Maemo 5 Beta SDK released into the hands of an eagerly waiting world

Sure, you've seen the alpha SDK, and you've even seen it in pre-alpha, but if you're really serious about your Maemo 5 development you gotta check out the beta release. This should be music to the ears of all you crazy kids who are hard at work developing software for Nokia's next-gen Internet tablets. And "Maemo 5 Beta SDK" is not only fun to say, but it also brings several new features to the table, including: support for widget development, a new version of the Modest open-source email app, OMAP3 support, HSPA data connectivity, hi-def camera support, and hardware-based graphics acceleration. Lastly (though certainly not leastly) you'll finally be able to get your hands on a Maemo 5 Development Manual. We hear that one's a real page-turner. Hit that read link and get to work.

[Via Brighthand]

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 3:49PM]

maemo... what an unusual name... anyone knows what is should mean?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:03PM]

It means "Nokia couldn't make a decent internet tablet to save Olli-Pekka Kalashnikov's life".

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:24PM]

It was actually generated by a random password generator. It means nothing.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:58PM]

Random or not, it's pretty close to "maaemo" which is Finnish and means Mother Earth.

While we're on the subject, in Finnish the prefix "i" is associated with the word "inflated" as in inflated ego and prices.
iKid, iKid.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 8:42PM]

I wonder is Jobs medical condition is what it is because apple couldn't make a decent internet tablet to save Steve Jobs life... :)

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 3:56PM]

Looks a lot like Android....

[fernando Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:18PM]

No it doesn't...

[MarcusMaximus Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:19PM]

Yes it does...

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:35PM]

Yes it doesn't!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:38PM]

Or Android looks like Maemo, whatever, don't get defensive.

It takes a person in extreme denial to not see the dark gray background, bright green linings and white font.... with the Android-styled green white boxes and buttons.

[alex98 Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:04PM]

Who is eagerly waiting ????

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 5:57PM]

As a former n800 owner I can honestly say I am now looking towards the pandora as far as open source mobile platforms go. They are definately more open, and I am fairly confident that they will support their hardware for far longer than nokia does.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 8:45PM]

I am, because this means next NXXX hardware is just around the corner.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 11:29PM]

Yeah, Pandora has been supporting their hardware for almost a year now, and it's still not done. :P

But seriously, even if you want a Pandora rather than an RX-51, you could still be rooting for Maemo, as Mer will be quite possibly one of the best OSes around for the Pandora if/when it ships...

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:07PM]

@alex: people who are excited about a fully open source mobile platform that has the backing of a mega company like Nokia. The N810 was a small step in the right direction but suffered from insufficient power. With Omap 3 and 3G on board this new tablet will probably make a lot more noise.

[MarcusMaximus Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:25PM]

Oh, so it's like android?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:27PM]

"people who are excited about a fully open source mobile platform that has the backing of a mega company like Nokia"

His question still stands.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:44PM]

@Itai

"has the backing of a mega company like Nokia"

Yeah, for how long? They supporten my N770 for 2 iterations of the OS then they deemed it obsolete....

I WAS eagerly waiting but not anymore. I know that any internet tablet I buy from Nokia will be unsupported in less than 2 years. Even closed systems like Microsoft and Apple support hardware for longer than that........

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:16PM]

I own a nokia n810 and there are no instructions on the website regarding that, anybody want to point me in the right direction here?

thanks

[dagwud Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:33PM]

It's my understanding that Maemo5 won't run on the n810 because it's compiled for a different processor. Supposedly, someone could recompile it for older hardware, but the development team isn't going to do so.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:48PM]

@dacwud, you're understanding is incorrect. The problem is, the N810 doesn't support accelerated 3D, which is required since Clutter is an integral part of the platform.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 30th 2009 6:58PM]

@daniel, this is a software development kit, it's made for developing programs on the next generation Maemo 5-based operating system. Nokia won't officially support Maemo 5 on the N8XX series, but they will help the community build a Maemo 5 OS for legacy tablets. Most of the stuff developed for Maemo 5 will run on this community OS.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 4:37PM]

woot

[writemejamie Posted Apr 29th 2009 5:11PM]

This is going to be awesome! I have been following Maemo 5 development for a while and its exciting to see them push forward! I cant wait until Fennec is fully complete too!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 8:06PM]

The problem is the 3D chip in the N800/810 doesn't have open source drivers(nor non-pay drivers), so they can't bundle them

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2009 8:36PM]

Maemo is open source GPLed software, unlike android.

[spiky32kobe Posted Apr 30th 2009 1:30AM]

awww so this is the end for my N810 :( Sux...

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 30th 2009 5:14AM]

No it isn't. Mer is Nokia supported open source OS that is the future for older NXXX devices. See http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer