Nokia shows off N900's sweet web browsing skills on video

Eager to get your pulsing palms around Nokia's N900? Yeah, we feel your pain. As if the phone itself and Maemo 5 haven't been talked about enough, Nokia itself has published a new video showcasing the Mozilla-based web browser. Only time will tell if said browser lives up to the hype, but if the video posted up after the break is any indication, we'd say things are looking good. Six minutes may be a long time to look at something you can't touch, but we're guessing you'd listen to six minutes of the host saying anything. Have a listen -- you'll see.

[Via HotHardware, thanks dafrabbit]

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 5:49AM]

I do have to say that this is probably the best "looking" browser experience i have seen on a phone next to the Jesus phone. The flash looked really nice!




The host on the other hand,... he made my headasplode.

[Satz Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:08AM]

Actually, you can use normal Firefox extensions/addons ,ie .xpi on that browser

adblock plus FTW !

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:41AM]

Talking about flash, Mikko mentions that the N900 ships with Flash 9.4. What he forgot to add, is that it WILL be upgradeable to 10.1 when ready (early 2010).

[trevr Posted Oct 7th 2009 11:35AM]

jesus phone deez nutz.

seriously. iphone's been "dethroned" long ago by a fair few (much more capable) competitors. and this one just urina... no. shits all over its 480x320 capacitive face.

[TikiTeko Posted Oct 7th 2009 1:26PM]

Yes. It was confirmed on Adobe Max that the phone will use Flash 10.1 - it is amazing how much we have come to depend on Flash.

The only thing to wonder is 3G support on the US. But heck, WiFi is becoming standard in many places. Soon, even milk will have WiFi and Vitamin D. :D

[MarkAnderson Posted Oct 7th 2009 5:51AM]

Although I'm not a fan of that form factor - it's a bit on the large side - this is definitely in DO WANT territory.

[darjen Posted Oct 7th 2009 9:12AM]

I've come to terms with the larger size. Anything smaller just doesn't have as good of a web browsing experience. Including my ipod Touch. I'm definitely getting this.

[ramifications Posted Oct 7th 2009 11:58PM]

its DO WANT due to the fact that its got probably the best mobile browser i've ever seen! This narrows the gap between desktop and mobile browsers significantly!

[1 Posted Oct 7th 2009 5:56AM]

Can't wait until mine is delivered :)

[Kupa Posted Oct 7th 2009 5:58AM]

That is by far the best web browsing experience on any mobile device, period. I hate to say it but this makes me want to get rid of my HTC Hero faster than you can say iPhone.

[cashclientel Posted Oct 7th 2009 5:59AM]

Does the GPS sensor in this phone pick up the new european galileo gps satellites?

[Groovy100 Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:18AM]

Definitely not. Galileo is not operational yet and won't be so until 2013 by which time this device will be as exciting as a Motorola StarTAC.

If you are talking about the EGNOS GPS correction signals, then again, no.

EGNOS frequencies are compatible with the US WAAS system and so far I am not aware of any GPS-equipped smartphone devices that make use of the latter either so I'd be very surprised if this phone supports it (especially given that EGNOS went public far later than when the hardware for this device was finalised).

[Reisa Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:00AM]

Minor nitpick -- Hide the microphone cable under the shirt next time.

[imlkrsfn Posted Oct 7th 2009 2:25PM]

Wow

[reas0n555 Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:17AM]

It supports t-mobile's aws 1700 mhz so yea i can forget about the motorola cliq and save my money on this n900,don't know if t-mobile will release it or if i have to buy it unlocked. Looks like the n900 could throw hands with the iphone and palm pre since the g1 and my touch can't. specs http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/specifications/

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 10:15AM]

But does it really support T-Mobile's 1700 band? T-Mobile's bands are really two segments: from 1710 to 1755 MHz, and from 2110 to 2155 MHz. Since Nokia's site says the N900 uses 1700 and 2100, does that mean it will work on T-Mobile?

It looks like it won't work on AT&T since they use 850 and 1900. Interesting...

[Frostblade10 Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:22AM]

Looks great! I love the full flash support.

It pains me though that this will probably cost $800. I think I saw the price 'round Engadget somewhere.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:32AM]

Um, Amazon is $58X, Buy.com is $560.

But sure, go get it from the Nokia store.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 2:46PM]

Unless you dont live in california, you'll be wanting to get it from Amazon. in CA, Amazon = $583 shipped, $596 with next day, Buy.com = $560+$45 tax = $605 shipped, $645 with next day. Sorry, I'll stick with Amazon.

[CL Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:34AM]

I have been using the N810 for awhile and while that's about as close to real desktop browsing experience as it gets, it's extremely slow at rendering websites especially places that are flash heavy. Looks like they have addressed that problem with the N900, definitely on the DO WANT list!

[Fat Wombat Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:09AM]

really? i can't find it on their website.

