N900 Specifications

[attila77]

Just for reference :)

Technical specifications
Display

* 3.5 inch touch-sensitive widescreen display
* 800 × 480 pixel resolution

Language support

British English, American English, Canadian French, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Swedish, Russian
Connectivity

* 3.5mm AV connector
* TV out (PAL/NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable
* Micro-USB connector, High-Speed USB 2.0
* Bluetooth v2.1 including support for stereo headsets
* Integrated FM transmitter
* Integrated GPS with A-GPS

Battery

BL-5J 1320mAh
Processor and 3D accelerator

TI OMAP 3430: ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX with OpenGL ES 2.0 support
Memory

Up to 1GB of application memory (256 MB RAM, 768 MB virtual memory)
Size and weight

Volume:
Approx 113cc
Dimensions:
110.9 × 59.8 × 18 (19.55 at thickest part) mm
Weight:
Approx 181g

Mass memory

* 32 GB internal storage
* Store up to 7000 MP3 songs or 40 hours of high-quality video
* Up to 16 GB of additional storage with an external microSD card

Keys and input method

* Full QWERTY tactile keyboard
* Full QWERTY onscreen keyboard

Colour

Black
Operating frequency

* Quad-band GSM EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
* WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz

Data network

GPRS class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 107/64.2 kbps (DL/UL)
EDGE class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177.6 kbps (DL/UL)
WCDMA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (DL/UL)
HSPA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS 10/2 Mbps (DL/UL)
WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g

Call features

* Integrated hands-free stereo speakers
* Call waiting, call hold, call divert
* Call timer
* Logging of dialed, received and missed calls
* Speed dialing via contact widget
* Vibrating alert (internal)
* Side volume keys
* Mute/unmute
* Contacts with images
* Conference calling with up to 3 participants
* Internet calling

Email & Messaging

* Supported protocols: Mail for Exchange, IMAP, POP3, SMTP
* Support for email attachments
* Support for rich HTML
* SMS and Instant Messages as conversations
* Support for Nokia Messaging service
* Instant messaging and presence enhanced contacts
* Multiple number, email and Instant Messaging details per contact, contacts with images
* Support for assigning images to contacts

Web browsing

* Maemo browser powered by Mozilla technology
* Adobe Flash™ 9.4 support
* Full screen browsing

GPS and navigation

* Integrated GPS, Assisted-GPS, and Cell-based receivers
* Pre-loaded Ovi Maps application
* Automatic geotagging

Camera

* 5 megapixel camera (2584 × 1938 pixels)
* Image formats: JPEG
* CMOS sensor, Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens
* 3 × digital zoom
* Autofocus with assist light and two-stage capture key
* Dual LED flash
* Full-screen viewfinder
* Photo editor on device
* TV out (PAL/NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U, included in box) or WLAN/UPnP
* Landscape (horizontal) orientation
* Capture modes: Automatic, portrait, video, macro, landscape, action

Video

* Wide aspect ratio 16:9 (WVGA)
* Video recording file format: .mp4; codec: MPEG-4
* Video recording at up to 848 × 480 pixels (WVGA) and up to 25fps
* Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263

Secondary Camera

* Resolution 640 x 480
* F-Stop/Aperture f/2.8
* Image Formats JPEG
* Video Recording Resolution 640 x 480
* Video Recording Format H.263

Music and audio playback

* Maemo media player
* Music playback file formats: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma, .m4a
* Built-in FM transmitter
* Ring tones: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma, .m4a
* FR, EFR, WCDMA, and GSM AMR
* Digital stereo microphone
* DLNA

Personalisation

* Background pictures
* Widgets on your desktops
* Intelligent contact shortcuts
* Shortcuts to your favourite websites
* Shortcuts to applications
* Themes

Operating system
Maemo 5 software on Linux

Applications

* Maemo Browser
* Phone
* Conversations
* Contacts
* Camera
* Photos
* Media player
* Email
* Calendar
* Ovi Maps
* Clock
* Notes
* Calculator
* PDF reader
* File manager
* RSS reader
* Sketch
* Games
* Widgets
* Application manager for downloads

