Nokia N-Gage QD US debut slips!

Nokia's N-Gage update, the N-Gage QD, will not ship in the US this month, as planned. Instead, the phone maker has rescheduled the launch to 27 July.[br][br]Separately, the company said it has cut the number of N-Gage titles it expects to see shipped by the end of the year by up to 60%.[br][br]The N-Gage QD is already available in Europe and Asia - it began shipping in the UK on 26 May - and is set to ship in Canada on 29 June.[br][br]The QD is more compact than its predecessor, and its more curvaceous casing makes the unit more easy to operate as a mobile phone. The unit's gamecard slot is now hot-swappable, and is located in the handheld's base, behind a rubber panel - so N-gage users no longer have to remove the battery first.[br][br]Nokia said today that the QD offers better battery life than the first N-Gage yet sports a brighter screen.[br][br]As per the previous edition, the QD supports Bluetooth-based multi-player gaming and can connect to Nokia's global N-Gage Arena community. A new N-Gage Arena launcher app makes accessing the N-Gage Arena easier than before, providing direct access to the N-Gage Arena community directly from the game deck.[br][br]In the US, the product is "ready for shipment", a Nokia spokesman said, but "we have made a business decision to maximise the impact of the launch by synchronising across all channel partners".[br][br]"For the Christmas market, there will be 40 games available," Nokia's head of strategy Matti Alahuhta said during Nokia Connection 2004 today. Punters can currently buy 20 games, he said.[br][br]Last December, however, Nokia said it expected to ship 50-100 titles by the end of 2004.!

[Modified 06/14/04 20:55:04 by admin]