Video demo after the cut

Some of the elements still being worked on may give would-be platform hoppers a pause, with the camera, voice calls, audio codecs and GPS all still giving DrunkDebugger trouble. This is billed as an experimental build; a release version was tipped for distribution at around the new year.

[via dailymobile.se]

Video demo after the cut

Unlike the iOS versions, the N900 app for controlling the AR.Drone uses two on-screen joysticks rather than the accelerometer to control the quadricopter. Still, we’re guessing that could be addressed in future versions. Otherwise you get the same live video stream and direct WiFi connection, together with all the AR.Drone’s own intelligent auto-hover and object avoidance.

While the project has been a way of letting the N900 work with a new toy, Alhola also has another motivation: to prove that neither the N900 nor Maemo are dead. Responding to speculation that both device and platform are facing an imminent demise, she instead suggests that “the best option today is to develop with maemo5 with Qt and Qt Quick and when a MeeGo handset is released, just deploy your application for it, it is that easy.”

[via My Nokia Blog]

Roslyakov suggests that there’ll be a stable build of the Gingerbread N900 port available in time for the New Year celebrations – you do celebrate with your N900 in hand, don’t you? – though before then there’ll be a new, stable Android 2.2 Froyo release for the Nokia around Christmas time. If you’re interested in flashing your N900 with the latest public release, instructions are here.

[via Android Community and via HDBlog]

That includes the ability to make on-device music purchases through the N900′s browser and Nokia’s Ovi Music Store, with the downloads non-DRM encrypted.  You’ll either need a PC and the Nokia Suite to install the update manually, or wait until the “new software available” alert – a big yellow exclamation point – appears on the N900 itself.

[via Maemo News]

“The Nokia N900 is used as development hardware for platform developers working with MeeGo on ARM hardware architecture. While the software from the MeeGo project runs on the Nokia N900 for development purposes, Nokia does not intend to provide a dual-boot OS option to consumers in upcoming N900 commercial software releases as we want to ensure that we provide the best possible experience designed for that device. The meego.com blog post was primarily targeted to the audience reading the blog: MeeGo developers.” Nokia statement

The news echoes official statements back in May which amounted to much the same thing: that there will be no commercial MeeGo roll-out for the N900 in the interests of maintaining the best, most stable experience on Maemo.  Disappointing, yes, but we don’t doubt there’ll be plenty of people going the developer route with their N900 and loading whatever ROMs are out there.

Whether Nokia will be able to truly grab headlines depends on how well they leverage MeeGo, the collaborative platform with Intel that the Finns have already earmarked for future high-end NSeries devices.  Twelve months ago, at Nokia World 2009, it was the N900 that surprised us all by being a sleeper-hit of sorts; now Nokia needs another distinctive flagship to pull them through the mire of Android and iOS they find themselves in.

That’s the challenge, and we hope Nokia can rise to it.

Video demo after the cut

Electrolysis splits the browser UI process from the web rendering engine process, which apparently keeps app responsiveness high even when there’s plenty of page loading or JavaScript crunching going on in the background.  Meanwhile Layers – which will arrive in the Beta version of Firefox Mobile – will improve zoom, animation, video and scroll performance, including taking advantage of whatever hardware GPU acceleration might be present.

No word on when that Beta might be released, however, so for now it’s the Alpha – as with any such software, it might not be the most stable thing you could install on your smartphone.  You can download the new version of Firefox Mobile here, while the release notes are here.

FCamera is an example camera application that uses FCam libraries and drivers. It is released in source code to serve as a starting point for programmers to create their own camera applications.

Low-light Assistant helps in situations where there is not enough light to avoid the choice between a quick exposure that will look sharp, but dark and noisy, and a long exposure that will have enough light, but likely be blurry. Instead, the app captures two images in rapid succession and then automatically combines them, resulting in a photo that is both bright and sharp.

HDR Capture helps in situations where there is too much light, such as a portrait of a person with a bright sky behind her. The camera takes up to three images with different exposure settings and combines them to an image that shows the details of both the foreground and background objects, without under or over-exposing any of them.

Meanwhile there are various ongoing projects yet to spit out a working program as yet, including one looking at capturing the movement of playing cards tossed into the air, using two independently controlled flashes.  Thanks to the open API the FCam team expect other photography-minded developers to jump on board, and hope to extend the platform beyond just the N900.

The end result could be a higher standard of images coming out of mobile devices, and when you consider the sort of optics available in upcoming models like the Nokia N8, that can only be a good thing.  The FCam project picked the N900 because “it runs a version of Linux almost as complete as that installed on personal computers,” says Nokia’s Kari Pulli, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that versions get ported across to other Linux-based devices such as Android phones.

