Nokia initiates a charger exchange program

Yesterday I got word that Nokia has started from today, a charger exchange program for a specific model of Nokia charger, the AC-3E. The recall program is underway globally as of now, but in India it is confirmed that this program will start off today, November 10th, 2009.

This specific model of charger ships only with the Nokia 7210s in India. So if you by any chance have a 7210s or know someone who has one, please go to the Nokia Care Center in your city and have the charger replaced for free with a brand new charger.

There is no reason to panic. This is not like the earlier recall that Nokia had initiated for the BL-5C battery. This exchange program is however restricted to chargers manufactured between June 15th, 2009 to August 9th, 2009. So if you have bought your phone during that period, you should get your charger exchanged.

The reason for recall, Nokia during a routine quality control process came across a quality and safety issue. It was poosible for the plastic covers of the affected chargers to become loose and separate, exposing the charger’s internal components and potentially posing an electric shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket.

Nokia is not aware of any incidents or injuries related to these chargers. No consumer complaint has been received in India or globally regarding this issue and the charger exchange program is a responsible initiative to proactively inform consumers to exchange their chargers and safeguard them.

Also to make things simple for Indian users, Nokia has three ways to check if you are eligible for the exchange.

1.) A simple 3-step SMS solution:

Step-1: Every charger has a 27 digit code printed on it. Consumers are requested to Please Key in (CHG) SPACE (the 27 digit in the serial number of the charger).  Eg. CHG 4956279274091613752;0675370

Step-2: Please send this to 55555

Step-3: Consumers will then get a reply from Nokia ‘via sms’ that will inform them whether their  charger is included in this exchange program.

2.) Starting November 10, 2009, consumers can also walk into any Nokia Care Center or  any Nokia Priority Dealership store (NPDs) across the country and check if their chargers are a part of this exchange program.

3.) Consumers can also log into to http://chargerexchange.nokia.com and fill in their charger details and verify if the charger is part of the exchange program.

You can use any of the three ways stated above to check if you are eligible for a free exchange.

For exchanging their chargers, consumers have the following two options:

1. Visit the nearest Nokia Care Centre: Replacement chargers are available at the 700+ exclusive Nokia Care Centers only across the country starting November 10, 2009.

For more information on Nokia Care Centers, you can call 30303838 with the Local STD code of the city that you are currently in.

2.   You can also fill in your address and contact details online on http://chargerexchange.nokia.com. Replacement chargers would then be couriered to you.

N97 V2.0 is out, do you have it?

So the N97 got the big firmware update that was being discussed as the savior of the N97’s woes. But, you can’t get it to install on your phone. You tried everything and are absolutely frustrated and are thinking of visiting the Nokia Care Center to get that update.

That’s exactly what I had going with me until last night, when I thought of doing a little bit of cleaning and some brainstorming on my own. What I describe below should allow you to get that update on your N97 without having to visit the Care Center. The update is still not available on FOTA (Firmware Over The Air) in case you are thinking of firing the OTA feature.

1. Download the latest Nokia PC Suite from the Nokia website (here) and install it. This will bring your Nokia PC Suite to the latest version V7.1.30.9
2. After the above, download the installer file for Nokia Software Updater – NSU and install it (I know this is not the latest version but the NSU will get updated without a hitch with this method). Once you start the installation, make sure you are connected to the internet, The NSU will search for an update for itself and will automatically download the latest version (this is where the internet connection is needed) and it will not hang up or a give a ‘Internet Connection Lost’ error. Download it from here.
3. Restart your PC now.
4. Once your computer is rebooted, start Nokia PC Suite and take a backup of your contact and whatever necessary onto your PC.
5. This step is optional, but I would recommend you to go ahead with it. Do a hard reset of your phone. you need to type this code (in bold) in the dialer – *#7370# This will clean the phone of anything that could potentially cause an error and give you an incomplete experience.
6. With the phone now being ‘clean’ of any data, fire away NSU. The update should now work without a hitch and without giving any errors, provided you have a stable internet connection and electricity supply.

Now once your phone is updated, you will actually get a feel of how amazing the V20 firmware is. After playing with it in this form will you actually know how much better the N97 suddenly feels. I found the touchscreen to be much more sensitive and easier to use and the scrolling changes have made life with the N97 an absolute blessing.

The system feels much more responsive. I formatted my Micro SD card also just to be on the safe side before I restored the data I had backed up earlier.  After following these steps you will find the difference in your N97. Now you can reinstall the apps which you lost or are not working due to the formatting done earlier. This is a slightly more complicated way, but will ensure that your N97 works just as good as a brand new N97 with v20.0.019

I’m back

I’m really sorry for not posting on my own blog for a long time. I’ve been busy with my work and settling in. But from this week onwards, I promise to start posting on this blog again.

Aditya Singhvi’s phones will be coming back with content from the mobile industry.

New Nokia site

Nokia as always is always trying to do something that is different from the rest. From collecting info about diseases, to providing farmer information to the people who need it. Recently Nokia has just launched a new website, www.nokia.com/responsiveness. The website centers around Nokia’s messaging service. This has been done in conjunction with TED fellows, who have featured in some videos for the site, which put a different spin on things.

So what is it about you ask? Well, I’ll let you explore this and tell me what is it all about…

Nokia Messaging Service becomes paid from December

Like me if you have been using Nokia’s email solution, Nokia Messaging Service, you must be loving (and hating it at times) the ability of it to view your email on the phone itself almost instantaneously as it comes to your email box.

Well come December, this service is going to cost you. Nokia Messaging from December will become a paid service on a select few networks. Also going to be released soon is an S40 client, since there are more S40 phones sold than S60. I remember that NMS product manager had said long time back that it would remain an S60 exclusive service. But, I’m glad to know it will be moving to S40, a platform which needs to be accepted as a platform for the masses.

I do have a few questions though, about NMS going paid, like what happens to the E75 owners who got a free lifetime subscription to Nokia Messaging Service, will they have to pay for it now? or does it still remain free?

Will the pre-paid (pay as you go) customer be also included in the scheme of things, or will he be thought to be just a voice and SMS based user? I’ve heard that the service is expected to undercut BlackBerry’s email offering of INR 299 per month, offered by most of the service operators in India.

Leave your comments down below and let us know what your views are on this.