So it seems like the new thing for manufacturers is to gather a bunch of platform champions (read: developers and bloggers) in a room, wax poetic for an hour or two about strategy, and -- here's where it gets awesome -- give out or loan hot, new devices to everyone in attendance.
Google's done it,
Palm's done it, and now Nokia's getting in the game by handing out pre-production
N900s on extended loans at its Maemo Summit event last week, and that inevitably means that we're going to be seeing a ton of unboxings and reviews over the coming days. This particular unboxing comes to us courtesy of
Slashgear, which notes that the devices are currently running non-final firmware even though the hardware is the same stuff we'll be seeing on shelves in the next few weeks. It's looking great so far -- but then again, so did the
N97 in its muted black box prior to release, so we'll withhold final judgment until this one's been thoroughly vetted for awesomeness.
posted Oct 12th 2009 3:01PM
The N900 is coming ! The N900 is coming !
Quake III Arena on the Nokia N900 !!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHSZfhY25Jc
If you click on the picture, it would take you to the website for you to see the unboxing video. The phone is small for the goodies it packs inside.
I was also excited and waiting to get this N900 until a rep from Nokia told me that the N900 is not meant by Nokia to be a phone but just a net tablet like the n810, and that's because they are committed to keep the N97 (which I have) as their flagship model, and that's also the reason why they have invested so much on the ROM v2.0 for the N97 and axed so many phone features from the N900, which will lack among other things voice dialing, tethering, and other phone's features.
After I heard that I preordered my HD2 which should arrive in just 2 weeks in the place I have prepared for it in my pocket.
Your rep didn't have any N900 on stock so he was trying to sell you a N97 now. Go back in a few weeks when they have them, and reps have a different tune.
The no tethering claim was pure BS. Even the product pages say:"Capability to serve as data modem via USB connection".
Wooot!!!
The Viper is coming 5' 69'.
Want ;(
Now I have to figure out which one I would like to get N900 or HD2 ?
You read my mind.
I would go for HD2.... do know why... but seems more appealing...
I think price would be the decisive factor. However, one has to wait to see what Windows Mobile 7 brings.
If Windows Mobile 7 is to bring the same goodness of its desktop counterpart, I think we have a tough decision to make. What makes me lot the N900 now the most if the keyboard. I need real keys, I can't deal with the virtual ones.
The HD2 has a beautifully big screen, but the physical keyboard, 32GB of storage (and SD card slot), and true Linux OS are what sealed the deal for me.
That and the browser supports xpi addons from mozilla.org directly, so I can load noscript and adblock+ on my phone. How awesome is that?
The first 10 minutes with a N900.
http://mobiletechaddicts.com/2009/10/13/n900-first-look/
i'm really not sure what to think about his first off i've been wanting this phone for a few months now but ever since all those HTC HD2 videos came up i've been having second thoughts can anyone help me out which phone should i get?
No offense, but, that is a personal choice. When the phone are ready on your area, go and play with each one. Or buy each one and make sure there is a flexible return policy in case you don't feel the phone is the One.
I guess, you have to consider many factors. and i think this place won't help you much in deciding, infact will confuse you more, since fanboys of both sides are lingering here and with engadget's own obvious love for Android/iphone and sour taste for Resistive screen will surely influence you more in a negative way.
But things you should consider: (in my opinion in decreasing order of importance).
1) Who is the manufacturer? Features of the device. What can i do with the device considering my own life-style, background?
How many extra apps may be required to take care of my day-to-day stuff? Lesser the apps required, better, More apps required
shows indirectly device's limits, shortcomings, that it requires more third-party apps, also more the apps, more memory needed,
more chances of failure and hang-ups, restarts, etc. If you have a full web-browser experience, you won't require half of the crappy
apps.
Do i need hardware QWERTY keyboard? What's the battery life? Do i need TV-out? Do i need FM-Transmitter or FM Radio or
both?
2) Locked or unlocked. Contract for 2 years or not? Want freedom to switch as per market shift? Tmobile's rumored $50 unlimited plan?
Final total price of the phone. Whether there are rebates involved. (with rebates you pay higher tax on pre-rebate price).
3) How can you save more money by buying a particular device? Like: Can i make voip calls, can i use internal gps without any data plan? can i have downloadable maps on my device for different countries?How much do i have to pay for these maps? Can i get them legally free? What accessories come included in the box?
4) What is the manufacturer planning for the future of the device's OS? Are they making efforts to make it easy for developers to
make their apps cross-platform compatible?
5) Last comes about the processor speeds, and screen tech. Do i really need 1GHz proc? or 600 MHz would be fine as per my lifestyle? How many hours am i going to be glued to my phone versus my computer? Is the Resistive screen adequate enough for me. (ignoring engadget reviews, but considering user reviews).
6) Final things read user reviews first and then blog reviews.
I follow the above method when i select my smartphone, because nowadays phone have become an expensive buy for us, compared to few years ago, when we were used to feature phones.
One takes crappy video, the other takes great video - if that makes any difference
On the note of battery life.. is this better or worse than the HTC HD2
I read somewhere that its terrible and will only last ~6hrs
and i read somewhere else that it destroys the HD2.
Any clarification?
@Lemming
Battery life seems to be excellent, 8hrs+ with very heavy use, 16+ with normal use, 2 days light use.
one for me please :(
Yum
on pre-order with t-mobile uk, keep checking order status.... getting impatient. The waiting is driving me mad "I can't wait!"
N900 says : Oh I just can't wait to be Kiiiing....
