

Nokia's first Linux phone rocks - scharan
http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/

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bad_user
The phone looks really cool.

As a programmer I'm lusting for one of these last-generation smart phones as I
have some cool ideas I need to try out. Unfortunately I couldn't afford one
(got lots of other expenses that have a priority).

iPhone bothers me because you need to have a Mac to develop software for it,
and I don't. And iTunes is awful and you're bound to it (I have an iPod Touch,
and it's the worst experience I've had with any player ... the codecs are
limited, the battery can't be replaced, you can't use it as a storage device,
and you can't install third-party apps that aren't on the iTunes store unless
you crack it). I've also heard of horror stories related to getting your
application approved in iTunes Store.

Android seems interesting, but there's only one device from HTC with Android
on sale and it's not that great. I'm waiting for other brands to release
Android phones (like Samsung). Also their choice of developing their own VM
with incompatible byte-codes seems awkward. Surely it's optimized, but it
would have been better if they slimmed and extended the current JVM ... that
way libraries depending on byte-code manipulation wouldn't have to be
rewritten for Dalvik. And in 3 years from now those optimizations won't matter
anyway, and we'll be stuck with an incompatible VM.

There are a couple of interesting devices with Windows Mobile, but the OS is
awkward to use ... you need to have a stylus, and the responsiveness is just
bad. Maybe that will change with 6.5 / 7.0.

Nokia N900 seems really interesting. It has Flash integrated and Maemo kicks
ass when it comes to developer support (GTK+, Qt, multitasking, and you can
even install Mono on it). Nokia phones are also solid and I've always been
under the impression that it's the only company able to compete with Apple.

I'm waiting to see if N900 delivers.

~~~
dejb
There are actually 3 HTC Android devices on sale Dream, Magic and Hero. Check
ebay. Not sure what the deal is with your carriers though. But I'll be eagerly
checking out the N900 as well.

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gjm11
Could some thoughtful editor please delete the shamelessly advertorializing
word "rocks" from the title?

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weavejester
This looks pretty interesting. The touch screen not as good as the ones on the
iPhone or the HTC Hero, which is a shame, but the CPU is faster than the Hero
and on par with the iPhone 3GS. The Maemo interface looks more like a proper
OS than Android on the Hero or the iPhone's OS. Like the Hero, the N900 also
has Flash, but probably runs it a bit better due to the faster processor. The
N900 also has a 800px screen, which I believe is better than both the iPhone
and the Hero.

Some people like hardware keyboards, but I don't like the additional bulk they
require. The Hero and iPhone are consequently slimmer, and have less moving
parts that can break. The Hero also looks like it has a better quality case.
The N900 and Hero are both unlocked, which is a welcome change from the
iPhone.

Overall, I think I'd still buy a Hero over an N900... but I admit Nokia's
offering is tempting.

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code_scrapping
Seems like Nokia internet tablet n810 + Nokia 5800. Would like to see it's
performance before even thinking of buying (it always sounds nice on paper).

btw. Linux instead of Symbian, finally!

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symesc
Everything operates in landscape mode except the phone?

On my iPhone, landscape mode usually means two hands, whereas portrait means
one, using my thumb to point or scroll.

It's not a huge thing, but an important feature for me. My phone is on and
working about 80% of the time I'm on the move and either not driving or
talking to someone. So whether it's drinking coffee, carrying stuff into work,
or handling toilet paper (hush!), all of these require effective single-hand
operation.

Yeah, thinking about it here, I'd estimate large percentage of my iPhone
operation is portrait and single hand. YMMV.

This Nokia Linux phone looks great, however, and I'm nitpicking. I am looking
forward to choices in the marketplace.

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fno
If it was not so darn expensive, I would be psyched. But this way I will wait
for the OpenPandora for my mobile mini-PC needs (for a telephone I love my
Nokia 6310 and will use it until the day it ceases functioning).

~~~
_glass
Hm ... according to 1, 3, 4, 5 around 718$, pre tax and pre carrier subsidy,
to 2 750$. I don't think this is too much of a prize for market entry.
Remember the 1st iPhone, with all of its specs.

1 <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10319133-94.html> 2
<http://www.nokian900.com/nokia-n900-internet-tablet-rumors/> 3
[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/08/nokia-evolves-
aw...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/08/nokia-evolves-away-from-
internet-tablets-with-new-n900.ars) 4
[http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n900_is_now_officially_outed_a...](http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n900_is_now_officially_outed_and_it_packs_some_serious_stuff-
news-1091.php) 5 [http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/nokia-n900-running-
maemo-...](http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/nokia-n900-running-
maemo-5-officially-500-in-october/)

~~~
ars
Seems quite a lot to me. It's basically the price of a desktop or notebook.

I wonder if I could hook up an external (bluetooth?) keyboard, and a monitor
and basically use this thing as a full daily computer.

I saw it has video out (NTSC/PAL), but I wonder if it can do monitor out -
hopefully at a higher resolution than 800x480.