[via Nokia Conversations]

Video demo of Peer-to-Peer gaming and more after the cut

Qualcomm demonstrated three devices – a Nexus One running Android, an N900 running Maemo 5 and a Dell notebook running Windows – all taking part in a local game, with automatically created peer-to-peer connections made over Bluetooth and WiFi.  As the video below shows, the game could search for local players, send out invites by itself and then manage whatever wireless technology the devices could support.  Play happens in real-time with minimal lag.  CEO Paul Jacobs also sees the peer-to-peer system as being used in multimedia applications, such as automatically showing photos or video on any nearby screen.

As for Unity, they’re working with Qualcomm to add the company’s Natural Feature image recognition system into their gaming development engine.  Natural Feature uses a shots from a device’s camera to calculate an individual signature based on target points on a person, object or glyph; those signatures are then used to track movement in real space, with the device superimposing digital content on top.

Mattel brought back its 40-year-old Rock’em and Sock’em flighting robots to Uplinq, taking advantage of the new AR technology.  The toymaker a printed battle-ring image and a pair of smartphones, with the robots themselves represented on-screen. Mattel developed the title entirely in the Android version of the AR add-on toolkit; however Unity CEO David Helgason says his company’s development engine not only works with multiple platforms – not just Android – but makes AR integration even easier.

Developers interested in taking part in Qualcomm’s AR challenge will be able to download the public beta of the Augmented Reality SDK later this Fall.  The SDK will be free, and will support Android 2.1 and higher.

In fact, Nokia apparently had trouble meeting demand for the N900, and have seen sustained sales of the handset since its launch.  Nokia won’t disclose exact sales figures for the N900, but it seems Gartner have gotten considerably confused somewhere along the line.

The N900 was one of Nokia’s most anticipated devices of 2009, and has recently seen an update to not only Maemo 1.2 but MeeGo v1.0.  Nokia had previously said that the handset wouldn’t be offered officially with MeeGo, though it seems aftermarket updates will be coming thick and fast.

Video demo after the cut

There’s a nifty “Sociometer” gauge which shows how many previous contacts are nearby, and user-customizable profiles – such as “Party” or “Public” – which can be used to set how contactable you are.  The system automatically makes WiFi connections and uses each compatible device as a network repeater, bridging the links so that your poetry can be shared by even more people.

According to the Nokia Research team, they built Instant Community with openness in mind; even though there are only Nokia devices shown in the video, if the system ever gets released we’ll hopefully see it spread to other platforms too.  Just make sure to turn off key-sounds, and remember that amateur poetry is generally best kept to yourself.

Video demo after the cut

There’s also the Google Chrome browser (or support for Google Chromium) and, when the MeeGo Handset version is released in June, the Fennec Mobile Browser will be implemented.  An early developer release of the MeeGo SDK – also in June – will support touch-based devices.

As for what’s further around the corner, the MeeGo team plan to release v1.1 in October 2010, complete with support for touch-based devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and “In-Vehicle Infotainment systems”.  You can download MeeGo v1.0 for netbooks here and v1.0 for the N900 here.  Demo video below by Brad Linder.

[video via NokiaUsers]

Updated with video after the cut

While text messages are pushed across all devices, photos and videos are offered as links.  There’s a latency involved, of course, when you’re routing data through a series of interconnected devices; those in the middle of the route will likely experience slow-downs as larger files are transferred.  However, Instant Community can also fall back on a regular WiFi network, if available, if it decides that would be quicker overall.

Nokia reckon the system could be useful at sports or concert events, with the audience sharing not only their opinion of the performance but photos and video with each other; that way you could see a different perspective of the pitch or stage.  Of course, applications themselves would be up to developers.

Instant Community is currently being demonstrated on N900s ironically running MeeGo, but is also apparently up and running in a Symbian version.  Best of all, though, is that it’s been developed as an open platform – on top of which compatible apps can be built – and Nokia’s researchers are hoping other companies will adopt it and broaden device support.  No word on when we might see it released, if Nokia decide to green-light the project.

Update: Nokia Conversations have a demo video:

As of this coming Thursday, meanwhile, the Ovi Store will get a gaming boost with the addition of Jurassic 3D Rollercoaster, Zen-bound, Angry Birds (level pack), Sygic, Kroll, Weatherbug and GoGadget for the N900.  There are also some UI changes and the ability to accept meeting requests from the email client.

As for MeeGo, Nokia have announced that there will be no “full scale commercial MeeGo upgrade” for the Nokia N900, with the smartphone left running Maemo.  That, they say, is to make sure users have the best experience with their N900, and they’ll continue pushing out Maemo updates.  We imagine that third-party unofficial MeeGo builds will proliferate, however, so this is probably not the dire news it could be; hurrah for open-source, eh?

“Although Nokia N900 devices are being used for platform development and testing purposes by those involved in the MeeGo project, we don’t have plans for a full scale commercial MeeGo upgrade on the Nokia N900.” Nokia Conversations official blog

[via SlashPhone]

Based on the Debian 32-bit release, the port passes all 100 of the Acid3 tests and apparently works pretty well overall.  Basically this is a desktop browser on a smartphone, and remember you can always overclock the N900′s 600MHz processor to 900MHz (or even higher) if things aren’t running slickly enough for your liking.

