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Nokia N900 not coming until some time in November

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 22nd 2009 at 5:45AM

We've just heard some pretty sour news. Peter Schneider, head of Maemo marketing, has waxed official about the N900's release and quite casually noted that it'll "start shipping during November 2009," which as you very well know is a whole month later than originally expected. An interesting tidbit to his post is that he notes Nokia had lent out 300 pre-production units to the community, and he stresses the importance Nokia places on the feedback received. Connecting the dots might suggest that feedback wasn't quite as hot as Espoo had hoped, and a few last-minute refinements are now being applied. Either way, you're gonna have to refill your patience for potentially another month of waiting.

[Via Chronicles of N900; Thanks, Habib Q]

Nokia N900 unboxed, and no, you can't unbox your own (yet)

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 12th 2009 at 3:01PM

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.

Nokia N900 video shows off 3D gaming, YouTube shenanigans, and more

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 9th 2009 at 11:31AM

Not satisfied with a video of the Nokia N900's browser, an in-depth look at its Maemo 5 operation system, or even a glimpse of it playing the odd SNES game? Then fear not, 'cause the device is on the scene at the now-happening Maemo Summit, and it's thankfully been caught on video once again for those not lucky enough to be in attendance. Highlights this time around include a look at the device's 3D gaming capabilities (demoed with a Marble Madness-type game called Bounce Evolution), and a demonstration of the device not only playing YouTube videos in a browser, but within a thumbnail in the Maemo interface -- not exactly the most practical thing in the world, but it sure is impressive on a mobile device. Head on past the break to see the whole thing for yourself.

[Thanks, Welly]

Continue reading Nokia N900 video shows off 3D gaming, YouTube shenanigans, and more

Maemo 6 UI concept revealed to include portrait mode, capacitive multitouch

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 9th 2009 at 11:10AM

Today at the Maemo Summit -- which we like to imagine happens in a lavish, remote mountain fortress somewhere in Finland -- Nokia dropped some interesting hints about what we can expect from Maemo 6. Look for both portrait and landscape support, multitouch, capacitive touchscreens, an "iconic user experience and integrated internet services in one aesthetic package" (as opposed to a user experience that lacks icons, integrated internet services, or aesthetics, we suppose), and a desktop significantly larger than the display, which can be navigated either vertically or horizontally: Nokia is calling this "the canvas principle," although we'd call it "possibly quite confusing" unless the design is particularly well implemented. But the designers have plenty of time for that: Maemo 6 probably won't see the light of day until late 2010. Hit the read link for plenty more mind-blowing slides.

[Via SlashGear]

Nokia makes Qt port to Maemo 5 and N900 official (video)

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 9th 2009 at 4:34AM

Hey developers, Nokia's got a special treat for you today. It just announced the official port of the community-driven Qt for Maemo project. That means a common framework for writing native applications (and web apps and services thanks to Webkit integration) across Maemo 5 and future Maemo 6 releases, Symbian, and Windows Mobile. That's a broad reach in terms of devices (including the hotly anticipated N900) and marketshare and a smart move by Nokia in an era where devices are differentiated not by hardware and OS but by their ability to run apps and connect to web services. A "technology preview" release is available now and scheduled for final release (based on Qt 4.6) in Q1 of 2010. Click through for a wee taste.

Continue reading Nokia makes Qt port to Maemo 5 and N900 official (video)

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

by Darren Murph posted Oct 7th 2009 at 5:39AM

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]

