Symbiosis60

Recently I sold my Nokia N95-1 to my friend. Since my friend is a convert from Windows Mobile (iMate SP3i) he wasn't too speedy on using his FIRST Symbian device. I had to take care of the sale during my quick return trip to Chicago and then fly back to Poland after 5 days. I was VERY busy and I was supposed to give my friend a brief training on Symbian OS. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to do so and my friend had to go back home to Toronto as well. Prior to giving him the phone, I did a hard reset to remove all of my junk from the device. Upon the arrival in Toronto, next day my friend called me and asked how to use the headphones with the remote. I told him to just plug it in and it should work BUT he kept getting the device selection menu (Headset, Headphone, TV Out, Music Stand). So I instructed him to select the Headset profile. It still did not work. What's more interesting is the fact that prior to my trip to Poland in October the headset worked without any problems so I felt really bad because it seemed like I sold my friend a device that just decided to die. I swore I did not sell him a lemmon and just to double check I was giving him the right instructions I checked the headset on my brand new N95-3 which arrived just two days earlier; everything worked. Since I really had no time to look into the problem I told my friend I'd look into it when I get to Poland.

Well... I'm in Poland now (again) and yesterday I got a call from my friend with a SHOCKING detail he dug out on the net. Apparently as Jeff discovered, headset remote that comes bundled with N95's has an internal battery (the standard CR2032). After further check up it's not mentioned ANYWHERE in the manual and according to some posts found on the net (some even pointing to Nokia's discussion forum..albeit MEA (that's Middle East and Asia) it's not officially user replaceable part. Shame on Nokia for hiding this little bit of information. The posts on forum suggest that after 6 months the battery dies and all you need to do is contact the local Nokia Service Center and my guess is that you will be handed a new remote. That's in a perfect world. What happens if the battery will die on the 366th day of the ownership? Will you be sent away and told that the device is out of warranty or will Nokia try to sell you a brand new headset for $30 or whatever it costs these days. Now Nokia... Play nice....

I asked my friend to snap some pictures where the two crucial items are to replace the battery and to be honest it doesn't look like a hard thing to do but as I do not have my headset with me here at the moment, I can't tell. All you need to do is remove the pin holding the clip in place and then remove the screw on the back of the remote. If anyone can try this and post comments and more pictures, it would greatly help everyone that thinks their remote is dead..or worse yet...take their phone to the repair center for an unnecessary "service".

Thanks to Jeff for discovering this little secret (and you have an N95 picture taking training session coming up)