The installation files for Chrome for Maemo can be found here, though as with most things of its ilk there are bugs to be found and it’s really a work-in-progress.  You’ll need to install it using dpkg in console, since the packages won’t work in the N900′s app manager.

[via Twitter and via Maemo Arena]

Lehto – perhaps sensibly – isn’t releasing the faster kernels until he’s sure there won’t be reports of bricked or burnt out N900s (and unhappy owners looking for his blood).  Still, the end result is a device that works significantly faster, though at the expense of battery life and, potentially, machine lifetime.

Actual performance can be dependent on climate, temperature and even whether you’ve got a “good” or “average” Cortex A8 chip in your phone.  Interestingly, the N900 uses the same processor as the iPhone 3GS, though the Apple smartphone makes for a far less user friendly hacking experience.

[via The Unlockr]

The Nokia N900 isn’t the only device that’s getting the MeeGo love today, though. Those of you out there who have an Atom-powered notebook, or an Atom Moorestown MID, are also included in the developer download goodness. But, alas, this doesn’t include all the MeeGo goodness that we detailed earlier. In fact, word has it that if you flash it onto your N900, you’ll be met with a terminal console. Nevertheless, if this is something you want to do, you’ll be able to boot MeeGo from a USB drive, or right from your device. Options, right?

Sure, we imagine that some (if not most of you) out there purchased your N900 because you’re a developer of some kind, so this is probably right up your alley. But, if you are a little bit more wary of flashing your devices, then you can wait it out. The team has said that they plan on releasing more information about the upcoming release in May, which is tagged as 1.0.

[via Maemo Arena]

Poster-child, in fact, for this sort of tightly reined UX is the iPhone, and we can only imagine that there’s some snickering going on at Cupertino over their rival’s change of approach. Windows Mobile used to be the go-to guy for flexibility in smartphones: yes, it didn’t look that hot in its native state, but if you wanted to whip up an app that accessed – or merely wanted to play with – the core elements of the device then Microsoft made little attempt to stand in your way. It’s become a hotbed of ROM tinkering and modification, everything from changing LED blink patterns to completely reworked builds that streamline just about every element of the phone; the sort of things Android modders are doing now, their Windows Mobile counterparts were doing for years before.

Another good example is the iPad. As we’ve commented before, listening to the media reception of Apple’s imminent tablet, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the first such device in the world, not the latest touchscreen device in a segment that goes back years. What seems to have commentators – and, judging by pre-sale estimates, would-be owners – excited is the though of what Apple can do to turn “another computer to maintain” into a headache-free appliance. If you already have a main computer – whether desktop or notebook – and maybe a netbook as well, the last thing you want is to add in another machine to look after, take care of with software updates and anti-spyware scans, coddle as anything more than, yes, an oversized iPod touch.

On the other side of the apparent divide are devices like Nokia’s N900, a handset that – out of the box – can border on the frustrating. The N900 lacks the instant-reward of other recent handsets, which bend over backward to offer the extent of their functionality within a finger’s reach. Instead, the Nokia is making a name for itself among those who want to experiment with their mobile devices, loading up non-standard platforms, hooking up unusual hardware and generally carrying across some of that desktop tinkering paradigm to the mobile space.

Of course, you can’t blame manufacturers for wanting to control their user experience. For all the good work HTC and others have done with modifying the Windows Mobile 6.x UI, Microsoft still catch grief from reviewers and owners alike for encouraging UX fragmentation. With Apple storming ahead in the smartphone segment it’s hard to criticise Microsoft for not following their example and locking down some of the areas which have previously turned round and bit them. Meanwhile the so-called flexible – challenging? – devices like the N900 are never expected to be a dramatic sales success.

There’s a common misconception that the tech-aware – the sort of people who read this site and who keep up with cutting-edge developments; the early-adopters, perhaps – are the audience for complex devices, simultaneously blinkered to the demands of the mainstream. It’s a false distinction: everyone is “guilty” of wanting a device that “just works”. Yes, some users might also want an extra degree of flexibility – to modify, tweak or generally step outside of the manufacturer’s expectations of what the device might be useful for – but there’s an assumption nonetheless that the core functionality will be rock solid.

Has that expectation forced devices to dumb-down? Perhaps – it’s certainly one way of ensuring the basics are addressed – but to be fair that seems to be the way many consumers prefer it. An application store packed with titles is all well and good, until one of them goes wrong and wipes out your address book. Developers are having to become cleverer at dealing with more rigid third-party software guidelines; sometimes that’s for good reasons, like sandboxing apps to prevent one crash bringing down the whole system, and sometimes for not so great reasons, like blanket limitations on background processes. There’s dumbed-down and there’s just plain dumb; it remains to be seen whether asking for a stable user experience has in fact left us with less choice overall.

