N810 to Support full SD afterall?

[jzencovich]

There have been many complaints as of late of Nokia's decision to move the 810 to MiniSD (exclusively). However, I've been doing some reading, and that may not be so after all.

I was watching a video (http://www.nseries.com/index.html?l=products,n810#l=products,n810,demo) and at the end of the video some text popped up saying that the N810 will support up to 8GB cards. I thought, that's strange, miniSD goes up to 2 GBs, and MiniSDHC cards up to 4 GBs. 8GBs? huh?

Digging a little more I found this: http://europe.nokia.com/A4568593


Storage
* Up to 2GB internal memory
*Support for compatible miniSD and microSD memory cards (with extender). Supports cards up to 8GB. (SD cards over 2GB must be SDHC compatible.)


According to those specifications, miniSD and microSD are supported with adapters, with regular SD support up to 8GB, SDHC that is.

So the N810 is not ditching the full SD memory card slot, just a bit of poor wording has been floating around?

Comments?

--Jon

[mobiledivide]

No. Users who have final devices have opened up the flap and it is indeed Mini-SD, there is no full size SD support sorry :(

[penguinbait]

That was how I read that also, extender would imply full sd card, if they made my 8GB card worthless, after I managed to keep them from destroying it, that upgrade is looking less and less desirable

[jzencovich]

Well that sucks.

I was hoping Reggie would confirm my hypotheses... I guess I'll just have to find a way to cram a fullsize SD card if I ever get an 810 :D (likelihood just dropped 34.7%).

Of course, one has to remember that the devices *may* (though probably are :( ) not be final yet. One month is plenty of time.... oh who am I kidding? I dunno. Nokia, surprise me.

Thanks for the info mobileD

[jhoff80]

Definitely miniSD. Look at the engadget picture here: http://www.engadget.com/gallery/nokia-n810-hands-on/443962/

[munky261]

just because there is a mini sd in the pic doesnt mean that there isnt a full sd , plenty of room on the sides... lest we forget that the 800 came with a mini sd???

[zerojay]

That was how I read that also, extender would imply full sd card, if they made my 8GB card worthless, after I managed to keep them from destroying it, that upgrade is looking less and less desirable

The N810 isn't meant to be an upgrade, but basically a more consumer friendly N800.

[jzencovich]

That's what I'm afraid Zero :(

They're (Nokia) trying to wean us (the hackers) off the tablet for the eventual mainstream, step-5, end product.

When the final product will be release, what will it be like? Will it be just another ugly iPhone gadgety thing? Will us hackers move on to the next hacker-centric mobile device? I hope that never happens :(

[penguinbait]

Well I just sold a car and earmarked 500$ :D for an upgrade (sneaking past the warden, uh I mean my beautiful wife ;) ), but I am going to take a serious look at the market before considering another tablet. I would rather spend 1000$ and get a real processor.

All I have to do is keep the 1000$ device 2 years and it would be equal to the 500$ a year I spend on tablet and accessories each year. And a UMPC would probably be supported for 3 years.

I already have a n800, although KDE on a n810 with a keyboard would be so awesome :eek:

I guess I keep the n800 and look at UMPC's the SD card is very disappointing. They may be shooting themselves in the foot with this one.

[jzencovich]

By KDE you're talking about KDE 4.0, right? ;)

*nudge* *nudge*, *wink* *wink*

A UMPC sounds tasty, but I have yet to find one that really excites me. When A UMPC sporting a Core Duo and some nvidia G80 chip comes out.... for a reasonable price... :D

[penguinbait]

By KDE you're talking about KDE 4.0, right? ;)

*nudge* *nudge*, *wink* *wink*

A UMPC sounds tasty, but I have yet to find one that really excites me. When A UMPC sporting a Core Duo and some nvidia G80 chip comes out.... for a reasonable price... :D

Not until 4 is out of beta, and if I dont buy a n810, which is looking like no, I either wait for the next device, or I bail, jump platform. I wish I knew when the next device was coming out, I wont be waiting another year, my n800 works good, but it has a couple scratches in the screen, the battery cover latch is broke, and my stand is broken. (Nokia refuses to sell me a battery cover or stand) I have gotten plenty of use out of it, but I am ready for a new device.