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

Nokia N900 undergoes extensive preview, N97 found sobbing in a corner

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 1st 2009 at 6:20AM

Our amateur sleuthing skills tell us there might be a tiny bit of excitement about this N900 device. With the Maemo 5 environment already measured up, it's the turn of the hardware to get exhaustively previewed. The My Symbian team took a look at a prototype unit and were immediately impressed by the 800 x 480 display and relatively compact dimensions for such a loaded phone. The resistive touchscreen was on par with the N97, though it picked up scratches too easily for their liking ( a screen protector is recommended), while the keyboard was deemed small but still a major improvement over the N97's. Internals rated well, with the 600MHz Cortex-A8 CPU and "superb" video recording grabbing plaudits. Perplexingly, there was only 256MB allocated to application installs (see image after the break), which can be altered by those with Linux knowhow, but this may draw plenty of ire from mainstream, app-hungry consumers, considering the device is capable of holding 48GB of total memory. On the outside, the camera cover was found to scratch the case around the lens (but not the lens itself like on some N97 units) while sliding, and removing the stylus from its slot revealed some bare electronics, both of which rather undermined the overall feel of a well-built device. They did find connectivity on the device a pretty dreamy and trouble-free affair, but we're still only scratching the surface here -- hit up the read link for the whole enchilada.

[Via MobileTechWorld]

Update: Nokia has expressly stated that the retail phones will come with repartitioned memory, which will provide "plenty" of space for app installations and obviate the storage issue noted above. [Thanks, sockatume]

Continue reading Nokia N900 undergoes extensive preview, N97 found sobbing in a corner

Video: SNES runs beautifully on N900, makes our hearts flutter

by Darren Murph posted Sep 30th 2009 at 9:53AM

We've already seen Nokia's Maemo 5-powered N900 pull off some pretty fanciful tricks, but without qualification this is the one most dear to our hearts. Somehow or another, Konttori managed to get his palms around an N900 of his own, and rather than testing out the social networking abilities or battery life, he simply installed an SNES emulator, tweaked it to accept Wiimote controls and even connected it to his TV for a staggeringly authentic gameplay experience. Vicarious living is just a click or two away, so hop on past the break for a video of the action. Oh, and don't mind the baby -- he's not in the corner or anything.

[Thanks, Sathish]

Continue reading Video: SNES runs beautifully on N900, makes our hearts flutter

Maemo 5 reviewed in breathtakingly granular detail

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 29th 2009 at 5:04PM

It's one thing to read a product preview here and there, but if you really want the Maemo 5 experience before you're even able to set foot in a store and buy an N900, look no further than mobile-review's characteristically exhaustive look at the platform. From the endless array of screenshots, you quickly get the impression that this is an attractive shell -- evolutionary and familiar for owners of the 770, N800, or N810, yes, but significantly freshened nonetheless. Here are a few big takeaways from the War & Peace-esque compendium:

There's apparently an N920 in the works that lacks a QWERTY keyboard. We've heard rumors in the past that the N900 will remain Nokia's sole Maemo 5 phone for at least a few months, so we might look to see this in 2010.
Process management invokes a curiously webOS-like card view which looks great. Helps when you have a beefy OMAP3 in there, doesn't it?
The call log effortlessly aggregates GSM and VoIP calls -- a neat trick, and a tip of the hat to Maemo's roots as a VoIP-friendly platform.
MMS isn't supported, strangely, though the platform's SMS support handles both threaded and traditional views.
While chatting up Maemo's calendar services, Eldar specifically says that he "Palm's WebOS-powered organizer much more enticing and promising." Lack of Google Calendar synchronization sucks, but we're not sure what that's all about -- Maemo does support Exchange ActiveSync, after all.
Eldar his the nail on the head regarding Maemo's Mozilla-based browser: it's always been good, just way too slow. The N900 cures those ails on better hardware, though "it hasn't caught up with the rest of the pack yet." Flash support seems wonky and performance isn't always great -- it depends on how many apps are running.
The music player is pretty bare-bones (typical Nokia), though anyone happy with the N97's sound quality will feel right at home here -- it's the same hardware.
The integrated Maps app apparently lags way behind the bar that Ovi Maps has set over on S60 -- super slow and "resource-hungry."

Of course, the beauty of Maemo is its wide-open philosophy, so many of the niggles here that aren't corrected by Nokia proper will hopefully be handled by the community at large -- and the good news is that by the time you get done reading this review, the N900 should be on store shelves for you to try yourself.