Video demo after the cut

Constructed out of LEGO Mindstorm NXT 2.0 parts with custom software, Niko can use the Twitter API to monitor a specially created account, @N900Niko, for instructions.  Users can remotely trigger a photo to be taken with the N900′s 5-megapixel camera – complete with flash – or instruct Niko to move around the room.

The video below shows Niko moving automatically, grabbing a photo and uploading it to Twitpic for sharing – you can find the robot’s photo account here – as well as responding to its touch sensor.  With a week to go until the competition finishes, the team are working on fettling the last of the code and getting things stable.

[via MAKE]

That’s faster than many would have assumed was likely, and seems to indicate that both Intel and Nokia realise many have taken a “put up or shut up” wait and see approach to MeeGo.  Halla also took the opportunity to confirm that while Qt, OBS and RPM had been settled on for MeeGo, other technologies were still being discussed and would appear in announcements and support wikis over time:

“Further selections are mostly still under discussion and beyond a few obvious ones (X, connman, ofono, gstreamer, dbus,…) can be considered as working assumptions for MeeGo 1 release” Valtteri Hall, TSG, MeeGo

[via SlashPhone]

Tomasz Stern, a developer, has managed to mod the N900 to do so – you can even hook it up to your TV and game on a PS3 Sixaxis controller.  This is cool on how many levels?

Check out the video after the break – this is Nokia, Sony, and Nintendo, synergizing at their best.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/9178715[/vimeo]

[via Recombu]

Video demo after the cut

Because of that, it’s not exactly a usable implementation; in fact it’s more a very slow proof-of-concept rather than anything else.  According to Nikkanen, it took over an hour and a half to boot and get to the “About this Mac” dialog shown above, and he had to do some heavy editing in order to avoid viewers falling asleep during the video below.

We’d plump for a Maemo/Android mixture, then, over OS X, but we bet there are Apple-lovers eyeing up this project and wondering what might need to be done to shave OS X 10.3 down to a more usable size.  Nikkanen is also the same guy who got Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 3.1 running on the N900.

[via Engadget]

It’s also designed – like the N900 – to be used not only as a “portable computer” but as a phone.  Under the hood there’s an ARM-based 806MHz Marvell PXA310+ processor running the show, along with 128MB RAM and 256MB ROM, while connectivity includes WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, 3G EVDO (obviously with voice and data support) and GPS.  You also get a 3.2-megapixel camera, a VGA webcam, 4.3-inch WVGA resistive touchscreen and a 2,600mAh battery.

That’s all strikingly similar to the first non-Nokia Maemo device we saw, Optima’s OP5-E, though Aigo have sensibly slotted some hardware controls onto the N500′s front panel.  Most interestingly it’s already on sale – albeit in China – for 3999 RMB ($586); Aigo devices have previously shown that they’re capable of crossing over to Europe and the US, so we’re quietly hopeful that the N500 will too.

[via Pocketables]

Video proof of concept after the cut

Brandon Roberts is the man responsible for the dual-booting marvel, and while he’s describing it more as a proof of concept right now than a workable solution, from what little is shown in the video he’s come a decent way.  The keyboard seems to work, and the display is running at the N900′s WVGA resolution; a boot menu allows you to choose between Maemo and Android.

Right now there are no instructions as to how exactly he did it, but we’ve a feeling this could be a popular hack assuming all the N900′s core hardware could be encouraged to work with Android.  The combination of Maemo for experimentation and Android for everyday use could potentially transform the N900.

[via Android Community]

In addition SIM cards from UK network 3 are now supported, larger mailboxes are handled better, Ovi Maps is improved, and there have been various modifications made to optimize CPU and battery use.  The rest of the changes are mostly tweaks and improvements: you can now silence phone ringing by flipping the N900 face-down, WiFi stability is increased, camera thumbnails load faster and task alarms are now synchronized.

OTA updates will be rolling out in the next 24 hours, so don’t be surprised if you don’t have the option straight away.  There’s a full software changelist for Maemo 5 PR1.1 here, and it’s also possible to flash the N900 rather than use the OTA update.

[via Nokia Conversations]

Maemo Italia has posted a short video of the application in action to youtube, which is unfortunately in Italian. But you can still get the general idea of what is going on and see the N900 connect to the PS3.

Blue Maemo is still in early development which of course means you get all of the problems associated with a piece of alpha software. This instability could lead to crashes and freezing on your device. So if you are feeling brave enough to give it a try do so with caution.

Via Maemo Central

That cool Kohjinsha DZ dual-screen netbook has landed on a video review. I really like the idea behind this netbook, I still want to know about battery life on the thing, and I hope some mainstream netbook makers are looking to offer similar machines.