[jzencovich]

What's the fun in waiting for a stable release? :D Beta 3 is plenty good :)

I'm not looking too keenly on the 810 either. I would need to have it at a pretty discounted price.

If you do end up jumping platform:
1) You will be sorely missed
2) Let me know where you're going :p

I think it's nice that Nokia's heading towards mainstream, but I don't think it should be at the expense of hackers (think iPhone).

[qgil]

Everybody has opinions and these are mine: :)

The need of smaller size and hardware keyboard has been quite general, and not only coming from "mainstream" users. Should we dig in the ITt archives? Now when you provide both there is *no physical room* for the same memory card configuration than the N800.

I don't get this idea of geeks and hackers requiring more Gb than mainstream users. I don't have market data but for what we see the trends are it looks like it's precisely the mainstream market what is pushing cards and devices with more capacity.

And again, what is wrong with hackers vs mainstream anyway? As far as I know developers want they hacks and apps to be used and enjoyed for as many users as possible. Nokia might have some weaknesses compared to other champions of open source but has a clear strength which is precisely to develop and promote products that become successful in the real-real-real mainstream (i.e. your neighbour, your cousin and such).

What's wrong with 10Gb for a mobile device anyway in 2007/08? It's not that you can't leave home with that. Now the N95 is being superpromoted with a 8Gb upgrade.

But then there is another trend, which is to consider devices not as isolated machines but as part of a computing ecosystem in our home/office/Internet where i.e. memory capacities poll together. Has anybody thought of these 10Gb in conjunction with the improved connectivity of Chinook, bringing Samba and letting you access transparently the sharable folders in your laptop or local network? The more syncing software and network capacities progress the less critical is the local memory in your mobile device.

But yet another trend is the increase of capacity of these local memories, even in smaller cards. Is the current 8Gb limit a hardcoded limit or can it grow as innovation and market evolve?

And well, a thought written out loud: if excellent maemo hackers like penguinbait think of spending more than 99€ for an N810 is just because they want. (hint, hint)

[kotzkind]

It's a miniSD slot. Compatible to microSD through adapter.
Maybe somewhere out there is an adapter for full SD in miniSD slots.(they have the same interface) Then you only have to manipulate the close machanism of the n810.

That, what you got is a SD card sticking out of the n810.

[GeneralAntilles]

The need of smaller size and hardware keyboard has been quite general, and not only coming from "mainstream" users. Should we dig in the ITt archives? Now when you provide both there is *no physical room* for the same memory card configuration than the N800.


Which is fine, but I, for one, would be very willing to have a little more thickness for the extra capacity (and functionality) provided by dual-SDHC slots.


I don't get this idea of geeks and hackers requiring more Gb than mainstream users. I don't have market data but for what we see the trends are it looks like it's precisely the mainstream market what is pushing cards and devices with more capacity.


Movies, music, pictures, and even text, they all add up. If we look at the IT lineup as being potential replacements for iPods (not that they are or are being marketed as such, but the "mainstream" makes their purchasing decisions on devices in this category in an either/or fashion—Archos 605wifi or Nokia N810), lots of storage is incredibly important. My current music library is more than 100GB, I realize that this isn't a realistic storage capacity for a device like the N800/N810 right now, but the 32GB (and 64GB, soon enough) from the N800 is a heckuvalot better than 10GB.


[...]
What's wrong with 10Gb for a mobile device anyway in 2007/08? It's not that you can't leave home with that. Now the N95 is being superpromoted with a 8Gb upgrade.


The N95 is a cellphone, despite it's other features, it is only a cellphone. I don't expect my cellphone to be able to carry a lot of media (in fact, too keep cost and size down, I'd prefer that it didn't—that's what my N800 is for :D). The N800/N810 are not cellphones, so the same storage standards don't apply. The IT platform stands to compete rather nicely with the PMP market, especially for people who want as much functionality out of their mobile devices as possible without sacrificing too much in focus on one feature, so the storage is important.


But then there is another trend, which is to consider devices not as isolated machines but as part of a computing ecosystem in our home/office/Internet where i.e. memory capacities poll together. Has anybody thought of these 10Gb in conjunction with the improved connectivity of Chinook, bringing Samba and letting you access transparently the sharable folders in your laptop or local network? The more syncing software and network capacities progress the less critical is the local memory in your mobile device.


UPnP and Samba are great features when you're at home (who doesn't dig watching a movie in bed on their N800? If only we had a good on-demand on-the-fly media transcoding/streaming service for Mac), but I'm out and about fairly often without easy access to my home machine and its media collection. Because of this, having the ability to take a large amount of movies and music (especially to kill that time between classes on campus) is a very important feature. A feature that the N810, unfortunately, lacks.


But yet another trend is the increase of capacity of these local memories, even in smaller cards. Is the current 8Gb limit a hardcoded limit or can it grow as innovation and market evolve?


Yes, the capacity of MiniSD will grow with time, but the capacity of SD will, too and SD will always be larger and cheaper than MiniSD. We have 16GB SDHC cards available now (and two slots to fill with the N800), while MiniSD is still barely available in 8GB.


And again, what is wrong with hackers vs mainstream anyway? As far as I know developers want they hacks and apps to be used and enjoyed for as many users as possible. Nokia might have some weaknesses compared to other champions of open source but has a clear strength which is precisely to develop and promote products that become successful in the real-real-real mainstream (i.e. your neighbour, your cousin and such).


Which is a great and wonderful thing. It means more application and OS development, and better and cheaper hardware. I just hope Nokia doesn't lose sight of the needs and desires of their early-adopters.

If, for one, would rather have more memory capacity than a built-in keyboard if it comes down to a choice between the two. Hopefully Nokia keeps that in mind when moving forward with future IT devices.

[Mika73]

I think that its really bad move from Nokia that we old N800 users cant use our ´old´ memorycards with new N810. It would be so much easyer upgrage to N810 from N800 if we could just plug old cards to new device. Also it would be good if there was two memorycard slots at device.. I have 4GB + 8GB cards at N800 and there is never too much space for files.

Maybe N900 has harddisc for user data.. :)

[penguinbait]

It's a miniSD slot. Compatible to microSD through adapter.
Maybe somewhere out there is an adapter for full SD in miniSD slots.(they have the same interface) Then you only have to manipulate the close machanism of the n810.

That, what you got is a SD card sticking out of the n810.


It makes me wonder if that wasn't the plan all along to use mini-SD after all thats what was packaged with my n800, with an adapter to be SD. I guess that could have given a clue, but perhaps that could have stated in a direction so we could have purchased the minisd cards to begin with.

Can they roadmap this things, or are they just throwing darts at a wall. If they have a roadmap they should be showing at least some specs for the next device in line.

[jzencovich]

I'm thinking it might be possible to just stick an SD card into a miniSD slot, but it would be ugly and I would be incredibly paranoid of breaking the card (since half of it would be sticking out). Actually, would the card even mount? You'd have to manually mount it via shell since there would be no way of closing the door...

I'm all for a roadmap. I think a dev wrote about some short and long term goals of the platform, but nothing Nokia-Official.


Harddisk? How about SSD? :)

[gsagers]

Everybody has opinions and these are mine: :)

The need of smaller size and hardware keyboard has been quite general, and not only coming from "mainstream" users. Should we dig in the ITt archives? Now when you provide both there is *no physical room* for the same memory card configuration than the N800.


I personally remember voicing my thoughts on this device vs. the zaurus 5500 and 5600's. My biggest two gripes for the N800 were
1. No hardware keyboard
2. No transreflective screen

This addresses the first point, which was most important to me. While I don't see myself jumping onto this upgrade in the next few months, for budget reasons, I'll probably upgrade in a year or so. Given falling memory prices and increasing capacity, I could justify a new card if needed. Can always ebay old cards.

I don't get this idea of geeks and hackers requiring more Gb than mainstream users. I don't have market data but for what we see the trends are it looks like it's precisely the mainstream market what is pushing cards and devices with more capacity.

I think geeks are a little more likely to carry around more music and movies, because they can convert them more easily. Really, it's still a little more complex than "Insert DVD, sync to (Ipod/Tablet/Archos/etc)". The process is getting easier all the time, but it still has bugs/workarounds.

What's wrong with 10Gb for a mobile device anyway in 2007/08? It's not that you can't leave home with that. Now the N95 is being superpromoted with a 8Gb upgrade.

And as memory cards increase in size, there will be upgrades to support them, just like the N800. Have we forgotten already that there was no SDHC support at first? As far as I can see, there are no 16GB Mini-SD SDHC cards currently, but the spec would allow it.

But then there is another trend, which is to consider devices not as isolated machines but as part of a computing ecosystem in our home/office/Internet where i.e. memory capacities poll together. Has anybody thought of these 10Gb in conjunction with the improved connectivity of Chinook, bringing Samba and letting you access transparently the sharable folders in your laptop or local network? The more syncing software and network capacities progress the less critical is the local memory in your mobile device.

So you mean "The Network Is The Computer"! John Gage of Sun Microsystems said that in 1982 - and it's taken us 25 years, but yes, I'd have to agree, we're almost there. In fact the biggest stumbling block for most users is archaic policies, DHCP, and NAT from their ISPs.

Overall, I'd have to agree that the N810 is looking like a great device, and while 2 slots are nice for keeping "permanent" data on one card, and swapping out the other for tunes and movies, the new configuration should be manageable.

I do wonder if the internal memory can host a swapfile though? That would be very nice, since that's one use of my internal slot, and one that means a reboot to change out the card on those rare occasions I remove it.

[benny1967]

I think that its really bad move from Nokia that we old N800 users cant use our ´old´ memorycards with new N810. It would be so much easyer upgrage to N810 from N800 if we could just plug old cards to new device.

I dont think Nokia expects N800-users to switch to an N810. They've stated repeatedly that they do not see the N810 as the "next generation" but as a variation of the N800. There's nothing the N810 can do that that N800 can't (GPS+keyboard can be connected via bluetooth), so if you own an N800 (and invested in add-ons like SD-cards), there's no reason to get an N810 - at least from Nokias point of view.

[jhoff80]

The biggest problem with Mini-SD is that its soon to be abandoned. MicroSD has already exceeded the amount of size available for miniSD (microSD has 8GB cards, mini has 4GB), so I don't see why anyone would ever bother with the stopgap miniSD solution, besides the fact that larger microSD cards have been announced, but nobody seems to be working on larger miniSD ones. There should be only two types of flash memory (well, maybe I'd even say three if you want to keep compactflash around): SD for larger devices and microSD for smaller ones. Anything else is just excess at this point.

[luca]

Has anybody thought of these 10Gb in conjunction with the improved connectivity of Chinook, bringing Samba and letting you access transparently the sharable folders in your laptop or local network?
unless you're using nfs :mad:, in which case you have to either recompile the kernel with (just) one additional option checked, or wait for fanoush do do it for you.

[hircus]

Can one use both a Bluetooth keyboard *and* GPS at the same time? Plus, now that OS2008 supports Bluetooth ADP, people would want to pair their Bluetooth headset as well.

As for mini-SD becoming obsolete, it does not matter as you can hook a micro-SD card with a micro-to-mini adapter, no?

[jhoff80]

Can one use both a Bluetooth keyboard *and* GPS at the same time? Plus, now that OS2008 supports Bluetooth ADP, people would want to pair their Bluetooth headset as well.

As for mini-SD becoming obsolete, it does not matter as you can hook a micro-SD card with a micro-to-mini adapter, no?

Yeah, but how many times so far have you heard it mentioned that something disappeared because there wasn't enough space for it (ie the FM tuner that's gone, or there's now only one slot as opposed to two.) If there's that much of a concern for space, why not go with the smaller card that actually has a future anyway instead of already being obsolete?

[hircus]

If there's that much of a concern for space, why not go with the smaller card that actually has a future anyway instead of already being obsolete?

That's a good point. I believe the official reason for going mini-SD (and also using the micro-USB port) is to hsare common components with other Nokia devices. Was quite sad to see the FM receiver go, though.

