New Linux based Nokia N900

[suse_tpx60s]

Anybody here eagerly awaiting the N900 from Nokia? Being a true Linux OS (Debian based) as opposed to the Androids, I think it has a lot of potential.

Hopefully it'll integrate better with Linux desktops and for once allow proper syncing of contacts, calendars and e-mails to our PIMs.

The main thing that's held me off Android is the bias to wanting to doing everything in the cloud. The Android syncing apps seem rely on using Google as the conduit. No thanks.

[vodoo]

The technical specs look very promising. Integrated GPS is nice to have while it plays music in my car with the FM Transmitter. I wonder what sources for additional packages are available? I sure want to have a gcc compiler in my phone

[innovamanager]

Operating system: Maemo 5 software on Linux

i read it and cant believe it!

"Maemo is an advanced Linux-based operating system designed to run on high-end Nokia mobile computers. As this is an open-source platform, it enables the Maemo community to freely modify and continually develop software as part of a shared goal: to bring added value to all Maemo users."

and this is just awesome...

[michael_cheah]

Doesn't see .ogg listed as supported media format.

[gumb]

I've been monitoring the Linux mobile market for the last couple of years in waiting for the perfect device to replace my aged Sony Ericsson. I only want to make one smartphone purchase, since I'll be seeking to buy the phone itself and use pay-as-you-go rather than a contract, hence the initial outlay won't be cheap. The N900 is the closest to perfection that I've yet seen, but I'm going to hold off a while longer.

The N920 is touted as its successor, and will have Maemo 6 installed by default. Apparently it will be smaller and more pocketable, with other improved features. Since it'll be based on Qt 4.6 it won't be out till later in 2010 but should be worth the wait. If you're a KDE user then Maemo 6 will be Qt-based and I believe many KDE developers are working on porting various KDE apps to the new platform, so it could potentially offer the best syncing ever between a Linux desktop and a phone.

If you can't wait, the N900 will apparently be able to support Maemo 6 in future, but it's more chunky. Nokia seem to be promising the most open phone / platform yet, so it might even be possible to run an entire KDE Netbook interface on it.

I'd also like to see ogg and even flac support (I know the latter would consume vast memory resources but it's my preferred format and if the built-in / expandable memory is big enough it might be viable).

[ReferenceSeete]

While it's true that the successor to the N900 will run on Maemo 6 and thus be Qt-based rather than GTK-based, there is still much to learn about the N900 successor.

The image that's been circulating online as the "N920" (basically looks like an overgrown iPhone with less real estate devoted to non-screen functionality and a Nokia label) is a fake.

One thing to note however is that KDE devs have been running Plasma on a so-called "mystery device" that has a 800MHz ARM CPU and 512MiB of RAM[1]...compared to the N900's specs (600MHz + 256MiB) it seems to me that they already have a development prototype with at least the approximate internals. Given that there is already an early SDK for Maemo 6, this all makes sense.

It's possible to piece together a decent idea of what the device will do by looking at the capabilities of Qt 4.6. Those capabilities plus the specs of the 'KDE mystery device' give a decent idea...but there are other details that we just don't know yet, and the look of it is definitely one of those things.

One thing to note about Maemo is that although it is a Linux distro, it is not fully open[2].

Personally I am also looking forward to the N900+1 although I'm not too enthused by the prospect of a capacitive screen. So long as they do not drop the hardware keyboard + directional input then things will be fine. Hopefully it will have a 4 or 5-row offset keyboard.


[1] Third Plasma Summit Lifts KDE Desktop To Higher Grounds | KDE.news : See the section "KDE and Plasma on ARM"

[2] Open development/Why the closed packages - maemo.org wiki

[suse_tpx60s]

The problem with these things is that you can always be waiting for the next model. The N900 isn't perfect and I'm sure the successors will be better but then their successors will be better.

I must admit I'm a bit of a sucker like that. When Android was announced I though, great I'll hold off replacing my WM5 device until Android hits the streets. I was disappointed with the looks and limitations of the first incarnations so held off and carried on waiting. Then the N900 is announced and so I wait some more. Now we're talking about the N900 successor with Maemo6 being qt based.

One may wait only to find it's not released with a hardware keyboard or has some other quirk making it a deal breaker.

[ReferenceSeete]

Originally Posted by suse_tpx60s

The problem with these things is that you can always be waiting for the next model. The N900 isn't perfect and I'm sure the successors will be better but then their successors will be better.

This is very true! Speaking for myself though it's a win-win, I'm already sold on the N900. I'm just curious about its successor, and I'm willing to wait for it. If the N900 successor has some terrible deal-breaker that's ok...the N900 will be less expensive by then!

[gumb]

A bit more info just appeared here:

N900 ships as Nokia preps second Maemo phone - News - Linux for Devices