As well as the obvious product launches from Nokia World this week – the N900, X6, X3, N97 mini and Ovi SDK – SlashGear also had the opportunity to sit down with various executives and team members from the company and discuss not only Nokia’s plans for the future but some of the decisions that have brought them to this stage. After the cut in our Nokia World wrap-up, a new DRM-free media store, plans for future netbooks, the push for the US market and more.
After our initial hands-on with the N900 – the video and gallery of which you can see here – we spent some more time playing with the Maemo 5 smartphone at Nokia World this week. Our initial enthusiasm has been tempered a little by some of the real-world compromises that blending a smartphone and an Internet Tablet demand, though we’re still looking forward to a full review unit; check out our hands-on impressions after the cut.
Video demo after the cut
If you hadn’t heard, Nokia World happened this week, and a few things were announced along the way. While we had a plethora of information regarding the Nokia N900 (or Rover or even RX-1 if you prefer), which even included a little pre-launch review, we were all waiting to hear from Nokia directly about the full details of the gadget. “We got what we were waiting for”, and that even included the price.
We made no bones about our disappointment with the Nokia N97 back when we reviewed it in late June, so we were wary of the N97 mini. Having played with it at Nokia World this week, it’s clear that many of the issues we had with the larger model have been addressed; still, there are some glaring frustrations that leave us more enchanted by the N900 than this new, compact device. Check out our first-impressions and a hands-on gallery and video after the cut.
Video hands-on after the cut
Nokia and Facebook have teamed up to offer a new S40 app that allows for status updates together with providing a homescreen widget. Intended to leverage Facebook’s huge mobile growth – more than 65m mobile users in August alone – the app joins the company’s existing offerings for S60 handsets such as the N97. Facebook also announced Facebook Connect for Mobile Web, a service which – as already on the iPhone – allows developers to include integration with the social networking platform with their mobile apps.
There’s a lot to like about the Nokia N900 already, but integration with Meccano’s robotics kits is the icing on the cake. Unfortunately this isn’t an official app, but the handiwork of one of the Maemo open-source advocates at Nokia, who can now be followed around his house with the robot and N900 playing music.
Video demo after the cut
Nokia have announced a new set of APIs for mapping and navigation, which developers can use to add location-based information – such as showing nearby search results – and display location-based data. The Ovi Navigation Player API and OVI Maps Player API are also joined by the new Ovi SDK, a platform which the company claims can be used by anyone with HTML, CSS and JavaScript coding skills.
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Nokia have announced that, thanks to new agreements with carriers and music studios, users of their Comes With Music unlimited downloads service will now be able to extend the service beyond the initial included period. However no specific pricing figures have been revealed as yet.
It looks like Nokia hasn’t forgotten the low-end phones, despite being a little preoccupied. Which is a good thing for all those families looking for a new, simple phone for cheap. While there’s nothing wrong with a simple flip-phone, this thing looks a bit dated, and also resembles a few of the late Motorola W-series models. But, we’re sure that doesn’t matter to the general consensus. After all, it’s a phone, it functions perfectly well enough. Who needs more?
We sat down at a roundtable this afternoon with Nokia’s Ari Jaaksi, VP of software at the company, and talked about the Nokia N900 and the Maemo 5 OS it runs. Describing the N900 as “your internet device on the go” and Maemo as “putting the internet first”, it’s obvious that Jaaksi – and Nokia – have the MID segment in their sights; however they’re also upfront about the issues they’re going to face not only with their first-gen hardware but the ongoing development of the platform.
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