[Capt'n Corrupt]

The emerging standard for ultra-portables (cellphones, tablets.... cellphones) is mini-SD and micro-USB. Nokias choice to adhere to this standard can only mean that the N810 will be more compatible with future devices. Hopefully these communication standards have matured and will remain the stable for a long time.

I suppose with proper thought out standards, we wouldn't have three size variants of USB that do the same thing, and at least three version variants. Not very 'universal', but to be expected in a time of rapid technological growth.


Tonight we sail!

}:^)~
YARR!!

Mr. C.

[jhoff80]

The emerging standard for ultra-portables (cellphones, tablets.... cellphones) is mini-SD and micro-USB. Nokias choice to adhere to this standard can only mean that the N810 will be more compatible with future devices. Hopefully these communication standards have matured and will remain the stable for a long time.

I suppose with proper thought out standards, we wouldn't have three size variants of USB that do the same thing, and at least three version variants. Not very 'universal', but to be expected in a time of rapid technological growth.


Tonight we sail!

}:^)~
YARR!!

Mr. C.

Maybe other Nokia phones have miniSD, but anyone I know who has a phone that accepts a memory card has a microSD slot. I've got friends with the Upstage, the Sidekick, Blackberries, and even the Centro now has microSD, (though my Treo 755p has miniSD, I refuse to buy a miniSD card and end up getting stuck, like I did with the 16 gigs worth of SD cards I have in various sizes.)

[TA-t3]

The emerging standard for ultra-portables (cellphones, tablets.... cellphones) is mini-SD and micro-USB. Nokias choice to adhere to this standard can only mean that the N810 will be more compatible with future devices
Er.. SD is 100% compatible with mini- and micro SD (and several other types of cards as well), the N810 can't get _more_ compatible by going mini-SD. Now, SD cards from a tablet wouldn't fit in a phone with mini- or micro-SD, but then again a tablet is a type of device where you typically insert cards from other devices (to copy phone/camera data to and from, for example), not the other way around. I agree with the poster that suggested that when abandoning SD one could as well go all the way to micro-SD. Hey, maybe they would've been small enough to let it keep having two slots.. ;)

[Texrat]

That's a good point. I believe the official reason for going mini-SD (and also using the micro-USB port) is to hsare common components with other Nokia devices. Was quite sad to see the FM receiver go, though.

There are Nokia phones using MicroSD, though, such as the N75 I'm using.

And is no one really picking up on Quim's comment about shared folders? :D

[hircus]

And is no one really picking up on Quim's comment about shared folders? :D

I noticed that, but want to be pleasantly surprised with the details :) .. it does make sense, especially if the media player is really much better at handling "normal" (i.e. not specially encoded) videos.

Though that also mean.. I want an easy-to-install Ogg Vorbis plugin! (mogg does not seem to do the trick, even after a restart, on OS2007)

Quim Gil did not mention printing, though? Hmm.

[whatever7]

Once the 16GB SD card become cheap enough, running 32GB worth or multimedia library on my n800 would be a blast.

I rolled eyes when people say you don't need blad blad amount of the space. I have a 8GB iPhone, I can barely fit 70% of my music library (which has already transcoded down to minimum level) and the audio/video podcast library. I have zero space to put video/moive on it.

I have to put them on my n800 which has 12GB of spcae and I have only 10 video on it, and that's not nearly enough.

[benny1967]

And is no one really picking up on Quim's comment about shared folders? :D

I dont see how shared folders would help anyone getting their pictures from the SD-card inside their cameras to the N810 for further processing and then uploading to their blogs. ;)

[zerojay]

Samba support directly included in IT2008 would be awesome.

[Texrat]

I dont see how shared folders would help anyone getting their pictures from the SD-card inside their cameras to the N810 for further processing and then uploading to their blogs. ;)

Ah, but there ARE ways of accessing your PC over the internet... ;)

[benny1967]

Ah, but there ARE ways of accessing your PC over the internet... ;)

How does this get the pictures from my camera (SD) to an N810?

[zerojay]

Copy them over the net to your N810 from your computer by Samba.

