Nokia's N810 internet tablet hits Canada

Oh Canada, it's your lucky day, because a kind, cool wind is blowing down on you from your friends in Finland -- Nokia. That brisk breeze is carrying a new partner for the long and lonely Canuck winter nights: the N810 internet tablet, the all-singing, all-dancing sliver wonder. The handheld -- which your friends (namely, us) have been flaunting for months -- is finally making its way into the hands of Canadian consumers for the thrifty price of $485 (a downright bargain). The WiFi-and-GPS-equipped gadget should be just the thing to accompany you on a trip to Tim Hortons, a Maple Leafs game, or some other stereotypical regional activity.

[Via MobileInCanada]

[Nubaeus @ Jan 17th 2008 11:42PM]

Boycott?

[albi @ Jan 17th 2008 11:47PM]

TML game? not a chance

[Max @ Jan 17th 2008 11:59PM]

GO OILERS WOOOOH

[Canman99 @ Jan 18th 2008 1:01PM]

Leafs, Habs, Oilers...all jokes!

LET'S GO FLAMES!

[Gremlin @ Jan 17th 2008 11:48PM]

Who cares about Canada?

[xploit @ Jan 17th 2008 11:51PM]

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA car nah dah...

[m @ Jan 18th 2008 1:42AM]

finland, apparently

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Jan 18th 2008 12:19AM]

Canada Rock's! Don't forget it. This will be nice out Ice Fishing or in the woods smoking Doobs. Gotta find your way back somehow. Personally I use MapThis tm. for psp gps (homebrew) better than most expensive gps units.

Gremlin sucks.

[JohnSearle @ Jan 18th 2008 7:45AM]

Well according to the UN's HDI (Human Development Index) it's the 4th best place in the world to live. That makes it a fairly desirable place to live, and one people would be caring about. Not that I think the country needs defending from ignorant posts. Just food for thought :)

BTW, the USA is sitting at 12th on the HDI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

[RD. @ Jan 18th 2008 10:09AM]

I'm going to guess you're American.

[Armstrong @ Jan 17th 2008 11:50PM]

Cool, but where do I put my touch? It's got a skype on it! @#$%^&

[Sneakz @ Jan 17th 2008 11:51PM]

Ummm, the N810 has been here in Canada just as long as it's been in the US. So how is this new?

[John @ Jan 18th 2008 12:03AM]

no, it's actually physically hitting Canada until Canada finally gives up and says uncle. The US model knows its place.

[Mike @ Jan 18th 2008 12:23AM]

I think it's the N800 which has been here a while. The N810 was only added to NCIX this week

[Dev @ Jan 18th 2008 3:44PM]

Actually it has been here for a while now. Since November I think or early December at the least. i saw it posted on the Nokia site back then.

[ToniCipriani @ Jan 18th 2008 10:56AM]

NCIX always had it on their catalogue. It was "special order" and still is. It's been there ever since it was launched. Expansys also had it. DirectCanada (NCIX subsidary) also has it.

I've been looking at the N810 ever since its launch, but reluctant to buy because of the high price by the time it's shipped here.

[Zach G @ Jan 18th 2008 12:17AM]

@Joshua T. Nice mention of the Timmy's (Tim Hortons), you've earned a cookie.

So whats the battery life on one of these things because I wouldn't mind one?

[Will @ Jan 18th 2008 12:23AM]

*Sigh*

Another post about Canada -> Another needlesly inserted stereotype about Canada -> Another ignorant commenter disparaging Canada

Oh.. and I'll save you yanks from your pedantic reply

: Another complaining Canadian

Let's just try some objective reporting people, give us the facts without taking the easy/cheap shots.

[Erik @ Jan 18th 2008 1:36AM]

I hate to break it to you, Will, but the yanks take a shot at everyone.

[potato @ Jan 18th 2008 5:15AM]

Some shots are more literal than others! :D

[Matt @ Jan 18th 2008 9:44AM]

Yeah...and these days Europe SPITS at the Yanks and their $$$...it's worth nothing. Europe has switched to dealing in Euro and the "so storng American $$$" is now on par with the CAD. Keep telling yourselves that US of A is the best...that's the way Bush whacker wants you to think.

[deusfaux @ Jan 18th 2008 12:28AM]

mmmm Nokia. Now lets see some new CDMA handsets from them for all us starving on Telus... or Bell.

[RD. @ Jan 18th 2008 12:39AM]

IS the GPS free or is it one of those pay per month things that come with some cell phones?

[shawn @ Jan 18th 2008 1:32PM]

I own one. It's free. It's a real GPS rig, not a hack like the iPhone cell/wifi triangulation. If you're in an area where there aren't enough GSM cell towers to triangulate with, you're hosed. The N810 needs access to GPS satellites so if you're in the subway, you're hosed. ;-)

The device comes with a set of street-level North American maps that are as good as the google graphic maps. They contain some amenities points as well. They are free, but the company that provides them would like you to buy the upgraded version of the software with more stuff in it. That costs something around US$125 (which is what, CAN$100 these days?)

[Jeebus @ Jan 18th 2008 1:32PM]

GPS has always been free to use.

[namtastic @ Jan 18th 2008 4:23PM]

The GPS location is free, naturally, but the navigation is not. Wayfinder is the vendor. I believe it is a 3-year license for USD$130.

[Alan @ Jan 18th 2008 12:46AM]

I will be looking out for this out in the cold with my toque while eating my wiping the gravy from my poutine off my mouth with a serviette. Of course, all of this will be done whilst drinking my double-double.