Gaming

* Bounce
* Chess
* Mahjong

What´s in the box

* Nokia N900
* Nokia Battery (BL-5J)
* Nokia High Efficiency Charger (AC-10)
* Nokia Stereo Headset (WH-205)
* Video out cable (CA-75U)
* Nokia charger adaptor (CA-146C)
* Cleaning cloth

Additional features

* 3D Accelerometer
* Ambient Light Sensor
* Nokia Maps
* Ovi Files
* Ovi Share
* Proximity Sensor

EDIT: Added secondary cam and sensor data
EDIT: Split data speed lines to improve readability

[lardman]

From the kernel diff and defconfig there's a BCM2048 (Bt + FM/RDS receiver).

Can someone confirm this?

Actually, could we see the dmesg output and list of modules?

Thanks :)

[yerga]

Here the data sheet (PDF): http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Press/Materials/White_Papers/pdf_files/data_sheets_2009/Nokia_N900_data_sheet.pdf

It hs some information about battery life.

[celtica96]

Does anyone know why the N900 lacks 802.11n?

This seems to be a strange omission. :confused:

[Baloo]

Battery Times:

Always online: Up to 2-4 days (TCP/IP connected)
Talk time: Up to 5hrs WCDMA, 9hrs GSM
Active online usage: Up to 1+ day
personal email accounts

[sjgadsby]

* Video recording file format: .mp4; codec: MPEG-4

That's more vague than I'd like. I'd be nice to know if it records in Simple or Advanced Simple. Part 10 seems highly unlikely, and they'd probably call that one out a bit more directly were it used.

[pycage]

No codecs for Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora. But I would have been very surprised if Nokia shipped with those codecs.

[attila77]

There are a few hardware points obviously missing from the specs, so, no jumping to conclusions just yet :) (for example, then don't list anything about the front-panel light/proximity sensors, of if the video section applies to the main camera or the user-facing cam). I don't really expect any more from Skype and Adobe than then did the last time around. That 9.4 flash version might be an achilles heel for web usage considering some sites already go for v10 :(

[skatebiker]

Nice, but why a smaller screen than the N810 ?? I'd expect a larger one (e.g. Archos 5).
And no more Wayfinder Maps ? That is way better than Nokia Maps.

[ColdFusion]

Nice, but why a smaller screen than the N810 ?? I'd expect a larger one (e.g. Archos 5).

Because it's a mobile phone now.

[quipper8]

That 9.4 flash version might be an achilles heel for web usage considering some sites already go for v10 :(

Considering that no other phone or other device this small hardly even has flash AT ALL, I wouldn't say having ONLY 9.4 is a weakness.

[skatebiker]

Because it's a mobile phone now.
Has nothing to do with screen size. Does a builtin GSM chip set a limit to the display size ???

[quipper8]

Has nothing to do with screen size. Does a builtin GSM chip set a limit to the display size ???
Sure it does. If it is a device you want MOST people to always take them which is usually their mobile PHONE, it has to be smaller.

[ColdFusion]

Has nothing to do with screen size. Does a builtin GSM chip set a limit to the display size ???

Yes. If it's a mobile phone it should fit in your pocket and not look stupid with holding it like a 5-6" brick to your ear. ;)

[mjc]

The Cortex A8 says it has "the ability to scale in speed from 600MHz to greater than 1GHz".

Does anyone know the likelihood of a future CPU clock speed jump like we saw with the N800?

[mpancorbo]

There is accelerator, but nothing about screen rotation. Did I miss something?

[tso]

No codecs for Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora. But I would have been very surprised if Nokia shipped with those codecs.

time for the community to step up with a DSP codec then?