[benny1967]

I know my English isn't perfect, but what exactly is so difficult to understand when I repeatedly say the pictures are on my cam (well, ob the SD card), not on my computer? I'll transfer them to my desktop PC some weeks later when I'm home again, but meanwhile I want to view them, make them smaller, mail them or blog them.

Thats what people use the N800 for.

[Texrat]

You're right, benny, an intermediate step is still needed (in this case camera to PC). Sorry about that-- I tend to put ALL my digital photos on my PC by habit and that affected my response.

EDIT: looks to me like the N810 could use a microUSB-to-SD card reader...

[whatever7]

How does this get the pictures from my camera (SD) to an N810?

You buy this ...thing from Japan.
http://www.diatec.co.jp/products/det.php?prod_c=460

But yeah in a nutshell miniSD slot is total ********.

[Capt'n Corrupt]

I was hoping to keep the pedant in me suppressed for another 24 hours.

Er.. SD is 100% compatible with mini- and micro SD (and several other types of cards as well), the N810 can't get _more_ compatible by going mini-SD. Now, SD cards from a tablet wouldn't fit in a phone with mini- or micro-SD, but then again a tablet is a type of device where you typically insert cards from other devices (to copy phone/camera data to and from, for example), not the other way around.

Yes, N810 *can* get "more compatible" with future devices going completely mini-SD, based on the assumption that the majority of future devices standardize support of mini-SD and not SD. You basically stated my argument in your second sentence. The key word here is _more_. Supporting mini-SD exclusively means that there is zero chance that you will be able to use SD cards in the unit, thus making your N810 memory free for use on the majority of devices and not limited to older electronics or other tablets.

Backwards compatibility is partial compatibility, while full compatibility is total compatibility. Partial compatibility is less compatible than total compatibility: So backwards compatibility is less compatible than full compatibility, or full compatibility is more compatible than backwards compatibility.

This is a small distinction to finesse (or grind into the ground), but an important one; especially if you're a multi-billion dollar corporation planning to release this device to the masses. By reducing the choice you reduce the chance for incompatibility, and reduce the cases of disgruntled customers; it is less likely that a person that expands the memory of the n810 will be limited from using that memory in another device.

Of course, if the assumption regarding the mini-SD standard falls flat, so does my argument. :D

But for all intensive purposes, I understand your point. SD provides 100% backwards compatibility and systems that support it can enjoy a greater range of media than can those who are limited to mini-SD.


Yo Ho.

}:^)~
YARR!!

Sir C.

[jhoff80]

Future devices aren't going to miniSD, they're going to microSD, so miniSD is a waste. Like I said before, if internal space was an issue, microSD should have been the solution.

[Texrat]

I have to agree.

EDIT: a-HA! MicroSD to MiniSD adapter, and cheap--

http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=142629

[johnkzin]

How to move data from your Camera to your N810?

Agere BluOnyx.

Has an SD card slot, USB (OTG?), and does bluetooth and wifi. (no word if it does samba over wifi, though; that'd be useful with the N810)

So, camera -> SD card -> BluOnyx SD card -> mini or micro SD card -> N810

Or maybe BluOnyx -> USB -> N810
Or maybe BluOnyx -> Bluetooth FTP -> N810
Or maybe BluOnyx -> Wifi Samba -> N810

Seems like lots of options to me.

[Capt'n Corrupt]

Here's a good shot of all three SD adapters: SD, mini SD, micro SD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sdcard.svg

Notice that minus the area for the connector, the mini-SD is roughly double the area of the micro-SD landscape. Though that may not be a large size difference to large thumbed hominines, it represents a tremendous difference in semiconductor space. Perhaps, as mini-SD becomes more popular, we'll see cards with capacities far higher than that of their micro-SD cousins. Perhaps mini-SD was the best compromise between size and capacity potential.

I think the old cliche is fitting: only time will tell.

Granted, companies often make mistakes, but I'm hard pressed to believe that given all of the amazing design decisions that have gone into the Internet Tablet series thus far, Nokia wouldn't intensely consider the ramifications of integrating mini-SD into the N810. Certainly, they seem to be doing something right -- and I don't believe that these decisions are a series of happy accidents. They are one of the largest phone manufacturers in the world, manufacture arguably the best convergence device (the N810), and even judging by a poll in this forum, have witnessed tremendous growth in popularity between the first two Internet Tablet devices.


