Tipsters have claimed that a new device called Nokia N94i is due to be released eventually - running some sort of Windows Mobile. A strange site even has a few images of the box online:
http://auction.sanook.com/detail.asp?id=193726&pic=0#img
While it is entirely possible that Nokia actually did start a Windows Mobile test balloon of some sort(doing so is VERY easy with Windows Mobile), the images of the box look highly suspicious to say the least. Here’s why:
S60 desktop visible on one of the screenshots
The first image available on the web site shows the boy displaying a desktop that is extremely similar to a Series 60v3 one. While this could theoretically be an indicator for a S60 device being abused as a (dual-boot capable) test balloon, it could just as well be a sign that we are dealing with a hoax!
Windows XP background; weird GUI
The phone shows a GUI thats similar to neither a regular Windows Mobile GUI nor a smartphone GUI like the one on the hp ipaq 514. IMHO, it is very unlikely that Nokia actually licenses Windows Mobile only to completely change the look-and-feel….
No stylus silo
. Where does the stylus go?
On the other hand, however, the button layout of the box is radically different from both Windows Mobile for Smartphone and Series 60…the machine lacks a Menu button(S60), but also doesn’t seem to have the home and back buttons as they are commonly found on Windows Mobile smartphones.
In the end, rolling a Windows Mobile test is very simple(if you know how to and have hardware drivers handy). A company as big as Nokia could easily afford to do such a gamble(and probably does so in-house). However, there is little compelling reason for why Nokia should release a Windows Mobile box.
In the S60 playfield; they are alone with Samsung’s few boxen. In the Windows Mobile world, they are one among many. Business theory says: better be a big toad in a small pond than a small fish in the ocean - and that’s why I am pretty sure that the N94i wont materialize in the near future!
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