[DarKlar Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:50AM]

Pre order available now on Vodafone UK :o)

[Fat Wombat Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:26AM]

eally? i can't find it on their website.

[DarKlar Posted Oct 7th 2009 10:11AM]

@Scott:

Longest link EVER


http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/Brands/Nokia/Nseries-Multimedia-Phones/sb489/n443/p26078.aspx?lpsrc=google&lpcat=NokiaN900l&lpgrp=NokiaN900Vodafone&lptxt=N900v2&lpkey=n900%20vodafone&gclid=CLSou8SOq50CFVtn4wodIA5Yiw

[shockr Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:59AM]

The N900 looks pretty awesome. But after what happened with the N97, I think I'm gonna wait 6 months before I commit to buy one.

[oringal Posted Oct 7th 2009 6:58AM]

wow ! its powerful enough even to show farmville! thats a big accomplishment for nokia

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 2:42PM]

whe will it release in india n will it release here???????@ what price!

[TT Posted Oct 7th 2009 7:27AM]

Sorry N900, I was drooling over you for a long time, but I'm gonna stick with the Leo (HD2).
That's not to say I'm not tempted or anything, I just hope that through some ways of black magic XDA manages to port Maemo 5 to the HD2...

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 7:28AM]

Lovely Finnish accent

[quanganhzero1989 Posted Oct 7th 2009 7:34AM]

I ordered it right away when I saw the youtube video. Love everything of it !!!!

[dlk Posted Oct 7th 2009 7:43AM]

You guys see the lag when he run FarmVille? extremely slow!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:39AM]

Could that be because it on a 3G connection? Farmville is something that uses the connection quite a bit even after the initial loading screen.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:41AM]

you want to buy this phone to play farmville?

[Streetfights Posted Oct 7th 2009 3:39PM]

Don't you know? Farmville now accounts for 85% of all internet activity!

[MichaelPB Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:02AM]

You can pre-order through Nokia online. In euro's it's € 599,- That's about $ 3.000,- LOL

[Ilta Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:51AM]

Math never liked you, so you decided to live a math free live.

[vicsvenge Posted Oct 7th 2009 11:50AM]

That's a nice looking phone. Minus software support, I dare say better than the iPhone. I wonder how many people will actually be willing to plunk down $600 on a phone when it comes time to make a decision. I bet not many.

[Benson Posted Oct 8th 2009 4:36AM]

Well, when the iPhone (the original, EDGE-only one) came out, lots of folks plunked down $599 for the 8GB version.

Then again, a lot of people are rather hard up for cash these days. Even with an RDF, a $600 phone would probably be a tough sell. But the rumors say Tmo has it subsidized in early '10, so shouldn't be an issue; expect $199 or maybe $249.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:21AM]

now that's a browser.

[GGG Posted Oct 7th 2009 8:41AM]

omg i want one, i'll pay whatever i need to, who wnts to buy my omnia hd?


i jizzed in my pants while watching that video

[ReadyKilowatt Posted Oct 7th 2009 9:04AM]

"Six minutes may be a long time to look at something you can't touch"

Try waiting on a pre-order. Forget six minutes. Six weeks at least!

[Matt7 Posted Oct 7th 2009 9:20AM]

Maemo rocks!!

[BoullionCube Posted Oct 7th 2009 9:23AM]

Shit. This thing makes my iTouch's browser look like shit.

[cloud858rk Posted Oct 7th 2009 5:04PM]

Yeah I heard Pasen doesn't make good products.

[chyro Posted Oct 7th 2009 10:37PM]

I am SO sold... I usually don't pay for phones, preferring the cheap prepaids, and doing my real computing at home... But this... This is the phone I was waiting for the whole time!

...

Too bad it will never come to Japan as Nokia withdrew from Japan due to carriers being too obnoxious.

[WickedEast Posted Oct 7th 2009 10:41AM]

Fantastic rendering performance; no checkered-box while scrolling, baby!

Some minor stuff to improve:
- all-touch copy/paste (in the demo, he needed to slide out the keyboard to ctrl-c and ctrl-v).
- screen transitions -- fine tune the animations and eliminate that one-second blank screen (for example, when bringing up the address bar).

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2009 11:04AM]

selecting a hyperlink kills the device
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHa3AoNdglY&feature=related

[zfarooq Posted Oct 7th 2009 11:16AM]

That's on an older prototype firmware dude...and it's a very old video, with a very bad connection.

[TikiTeko Posted Oct 7th 2009 11:48AM]

Why pinch when you can swirl in and out to zoom in and out ! In you face Apple patent.

[doctorSpoc Posted Oct 7th 2009 1:09PM]

frig man.. when others on this board were poo pooing apple's patent and saying there is no other way to do zoom other than pinch i gave this as an option... as well as about 5 others and they still didn't see it.. hey Nokia, where's my money for the tip??