Nokia grabs the Windex, clears up 'erroneous' Maemo carrier customization claims

by Darren Murph posted Sep 11th 2009 at 1:36PM

We aren't too sure where a number of outlets overheard that Nokia was planning to pass on customizing its Maemo-based devices, but one of two things has happened: either Nokia is lying to our faces and has secretly had a change of heart, or everyone was just misinformed from the get-go. Regardless of the hows and whys, Nokia has now come clean and stated that those very reports -- you know, the ones that "erroneously suggested that Nokia will not support operator customization for Maemo devices" -- are "simply incorrect." A long winded explanation follows, but the long and short of it is that the suits in Espoo are (at least now) very open to letting operators "tailor future Maemo devices to suit their needs," which may or may not be a positive in your eyes depending on the carrier you're chained to. Now, aren't you glad we had this little talk?

[Thanks, Dallas]

Nokia putting foot down on Maemo, won't allow carrier customizations

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 9th 2009 at 4:09PM

Google and Apple have both managed to wrest a great deal of control over the mobile user experience from carriers over the past couple of years -- cheers to that, by the way -- and now Nokia's decided it wants a piece of that action with the introduction of Maemo 5 and the N900, which it says will be free of the branding that Symbian products frequently get subjected to. It makes total sense that Nokia would be looking to come play in that rarified air that Android, iPhone OS, and webOS are all playing in -- a place where ARPUs are high, UIs are slick and modern, and the apps (and data) flow like water -- but since the majority of customers for these types of devices rely on subsidies to justify the purchase, they'll still need carrier buy-in to pull this off effectively. At least Palm and the gang have all proven that there's precedent for it, and it's definitely a noble fight to wage -- no one wants a bright magenta interface, right?

[Via Phone Scoop]

Video: Nokia N900 used to control British art installation

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 4th 2009 at 6:58PM

The new Nokia N900 is only a week old, but it's already being put to some interesting uses -- like this nifty little video wall commissioned by Nokia at the onedotzero adventures in motion festival in London. A custom Maemo 5 app sends messages to the display, and then the phone's accelerometer can be used to control the animation. Sure, it's not the most super-original phone+art installation we've ever seen, but it's certainly quite pretty -- check the video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Nokia N900 used to control British art installation

Optima's Maemo-running OP5-E MID demoed on video, priced

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 4th 2009 at 4:21PM

We've already gotten a quick look of Optima's new OP5-E MID, but those really curious about the first non-Nokia Maemo device will no doubt want to check out this new video courtesy of techvideoblog.com, which offers nearly ten minutes of turning, tilting and attempts to decipher a Chinese-language interface. The Optima exec on hand also confirms a few details about the device, including the fact that it does indeed pack built-in 3G, and that it'll apparently sell for "around $500." Head on past the break to check it all out for yourself.

Continue reading Optima's Maemo-running OP5-E MID demoed on video, priced

Nokia N900 now up for $649 preorder in the US of A

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 9:38PM

Nokia fans know the drill -- if you happen to live in the vicinity of the New York or Chicago flagship stores, you're almost certainly better off holding out and camping in front of the store as the launch date draws near -- but now that they're being taken, the rest of the States might strongly consider filing an preorder with Nokia USA's official online store if they want an N900 as soon as humanly possible. That's a good deal less than the US equivalent of $860 currently being asked by the company's German and Italian outposts, so we guess we should be thankful -- provided, of course, that the US launch isn't delayed into oblivion by some combination of T-Mobile drama, firmware issues, distribution problems, or swarms of locusts destroying trucks as they attempt to make deliveries. A pessimistic way to look at it, yes, but remember: a pessimist is never disappointed.

[Via Cell Phone Signal]

Video: Nokia N900 put through its paces... in Italian

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 1st 2009 at 9:04PM

We're sure to see a whole lot more of the Nokia N900 as Nokia World gets underway this week, but in the meantime we're super into this video walkthrough posted up by Kiamanokia.it -- and not just because the Italian narration makes using the N900 seem absolutely delightful. Nope, we're much more into the extremely-responsive interface, the rotary-zoom gesture in the browser, and the overall slickness of Maemo 5. We'll withhold judgment until we spend some time with an actual production N900, but things are looking promising -- head after the break to check the video for yourselves.

[Via The Nokia Blog]

Continue reading Video: Nokia N900 put through its paces... in Italian