Snippet: Two Announcements, Two Misses ☇

Nokia’s announcements today were rather impressive, but the dealbreaker was no specific release date, as Vlad Savov writes for The Verge:

The Lumia 920 and 820 introduced today make Nokia look like a technology innovator hitting its stride once again. But until they arrive on store shelves, these glitzy events will all be for naught. It’s time for Nokia to stop selling us dreams and start shipping the real thing. We’ll probably never know whether Nokia is the victim of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 roadmap or its own sluggishness, but that’s not important. The company ultimately responsible to Nokia fans, investors, and phone owners, is Nokia itself.

Just a bit later, Google Motorola Mobility showed off the new RAZR models, which were also impressive from a hardware standpoint, but aren’t even running the latest version of Android. At least those who can’t upgrade older models to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) can get a $100 credit.

Regardless of if you are an iOS fan, Android fan, or Windows Phone fan, there’s something disappointing about a new product being released with a disappointing caveat. New devices shouldn’t be thought of as, “It’s a great phone, but…” immediately after launch. Many tech pundits will probably compare these two events with Apple’s next week. By Wednesday afternoon, we’ll know the next iPhone’s ship date, and the release date for iOS 6 (possibly same day), which will run on most devices since the iPhone 3GS.