A new concept called Synaptics Fuse tipped up this week and the thing looks like a cross between a smartphone and a kids toy to me. It’s packed with squeeze, scroll, and stroke sensors and is an interesting concept for sure. MSI added new models to its X-Slim range with a new X350 and X600 Pro. The machines have WiMAX options and can be fitted with a Core 2 Duo processor.

JVC unveiled some cool looking and very thin home theater sound bar systems called the TH-BS7 and TH-BA3. These thin systems would look great on the wall along with your HDTV. Slides leaked out showing that NVIDIA is set to debut a couple new high-end video cards called the GTX 360 and the GTX 380. The GTX 380 looks to be more powerful than anything ATI is offering now.

The Nokia N900 has been confirmed for Vodafone aiming at a launch in January. We bet the thing will be offered free with certain plans. The FCC outed a new Samsung ST5500 camera with WiFi with 14.2MP and 7x optical zoom. Samsung was fast to point out the specs could change before launch.

Viewsonic released a boring netbook called the Viewbook VNB102 that has nothing interesting about it. The machine is like every other netbook on the market for the last year. I guess netbooks are like the field of dreams for these companies, just because you build it, customers will not come. Corsair unveiled a massively expensive RAM kit this week with 24GB in six DIMMS. The big downside was the kit costs over $1300.

Toshiba unveiled some new 64GB NAND chips this week that would be fantastic for the iPhone. Here’s hoping they find their way into the next model to hit the market. The Google Nexus One turned up on another video this week. We wish someone would just give us a full video breakdown, they must fear the Google ninjas.

LaCie unveiled a small external HDD called the Rikiki that has 640GB of storage and is about the size of a tiny monkey. Apple won a permanent injunction against Psystar this week. The judge didn’t specifically name Rebel EFI in the injunction but said Psystar would sell the software at its peril.

Cherrypal unveiled the $99 Africa netbook aimed at developing countries. The company also announced an updated Bing netbook for those of us with more loot to spend. The WarMouse Meta has debuted with 18 buttons and packing a laser sensor. I would never remember where I bound the macros on the thing.

AAXA has debuted its M1 projector that is both bigger and brighter than the pico. It had better be much brighter, that Pico was nearly useless in anything but total darkness. I am not sure how I feel about Bond’s preferred car marquee building a city car. Aston Martin has unveiled the Cygnet that looks like a cross between a Mini and a DB9.

The Barnes & Noble Nook has been hacked to add a full web browser to the device. That would actually be a cool feature, but I am sure the data consumption will be higher and AT&T won’t be happy. Word came in this week that the NVIDIA Ion 2 launch had been delayed at the request of manufacturers. The crux of the delay is to let the computer makers sell the remaining original ION devices.

The best news this week was that the 3D Blu-ray specs had been completed and that the PS3 would support 3D. I will be glad to see 3D movies in the home, but we will surely need a new TV to enjoy 3D on the PS3. SplitFish started shipping its Dual SFX Evolution controller. The thing looks pretty cool, but I bet it takes some getting used to.

The Asus Eee 1005P and 1005PE netbook broke cover this week. Both the machines are running the Intel Pine Trail platform. Research firm IDC reports that the PC market is back to growth. This year the growth is minimal, but through 2013 the prediction is for double-digit growth.

CES is right around the corner and one of the cool gadgets we will be looking for is the Notion Ink Tegra Android smartpad. This thing should be all kinds of cool. Fusion Garage and Michael Arrington are continuing with their legal battle over the failed CrunchPad. Fusion Garage still maintains it owns the IP behind the design.

The iPhone has beaten Windows Mobile in market share for the U.S. smartphone market. Windows Mobile is the only mobile OS losing market share according to a recent report. That’s it for this week, have a Merry Christmas!

Video demo after the cut

Inside – after a suitably theatrical puff of smoke – was a Nokia N900, together with a whole load of accessories.  They’d also dropped in Modern Warfare II for the PS3, a mini Christmas cake and a Starbucks gift card, together with – somewhat bizarrely – a small model of a fox.

It’s obviously just a promotional thing – and it worked, we guess, since we’re writing about them now – but we can’t help but wish Nokia put the same magic and intrigue into their cellphone range as they did into this unusual box.  We’re not saying we want to have to mount a phone and use Hyperterminal before we can make a call, but a shot of the unusual is what many of Nokia’s phones seem sorely lacking in right now.

As you might expect, there are no pricing details or indications of when exactly in January the N900 will drop.  Nonetheless, for those unwilling or unable to buy the handset outright we’re guessing Vodafone will be offering the N900 free with a new contract – probably a reasonably pricey one of around £35 a month upwards – with a two-year agreement.

Your commitment gets you a 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA/HSUPA and WiFi b/g, together with the Maemo 5 OS.  There’s also a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, Bluetooth, one of the best desktop-standard browsers around and the chance to hang on the cutting edge of Nokia’s precarious platform balancing.

