Nokia response to forced MyNokia subscription in PR1.2

The Maemo Community Council, an elected body of five representatives for the Maemo community, approached Nokia formally about a response to bug #10366 and the forced subscription of users to their "MyNokia" service - without the possibility of opting out - when upgrading to PR1.2. Nokia have engaged on the bug report, and Quim Gil is raising the issue of the missing opt-out within the Fremantle maintenance programme. However, the official reply is standard sterile Big Corp condescension and hubris: The first use of the latest software for Nokia mobile computers include functionality preparing the device for the service use on behalf of the consumer. In this connection Nokia also provides the consumer with the possibility to receive support messages to assist the consumer get the most out of the purchased Nokia mobile computer. These messages include tips on the capabilities and features of the Nokia devices and available services and features. We believe that these support messages are for the benefit of the consumer and help those consumers who are not yet fully aware of the possibilities their devices offer to make the most out of their purchase. Graham Cobb, a former council member, has been involved in the community discussions around this and has produced a tool, "notmynokia", which can be installed prior to the upgrade to REALLY give the user the "possibility" to receive support messages. The package tricks the system into thinking the user has already accepted the terms, and so does not present a dialogue box of which the choices are, effectively, "yes; I'd love to subscribe to this useful service" and "yes; please subscribe me to this valuable service".

The council goes on to suggest that users who have not yet upgraded investigate the tool before they do so. Further information on "notmynokia" is available later in this issue in the "Applications" section.

MeeGo Handset "Day One" - 30th June

This week should be bringing us the MeeGo Handset "Day One" on Wednesday when the Handset UX will finally be released for public consumption. "It's what we call Day One for the MeeGo handset release," Halla explained. "The productized release of the software is still (set for release in) October of this year, but this is a kind of pre-Alpha release." This is one of the last big pieces of MeeGo still being developed behind closed doors, so hopefully this release signals the end of the "big reveal" mentality that has been plaguing MeeGo and undermining the ceaseless claims of it being an "open project".