}:^)~
YARR!!

C. C.

[fanoush]

I know my English isn't perfect, but what exactly is so difficult to understand when I repeatedly say the pictures are on my cam (well, ob the SD card), not on my computer?
Well, you can sell your SD card and buy miniSD (which comes with SD adapter) and use it in your camera instead. Then you just remove the adapter when inserting to N810. Perhaps it is too obvious so nobody cared to suggest this?

[TA-t3]

As for the networked storage (shared drives) argument: Unfortunately the amount of data I and others want to access increases way faster than typical network bandwidths, particularly when talking mobile devices. Accessing large amounts of data over the internet isn't much of an option.. particularly not through 3G! ;) So, the need for large local storage is higher now than it used to, not the other way around.

[Texrat]

As for the networked storage (shared drives) argument: Unfortunately the amount of data I and others want to access increases way faster than typical network bandwidths, particularly when talking mobile devices. Accessing large amounts of data over the internet isn't much of an option.. particularly not through 3G! ;) So, the need for large local storage is higher now than it used to, not the other way around.

...and the opportunities for online storage are growing. ;)

[Capt'n Corrupt]

...and the opportunities for online storage are growing. ;)

Seriously. At the rate of growth of bandwidth and speed online, soon streaming media/files directly from one's home server or a public one, should be quite reliable.


}:^)~
YARR!!

Cappy McCap

[johnkzin]

Seriously. At the rate of growth of bandwidth and speed online, soon streaming media/files directly from one's home server or a public one, should be quite reliable.



You need more than just speed/bandwidth and reliability. You need availability. GSM/CDMA/WiMAX* help, because they cover you in more locations than wifi hotspots... but they don't go everywhere, and even where they go, they're often spotty in areas they supposedly cover. Until I know that I'll have network coverage in the depths of the Everglades, the heights of the Himalayas, the most remote areas of teh Sahara and Death Valley, and out on the high seas, and in any other remote location, I'm going to need personal storage space.

That's why I keep harping on the personal area network concept, and being able to use a device like a Seagate DAVE or a Agere BluOnyx. They fill the "personal storage" part of a personal area network. You don't need to fumble with little cards, or worry about card formats, etc. You don't have to worry about wires to connect things together. Just tell your bluetooth enabled camera to dump files on to the storage device when it gets full. And then pull them onto your N800/N810 to view them.


* once WiMAX is fully deployed

(Note: I'm not arguing for CDMA and GSM versions of the N800/N810; I take the same view there that I take with storage: do it via a personal area network gateway, such as a bluetooth cell phone)

[Capt'n Corrupt]

You need more than just speed/bandwidth and reliability. You need availability.

Oh, I do, do I? :D

I agree that availability is a major feature, especially when local storage is severely limited (mini-SD) and network speeds are inconsistent. In the meantime, there are a few storage options: the aforementioned bluetooth storage devices or corded USB-OTG solutions (not as elegant, but workable nonetheless).

You're right: I desire increased network availability, but not primarily for storage. I was hoping that the N810 would have been a WiMAX device as I use a SIP phone as my primary voice communication method ($10/mnt for unlimited incoming w/ a telephone number so that people can call from regular landlines, and $0.01/ minute outgoing to regular landlines. Of course, internet calls are free). The idea of using the N810 as a mobile phone is very enticing. However, lacking WiMAX, I'm limited to home, the office, friends houses, or cafes/hotels/etc with good connectivity -- areas that I *know* are reliable; trust me, there's little worse than having a spotty SIP voice conversation. The ability to go anywhere would be AMAZING.

*** offtopic, but I *really* like the placement of the mic on the N810. With some clever volume/balance settings, it *may* be possible to hold the device to the ear for quick private conversations, without having to use a headset ***

For now, WiFi will do, but I'll likely replace my N810 the with the WiMAX version if/when it becomes available.


}:^)~
YARR!!

The One Captain

[Texrat]

Guys, Saturday Circuit City had 256 meg MiniSD cards on clearance for $5. Yeah, that's low capacity but a nice price if you just need a spare card.