Nokia suffered a public relations nightmare when its first touch phone, the 5800 XpressMusic phone, was unable to properly connect to 3G networks. The company has since fixed the problem, and looks forward to offering the phone to consumers again.
"We have concluded this was an isolated situation related to a configuration change in the North American variant," Nokia said in a statement. "We have now adjusted the configuration and will resume sales shortly."
It seems the problem wasn't so much a hardware issue, and Nokia will soon begin to roll out a firmware update that will be able to fix signal problems. Phone owners didn't report problems connecting to EDGE networks, and AT&T subscribers were unable to connect to their 3G network.
Each phone sold comes bundled with a one-year free subscription to Nokia's "Comes With Music" service.
Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic is available for $400, and is unlocked and unsubsidized so it can be used on any network without a contract. The updated phones will be released and available in official Nokia outlets starting next week.
Considering Nokia's inability to sell smartphones to consumers in the United States, the company understood how important it was for them to fix the problem as fast as possible. The 5800 has been popular in Moscow and Hong Kong, but analysts remain curious to see how the phone sells in the U.S. after Nokia fixes the 3G issue.