Video demo after the cut

The OP5-E squeezes in GPS, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and a 2,600mAh removable battery.  There’s a microSD card slot (16GB cards supported), a 3.2-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera up front for video calls.  The whole thing measures 143 x 74 x 17.6 mm and Optima reckon you’ll get around 8hrs video playback out of it.

Charbax reckons the VoIP possibilities of the OP5-E are one of its strongest points, together with the size of its screen – the N900 is 3.5-inches, in comparison; however there are some Bluetooth issues and lacks a TV output.  Still, at $500 unlocked (Optima are looking for carriers who might want to subsidize it, but we reckon that’s relatively unlikely) it’s an interesting alternative to the Nokia for those not enamoured with the N900′s hardware keyboard.

Despite shortcomings in Symbian S60 (where apps and settings are located appears to have been chosen at random) and a wildly inconsistent touch experience, the 5800 and N97 have sold over 10 million units. Nokia has sold well over 100 million Symbian S60 phones overall, which puts it in a classic case of what Clayton Christensen calls the Innovator’s Dilemma: Nokia’s existing customers are happy with S60, so Nokia has resisted cannibalizing it. However, the iPhone may have launched without 3G or corporate email, but Apple keeps adding features with each new version, so when S60 users are ready to buy a new phone, they are increasingly picking one from Apple or one of Apple’s competitors. (It is also worth noting that arguments against cannibalizing S60 can only be made for Europe – in the U.S., S60 has never had any traction whatsoever.)

The solution to the Innovator’s Dilemma is to fund skunkworks development or a spin-off that attacks the new technology on its own terms. While initially planned as a way to get Nokia’s feet wet in open source software, Nokia does have another OS, Maemo Linux, that it has been quietly using for its line of Internet tablets (770, N800, and N810). At Nokia World in early September, Nokia announced Maemo 5 and the N900, the first Maemo phone. When I first saw Maemo 5 demonstrated just ahead of Nokia World, my first reaction was to question why Nokia would limit Maemo to pricey, high end devices. After all, S60 isn’t competitive, and Maemo looks really, really cool. Why not just kill S60 and switch to Maemo?

After playing with a production N900 for the past couple of weeks, I have discovered the answer: Maemo is nowhere near ready for mainstream consumers.

There was reason for my initial optimism: the OS has power to spare; it is basically a desktop Linux system in a tiny package. Maemo can handle multiple live apps minimized to little cards (similar to Palm’s webOS); the browser is unadulterated Mozilla code and includes support for a full implementation of Flash 9. The N900 has a high resolution 800×480 screen, TI OMAP3 (Cortex A8) processor, 32 GB flash storage plus an empty microSD card slot, forward facing VGA camera, and 5 MP camera on the rear with dual LED flashes and Carl Zeiss branding. There is a sliding physical QWERTY keyboard, and, for watching media, a pull out kickstand. The N900 has WiFi, quadband GSM and Triband HSPA 900/1700/2100, making it perfect for T-Mobile’s 3G network in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the whole is much less than the sum of its parts. The user interface is maddeningly inconsistent and opaque, and while you can learn to live with its quirks after a while, why should you have to? Nearly every mobile OS does a better job of making it easy to navigate; the iPhone is the easiest (at the expense of efficiency) and Palm’s webOS is the most elegant. Nokia needs to add hard buttons or dedicated screen real estate for navigating and launching options menus. For example, touching the top left corner is usually the “go back” area. Except when touching the blank space in between app tiles backs you out. Except when you’re in a web browser, and a link is occupying the top left, then there’s really no way to get back at all without first minimizing the view. The resistive touchscreen is another problem – even when you push in the right spot, it doesn’t always register. I find myself repeatedly pulling out the stylus, and that should simply never happen on a modern smartphone.

There are no SEND or END keys (Motorola’s DROID has this problem, too), and there is no permanent place for the soft keys – depending where you are in the UI, it can be awfully hard just to find the dialer. This is the first phone I have used in a while where making a phone call isn’t just a secondary use case, but is barely a use case at all.

Web browsing is good, though navigating around a web page is not as smooth as Apple’s Safari. Still, this is one area where the N900 can do things no other phone on the market can do, at least until Adobe rolls out Flash 10 support broadly next year. YouTube videos play smoothly, and navigating around Flash-heavy sites is possible. (Theoretically, you should even be able to watch Hulu on the N900. Practically, it doesn’t work, even over WiFi – the video loads, slowly, then… stops.)

While I encountered system messages that would terrify non-technical users (do you want to update your phone’s SSL sockets? Who knows?), the N900 is better than previous Maemo Linux devices. For example, downloading and installing applications is a simple process now. But there aren’t that many apps yet, and Nokia’s Ovi Store still has a “Coming Soon” banner. Nokia is providing for cross platform (Symbian and Maemo) development with upcoming versions of its QT tools, but Nokia’s focus with developers is still on Symbian.