In all seriousness - I'd be more interested to see Telus, Rogers, and Bell start charging reasonable prices for Data so that we could actually -use- a device like this to its fullest potential.

[DestroyerMTL @ Jan 18th 2008 9:00AM]

Amen to that! Ted Rogers is a thieving criminal!

[Donald @ Jan 18th 2008 12:22PM]

You are aware this device has no cellular radio in it, right?

[Donald @ Jan 18th 2008 12:24PM]

Ah, but then I read further down and see that it can be tethered to a BT cell phone if no wi-fi is available. So it still might matter.

mea culpa

[Mike @ Jan 18th 2008 1:57AM]

Can't we just have the iPhone...I was hoping Rogers would announce it during Macworld

[Mike P. @ Jan 18th 2008 3:33AM]

Yeah, you know what? I was in California this summer... I walked into some doughnut place (forget, but it was a franchise) and I asked for Timbits. Yes... Timbits.

Haha... I totally forgot where I was, and was a little freaked out when the girl at the drive-through stared at me like I was green or something.

So I spend about four minutes trying to describe what a 'Timbit' is (meanwhile, there's a line of cars behind me)... until she finally figures out what I mean. They're called 'doughnut holes' apparently. Now what kind of name is that?! Timbits FTW. =]

[Alan @ Jan 18th 2008 12:25PM]

Lol, best story ever.

[Dv8or @ Jan 18th 2008 4:16AM]

Rather have an Ipod Touch - cheaper and does more...

[bloodangel05 @ Jan 18th 2008 4:56AM]

Does more? You dont know much about the N770/800/810 do you? Ipod touch have:
-A high resolution screen?
-Complete Open Source Software?
-802.11g (ya i know, who would have thought that 802.11b is going outta style? /sarcasm)
-Ability to run KDE, and its software
-Can use VNC, and other remote desktop connecting programs
-Multiple video and music players
-Multiple browsers, which can actually run flash without being hacked
-Hack WITH the device?
and the list goes on. The two things dont compare. The 770/n800/n810 thrash the ipod touch.

[Snoo @ Jan 18th 2008 5:24AM]

Dv8or - What??? The Ipod Touch does more?????? The Ipod Touch is glorified ipod.. even with the new firmware it's nothing compared to the N810.

[Dv8or @ Jan 18th 2008 5:18AM]

For you and the other 10 people out there wanting to run open source software I agree this is the perfect device. For portability and the way superior UI as well as the fact that I dont need to download a myriad of other useless software to listen to my music - watch movies - use maps, get my email and surf the web - the ipod touch is superior device straight out of the box. For the average user the ipod touch does exactly what it says on the tin.

[Matt @ Jan 18th 2008 9:44AM]

Also don't forget that iPhone is better because it can(not):
Send an mms
Record video
Browse the net at high speed
has a replacable battery
has expandable memory
can have any software installed on it
and the list goes on...

[shawn @ Jan 18th 2008 1:50PM]

The iPod Touch and the iPhone also do less. :-)

No GPS.
No expandable memory. N810 comes with 2G and a microSD slot capable of 16GB cards for a total of 18GB.
No removable battery.
No handy stand. :-P
Less screen resolution.
No hardware keyboard.
No standard USB (or other output) port.
Less freedom to load the software you want.
Fewer supported codecs.
Fewer supported cellular providers.


In fairness:
The N810 cannot make cell phone calls like the iPhone.
The N810 cannot play files with Apple's proprietary DRM.

My advice to people who buy the N810:
First app you load should be Canola. The stock media apps are decent but Canola takes it to a whole new level. I think it looks and works better than Apple's own media interface. (The other adult in the house is a Mac addict and has an iPhone.)
SanDisk announced their 16GB MicroSD card at CES. You can pick up an 8GB now and wait for the 16GB later.
It'll connect to whatever dataplan you have on your phone, just be sure your phone supports bluetooth.

[Snoo @ Jan 18th 2008 5:38AM]

N810 out of the box

Listen to music - Check ( plus no need to use iTunes)
Watch movies - Check ( no problem running xvid)
Check email - Check ( supports all web email, plus push e-mail)
GPS - Check ( GPS!!!! iTouch uses maps with wifi triangulation.. this is a world of difference)

[Camperton @ Jan 18th 2008 6:19AM]

Hey Joshua, come on up to Canada, I've got something I wanna show you. It's my fist.

[Tired_ @ Jan 18th 2008 7:19AM]

The Canadian price drop on iPod Touch that came down at Macworld makes the N810 even less attractive now.

[DestroyerMTL @ Jan 18th 2008 9:24AM]

You must be delusional. It's like comparing an Eee PC with a Vaio TZ.

[Baz @ Jan 18th 2008 8:15AM]

Yeah, but if its a Rogers / Fido-supplied device, they'll disable the wi-fi, leaving users stuck with the extremely pricey data plans that continue to keep the iPhone (and others) impractical here.

Not until Rogers can supply a phone/data plan of comparable price to the basic AT&T for the iPhone (and re-enabling wi-fi on the phones they already offer) will such devices have any real value to most normal consumers.

[xtremesniper @ Jan 18th 2008 9:10AM]

This thing can't be tied to a cell provider. It doesn't have GSM or CDMA. It just uses wi-fi networks or a connection to your bluetooth cell phone. Only then does your cell plan matter.

[Danny D'Amours @ Jan 18th 2008 1:03PM]

This is old news. I posted this back in December:

http://danny.damours.net/wordpress/index.php/archive/buying-a-nokia-n810-in-canada

[miguel @ Jan 20th 2008 1:32AM]

Is this a phone?