Now we'll just wait till Mustafa drops dead (N97).
You can look, but you can't touch. Yet =)
Wow a $689 phone that can't be docked.
It can't even replace my iPod.
Which phone can truly replace my iPod touch 100%?
So 2 Years of data n voice here in USA.
Voice 60 data 35$
So 95. Tines 24 months $2400
plus cost of phone $$3100!!!
Fir price of ownership for a nokia.
Sore loser?
You're still off. $580 on amazon and $650 on their main page.
Then either $50 unlimited plan in 2010, but for now $59 plan on t-mobile contracted for 2 years, and activation fee = $1946-2036.99 over 2 years. I don't need to go over the price of the other phone, so just get macjonny in here to say I'm a nerd again and move on?
This device can only be so great. Unless it has a development background like the Iphone or android devices, it will probably get boring quickly.
Wait for the 1ghz android.
Maemo has been out for years. The development community is there.
That doesn't mean it has the same support or interest. Android is the OS that is predicted to jump up in acceptance over the next few years, not Maemo.
Same support or interest? Thanks for writing me off!
I support it. I am interest it. Do you consider that this phone is backed up by Nokia right....??
Err... it's Maemo. A Linux variant. You know, Linux? The OS with a gazillion developers all waiting to code applications for free?
Android is just... well... Android.
Maemo is a Debian Linux fork and GTK+ compatible, so everything that runs on Ubuntu should work on Maemo aswell.
As long as the application is resolution independant and not to heavy for the OMAP processor.
Bryan, you don't know much about Maemo if you assume they don't have a huge userbase. Android isn't the end-all-be-all open source mobile platform, and Maemo has been around for years. When you say stuff like "development background" or "interest", you MUST be talking about marketing. But then again, Nokia doesn't need to market the U.S. because they've got better things to deal with. Maemo is a widely-know mobile OS outside the U.S. anyways, so to just pass of Maemo as boring, would prove blissful ignorance.
Okay development background wasn't the term i was trying to use. Im not saying this phone is bad, i think it looks great, but i dont think its something that would keep me interested for more than a few months after i get used to the features.
Does anybody honestly believe that this phone would be better then an android variant with the same features? if so why?
Because they are dumb Nokia fanboys.
RESISTIVE SUCKS (They'll get their panties in a bunch because of that).
I'm amazed you called everyone in defense of Maemo Nokia fanboys...
and what the hell did resistive screens have to do with this thread? Seriously go back into left field!
@Bryan
I don't think Maemo 5 will be a BIG advantage over Android for me unless I'm a die-hard Ubuntu fan. Many of Ubuntu's applications will be directly ported to the N900, because it's a Linux variant after all.
That's not to say the same won't happen for Android.
It might sound a little fanboyish (my username doesn't help one bit), but I feel like Maemo is a better multitasking platform. There are lots of widgets and applications you can put just about anywhere. The organization is however you want it to be. It's overall synchronization of Text, E-mail, and other clients are a win for me. You can do these on an Android phone too, but I fell my user-experience on Maemo would be better. I'm still looking at this through both sides...
After you said "Nokia shouldn't care about the US market," my Nokia fanboy sensors went off. You can't deny this shit.
@Mark Anderson: Android is Linux. Booyah!
@Bryan,
Read this:
http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/10/09/qt-for-maemo-the-floodgates-are-now-open/
I didn't even say that. How did you fail quoting me?
"Nokia doesn't need to market the U.S. because they've got better things to deal with."
The only thing that sounds fanboy-like in that sentence is "because they've got better things to deal with". But it's more of an opinion than blind opinion, because blind opinion is fanboyism, and thank God I don't coast on that like you do.
Strike 2, hun.
lolwut? I said that comment. So both of you fail.
I said "Nokia doesn't need to market the U.S.", not that they shouldn't. Wow...
You're all fanboys anyway and none of you can deny that. You're a Nokia fanboy and that troll is an Android fanboy. You might as well embrace it rather than deny it, I've seen your posts. And no one gives a fuck about resistive screens anymore.
@N900
The ease with which gtk/qt apps could be ported to the N900 is much greater than Android, simply due to the fact that the N900 uses Xwindows and a rather standard base of libraries. Android would require reconstructing the entire front-end of the applications using Java, and calling out from Java to libraries, which isn't feasible for some apps.
@Zhris Ciegler
Kinda. It uses the Linux kernel but the file system is completely haywire and completely not intended for direct use. The console environment is severely lacking unless manually upgraded.
I really want one of these to replace my E71, but unfortunately, T-Mobile doesn't offer service in my area. I guess I'll have to keep using my E71 with my N800. Maybe Nokia will offer the N900 that will work with AT&T's 3G (not just EDGE). I'd also be thrilled to drop AT&T and switch to T-Mobile, but I don't think there's any chance of them expanding to my area (rural Northern California) any time soon...
Nokia does offer us versions that work with att 3g? My E-71 -2 worked with 3g on att, as did My nokia N95-4
I feel your pain, N-brother. Here *** gives Oreo cookie *** Let's hope Project Dark / Black / Magenta-with-the-lights-turned-off brings good things.
@digitallysick: My E71 works great on AT&T's 3G, but I'd give it up in a heartbeat if the N900 would work on AT&T's 3G.
@tikiteko: Thanks, I'm also hoping that T-Mobile has some secret plan to expand their coverage exponentially. The county seat here just approved a new T-Mobile tower in the area that is supposed to bring local service: http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_13522192
I'm hoping this is part of a larger push by T-Mobile into this area.