This leaves Nokia with some tortured market positioning: Nokia told me it is firmly committed to Symbian as its smartphone platform of choice, while Maemo will be relegated to high end devices and aimed at consumers who want more of a computer and less of a phone. The latter description fits every iPhone, Android, and webOS user (and those handsets start at just $100 after carrier subsidies). Nokia needs something better than S60 with touch. Maemo Linux could be that thing, but it isn’t yet, and it doesn’t look like Nokia really wants it to succeed broadly.

Delivery of the much-anticipated smartphone begins today, and will apparently be fulfilled on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Anybody who didn’t plan ahead – or who quite sensibly wanted to wait until they could play with an N900 in-store – will have to wait almost a week and a half before they can do so.  The Nokia N900 will be priced at £499 including VAT in the UK.

But all good games must come to an end (and we’ll just start chasing HTC Dragon rumors again, so no need to worry about whether our days will be occupied) and as of this morning the pre-order shipments of US N900s are supposedly shipping out.  It’s actually over a week since Nokia told us the N900 was officially out for distribution, so we’re not sure whether they mean buyers should expect a delivery today, or if the Maemo 5 smartphones are just leaving the warehouse today.

Either way, the N900 is on its way and you should be able to pick one up from the Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, priced at around $649.  Alternatively it’s worth shopping around online; Amazon are already listing it for just $509.99 after discounts and rebates, though there it’s not showing up as available as yet.

Press Release:

The Nokia N900 is now available to US consumers

November 18, 2009

A computer in your pocket – The Nokia N900 is here!

WhitePlains, N.Y., USA — Nokia today announced that the highly anticipated Nokia N900 is now on sale in the United States and shipping to consumers who jumped on the opportunity to be among the first to pre-order the Maemo-powered mobile computer. With the Linux-based Maemo platform and with multiple ways to connect to the Internet, the Nokia N900 enables users to be online as it happens with a powerful computer in the palm of their hands.

“Consumers from every segment of the population are looking for more out of their mobile device – more power, more ability, more connectivity. The Nokia N900 ushers in a new era with a very powerful mobile computer,” said Alessandro Lamanna, Vice President, Retail Sales, Nokia. “With an open source operating system, incorporated technology like an OMAP processor, and real time web widgets, the Nokia N900 delivers the experience of a pocketable computer that has the information you’re looking for right there waiting for you thanks to the ability to be connected just about anywhere.”

With the Linux-based Maemo operating platform, 32GB of storage and multiple options of connectivity including access for 3G data networks, consumers no longer need to leave everything that makes them them – their email, favorite websites, social communities, images, music – anywhere but on their Nokia N900. With the Nokia N900, you don’t have to worry about missing that next great moment.

Additionally, with the ability to multitask several applications or web browsers at once, the Nokia N900 allows for users to eliminate boredom wherever they go. Surfing several web pages while listening to music while talking on instant message with friends – all at the same time – couldn’t be easier.

Maemo software is based on an open source platform and allows for a variety of different applications to be developed – from home brew to commercial and everything in between; such as podcasting, Twitter and instant messaging applications. Consumers and developers can join the conversation with other members and Nokia employees by visiting http://maemo.org.

With a web browser based on Mozilla technology, the Nokia N900 allows consumers to access a world wide web that is more computer-like than before. Consumers can view their favorite websites, use drop down menus, watch Flash videos and access the web on a mobile device screen thanks to support for Adobe Flash 9.4 and gesture support within the Nokia N900 web browser.

The Nokia N900 comes with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard and enables consumers the ability to personalize up to four different home screens as they wish. One can be work related with a calendar widget and contacts application while another can be favorite bookmarked web pages while yet another can be set to show popularsocial networks.

The Nokia N900 retains Nokia’s legacy of high quality imaging with a five megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss optics and a dual LED flash along the ability to share those images and videos straight from your device to services such as Ovi Share. With Ovi services like Maps and Files, the Nokia N900 allows users access to their Ovi account right from their device.

The Nokia N900 is available in a black finish and will retail for USD 649 through Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, nokiausa.com and various independent retailers and e-tailers including Amazon.com. For more information and high resolution images, please visit http://www.nokia.com/press.

For more information on how to develop for Nokia N900 and Maemo, please visit http://forum.nokia.com.

The Nseries has been Nokia’s flagship technology range, usually the place where new and high-end functionality debuts before filtering down to the rest of the company’s devices.  Up until now the Nokia Internet Tablets have been the only Maemo devices with the N-prefix, with the rest of the line – which includes media-centric handsets as well as more traditional smartphones – using Symbian S60.

