for sure, but that will be short-lived, if my sources are correct.

I disagree about the lateness. That's dependent on the release of Windows Phone 8 by Microsoft. You may argue that the announcement a month ago was too early, but the counter argument to that is that Nokia is growing mindshare.

I think Nokia's big chance is the apps they're providing. No other manufacturer produces apps as useful as Nokia. We know Maps and Drive will now be available on all WP8 devices, but there's City Lens, free streaming music, Nokia Transport, Nokia Xpress...

Android was never an option for Nokia, given Nokia Maps. As we know from many sources, Symbian was dead in the water, and awesome as it is, the N9 wasn't competitive with iOS and Android (there being even fewer 3rd-party apps today than Windows Phone went live with).

As for one great phone not fixing anything for them? Not sure. It worked for Samsung. Sure, that doesn't mean it'll work for Nokia. But predicting where this goes is like predicting the weather. I've owned every smart phone of Nokia's starting with the 9000 Communicator, and ending with the N900. I'm optimistic.

Elop is playing a long game, and his strategy makes sense to me. The 920 will, by all accounts, be the most innovative device when it's released later this month.

Just curious, why did Maps make Android not an option? Samsung bundles their own apps with their skin of Android. Is there something that prevented Nokia from doing so too?

>there being even fewer 3rd-party apps today than Windows Phone went live with

Well that's just a silly comparison to make given that the Meego was pronounced dead before the N9 was even released.

1. It's shipping in a few weeks.

2. There's already news on other carriers having it (or a very similar phone).

3. Their new featurephones are supposedly selling well now (Asha).

4. Their strategy isn't just one phone. In terms of phones there's a range at all price points, however Nokia has other lines of business that are doing well (e.g. Navigation, patent licensing).

I wouldn't be quick to keep saying it'll only be on one carrier... We saw what stunts nokia is pulling with giving AT&T exclusivity on the 820 and then proceeding to give exclusivity of variants of the 820 to other carriers. There's no saying they won't do the same with the 920.

When I decided to switch from an iPhone 3GS to an Android, I just went to the first store I saw and bought one. That was over a year ago. No preorder necessary.

It's a first gen Galaxy S, it did came with some bloatware on it. Never bothered me though, plus because it's an Android I was able to install Android 4 on it, even though Samsung doesn't support it.

I would love offline maps, but I also cannot give up GMaps.

Nokia maps are quite comparable...