~~~
dejb
Actually it looks like it will sell for a bit less than an iPhone outright.
'Outright' is a word used by people in the free world to describe actual phone
ownership as opposed to rental.

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gtufano
The phone will be cool for sure. The venerable 700 and the N810 I have are
both very cool. The phone section will work very well for sure (hey, it's a
Nokia phone, who use Nokia phones knows that the phone section is very good).
The real points are: coolness factor outside "very geeky"/"hackers" people and
the presence of a real "ISV" ecosystems. The risk is the same risk of Ubuntu:
everyone praise it, we all have it installed on one (or more) computer (or
VMs) but the computer we normally use have OS X installed on it.

~~~
bad_user
> _the computer we normally use have OS X installed on it._

I don't as I'm using Debian on my workstation. It beats OS X for development
purposes (I've worked on a Macbook for 2 years prior to this).

Other than that, saying that Linux is ready for the desktop is just wishful
thinking. It may be for grandma that only surfs the web, until one day when
she receives a webcam from her nephew.

But we are talking about a phone released by Nokia with Maemo, a Linux distro
sponsored by Nokia, on top of hardware that's designed to work with Maemo,
with components picked or developed by Nokia.

The chances of success are great. And Nokia even started an iTunes Store
equivalent (www.ovi.com).

I don't know, I'm hoping this leads to something because a lack of competition
hurts the market.

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dryicerx
Now that my infatuation with the apple app-store has died down (to the point
where I am only using Phone+SMS+Browser+Maps) I think this would do.

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grigory
Contrary to the popular trend, they aren't using a WebKit-based browser - site
claims that the phone comes with a Mozilla powered browser engine.

If this phone does take off, I wonder if it could distill WebKit's mobile
monopoly (disregarding RIM's rather fair efforts with their in-house browser
for having a marginal market share, and Opera is a bit of a different
story)...

~~~
blasdel
That's not going to last long, considering that they bought Trolltech and will
be switching Maemo from GTK to QT.

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lsc
I'm wondering how I could attach one of these to my forearm. I've got a nokia
n810, and it is a nice device, but I've not found a reasonably decent holster
for it. (personally, I think for portable computing devices like this, 'draw
time' is key to usefulness. If I've got to dig it out of a bag, I might as
well whip out a laptop.)

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ianbishop
"Database Error: Unable to connect to your database. Your database appears to
be turned off or the database connection settings in your config file are not
correct. Please contact your hosting provider if the problem persists."

Oof.

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Nervetattoo
The UI looks nice, and the specs are over acceptable. I will definitively go
for this if its snappy in real life use, so can't wait to try it. Would be
nice if my phone was built on the same OS that i use on every computer every
day.

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GeneralMaximus
Another day, another cool phone, another long wait until it's available in
India :(

I would buy either Nokia N900, HTC Hero or Palm Pre the day one of them is
released in India. Unfortunately, we're stuck with the crappy iPhone :(

~~~
thirdusername
Why don't you import one?

~~~
GeneralMaximus
Sounds like a good idea. So, eBay? Or someplace else?

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ASUmusicMAN
So is T-Mobile the only carrier in the US that this will be available to?

~~~
CitizenKane
I believe that the phone doesn't have support for the frequencies on which
AT&T's GSM network runs, but it does have support for T-Mobile's GSM network.
So for now, T-Mobile looks like the only carrier in the US that this will be
going to (with Verizon and Sprint both running CDMA and not being able to
carry it).

~~~
trezor
Off-topic, but still: In the US you seriously need some thorough regulation to
make this bullshit go away.

You are acting like this is how a normal market is supposed to work. To help
you gain some perspective I welcome you, and your standard GSM phone, to any
country anywhere in Europe to see how mobile phones, networks and service-
providers are really supposed to work in a competitive market.

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
As an American, I officially envy you, and I've been bitching about the
cellphone situation for years. T-Mobile is the closest to European phone
practices that you can find this side of the pond.

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j2d2
Is this an android phone?

~~~
dtf
Maemo (pronounced mime-oh) - it's a bit more of a traditional Linux platform
than Android, built on Debian and Gnome. The browser is based on Mozilla.

~~~
joezydeco
Qt is coming into the platform as well.

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sharjeel
Stallman still won't use it .. bloody propriety icons they've used without
releasing their photoshop source code which has stopped all innovation in the
market!

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j2d2
Wow! It has flash!

~~~
christefano
The N810 does, too, and it's the one big thing I miss since giving my tablet
away. The landscape keyboard is also great (especially with the LCARS sounds),
but for better or worse I've adapted to my new device.