As recently as back in September at Nokia World, the company was still talking about Maemo being a test bed to gauge consumer opinion, and coexisting alongside Symbian.  Even then, Nokia did say that the older S60 platform would begin progressing down the range, just as S40 has done before it.  The company is apparently “surprised” by response to the N900, which may have accelerated their plans somewhat.

Video demo of N900 Maemo 5 enhancements after the cut

Meanwhile, Peter Schneider of Nokia devices research & development pulled out his own N900 at the TWWLN3.0 conference to demonstrate a few of the newest enhancements to the Maemo platform, and we grabbed a quick video of the smartphone in action.  Among the functionality is an app which periodically pulls down contact profile photos and automatically syndicates them out to the various social networking and address book databases across the Maemo handset.

Incidentally, this also demonstrates one of the N900′s frequently unsung skills: it ships with a video output cable in the box, ideal for big-screen presentations or entertainment.  Curious as to what your first experience with the N900 will be like?  Check out our unboxing video below, together with some hands-on first impressions here.

Nokia N900 enhancements:

Nokia N900 unboxing:

In our HD2 unboxing yesterday, we suggested that “Even in the short time we’ve had the HD2, we’re already faster at typing on it in [landscape orientation] than we are with most hardware keyboards on smartphones.”  That’s because of the combination of the on-screen keys being large and ideally sized for two-thumb typing, holding the HD2 horizontally and reaching across with each digit, together with HTC’s excellent auto-correction and predictive text.

In comparison, the N900 – despite having a hardware keyboard – is more cramped than the HD2, and while we appreciate the tactile feedback of the physical buttons (the HD2 does have haptic feedback, buzzing briefly when each on-screen key is tapped) they’re smaller than on the HTC.  Meanwhile there’s no error correction on the N900, only word-prediction, and as we commented in our initial unboxing of the smartphone, the top row of keys can be uncomfortably close to the lower edge of the screen.  Right now we’re quicker at typing on the HD2 than we are on the N900, despite having had the latter for far longer.

As for overall size, while the HD2 is obviously longer and wider than the N900, it’s considerably thinner.  The HD2 measures 120.5 x 67 x 11 mm, whereas the N900 comes in at 110.9 x 59.8 x 18 (19.55 if you count the lens cover); thanks to the HTC’s curved profile, it feels thinner again.  Of course, there’s a significant difference in screen size, too, with the HD2 having a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen and the N900 having a 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen, both running at 800 x 480.

We’re still working on both our N900 and HD2 reviews, so consider this just a brief comparison between the devices.  Each has its strengths, but it goes to show that the QWERTY keyboard debate is not so clear-cut as physical versus on-screen.

HTC HD2 unboxing:

Nokia N900 unboxing:

Video demo after the cut

The app is the handiwork of Qt developer Eskil, who took the open-source despotify client and then created his own custom GUI for Maemo 5 in Qt 4.6.  The end result is, unsurprisingly, named qtspotify, and available for anybody with early access to an N900 to download here.

despotify (and therefore qtspotify) use the official Spotify API, and as such require a premium account in order to gain access to the streaming media catalog.  Still, you’ll need the same thing in order to use the Android or iPhone clients, so no great loss there.  We’ll be testing qtspotify out on our own N900 review unit, and will follow up with just how easy it is to use.

In fact, at time of writing Amazon’s launch date has slipped into November, to be precise November 2nd.  That’s only just outside the October window, certainly, but for people who’ve been sitting on their N900 preorders for some time now it’s another few days pain to endure.

Amazon US, meanwhile, are not even giving a release date, only accepting preorders, but they’re offering a not-insignificant $66 discount compared to Nokia’s official $649 MRSP and free shipping to boot.  $66 buys quite a few bags of popcorn, so we’d be tempted to suck up what could be a few days’ delay and save money where we can.

Nokia N900 unboxing:

[via N900 Blog]

However, Nokia are at pains to point out that the software this N900 is running isn’t final, so we’ll be holding off on our full review until we get the final build.  That doesn’t mean we won’t have plenty of hands-on articles, feedback and video demos before then, however, and if you’ve any questions about the N900 then we’d love to hear them; anything we can’t answer, we’ll put to Nokia to get a definitive reply.

The Nokia N900 is currently available to preorder in the US and UK, priced at $649 and at £499 respectively.  Early suggestions tipped a late-October release, though Nokia UK are currently suggesting the N900 won’t arrive until November 2009.  Until then, enjoy the unboxing video and gallery below!

Nokia N900 unboxing video:

Meanwhile Nokia.de, the company’s German site, is not expecting stock of the N900 until October 30th.  Amazon US recently stopped accepting pre-orders for the smartphone, but has recently begun to take them again; however there’s no sign of a release date estimate on their product page.

The N900 is the first Nokia device to run Maemo 5, and has a large resistive touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth.  There’s also a 5-megapixel camera and VoIP support.  In terms of size, it falls in-between the company’s smartphone and Internet Tablet range.

[via UMPC Portal]