[skatebiker]

Yes. If it's a mobile phone it should fit in your pocket and not look stupid with holding it like a 5-6" brick to your ear. ;)
To your ear ? There is a headset included so holding it to your ear is not necessary. When one holds a phone to one's ear use a regular phone weighing far less than 180 g. And the N810 sized device does fit into a pocket.
The main reason for the 3G added too it is IMHO that for mobile internet no more bluetooth is needed to an external phone.

[mobiledivide]

There is accelerator, but nothing about screen rotation. Did I miss something?

The maemo environment is still landscape and it seems only the phone application is in portrait and landscape. Screen rotation can also be supported by other applications.

[zerojay]

The maemo environment is still landscape and it seems only the phone application is in portrait and landscape. Screen rotation can also be supported by other applications.

Actually, as soon as you rotate the phone into portrait mode, the phone app starts up automatically.

[ColdFusion]

To your ear ? There is a headset included so holding it to your ear is not necessary. When one holds a phone to one's ear use a regular phone weighing far less than 180 g. And the N810 sized device does fit into a pocket.
The main reason for the 3G added too it is IMHO that for mobile internet no more bluetooth is needed to an external phone.

The n810 weights 226 g, and I don't want to carry a headset all the time anyway.
And 180g is not that much considering that there have been 200gr or heavier phones on the market. But there hasn't been a 5" phone, that'd be just silly.
A 5" tablet is OK, but not a phone.

[mobiledivide]

Actually, as soon as you rotate the phone into portrait mode, the phone app starts up automatically.

Yeah just read that, I hope you can disable that action, doesn't seem that useful to me.

[livefreeordie]

If I understood correctly, it only does that if you're on the desktop.

[attila77]

Considering that no other phone or other device this small hardly even has flash AT ALL, I wouldn't say having ONLY 9.4 is a weakness.

I don't really see the point of putting up outdated versions when flash sites are notorious for oversensitive version checking. I understand Adobe probably doesn't have an ARM compatible Flash 10, I'm just afraid that we'll get updates with the same frequency as we did on the N810, and Flash is one those components we (as in both OSS developers and Nokia) can't really change.

[mikkov]

As always, forum.nokia.com has the most accurate specifations:

http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/N900

[mikkov]

from forum.nokia.com

Supported Document Formats Excel, PDF, Powerpoint, Word[1]
Notes 1 Document format support via installable application (Dataviz).


So dataviz is going to be available for Maemo
http://www.dataviz.com/

[krisse]

Bear in mind this is only the first Maemo 5 device. There are almost certainly more on the way next year which would probably have different specs for different market segments.

Nokia's never done just one smartphone a year, they've always released about 5 high end models per year (plus about 30 cheaper models but those will be Symbian).

Their release rate on the tablets was low because the tablets didn't sell as well as the phones, but now that Maemo is on phones the extra sales should justify a higher release rate.


To your ear ? There is a headset included so holding it to your ear is not necessary. When one holds a phone to one's ear use a regular phone weighing far less than 180 g. And the N810 sized device does fit into a pocket.
The main reason for the 3G added too it is IMHO that for mobile internet no more bluetooth is needed to an external phone.

Most people who buy smart devices buy smartphones, so the primary function is clearly phone calls. If you mess with the phone call side of things, the whole show is over.

Nokia has had their fingers burned over this in the past, they're never going to mess with how phonecalls work again. They cancelled the Nokia 7700 (http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_7700-570.php) before it was even released apparently because reviewers hated its N-gage-style sidetalking, and had to retool it as the 7710 with "normal" talking before they dared put it on shop shelves.

[geneven]

Is the chess app as crappy as the one for the N800 and N810? Probably.

[Viipottaja]

Heh, no MMS (not that I care one bit), but just wait for the "oh you all bashed iPhone for not having in and now your holy grail Nokia does not have it!" comments to start. :D

[dormant]

TV out is "PAL and NTSC".

Does this mean it can give either, or will we have different models in different markets?

World travellers are every sensitive to these things.

[inte]

Just for reference :)
Technical specifications
...


Does it support Alternate Line Service aka Orange Line2 aka Eplus Privateline aka ...?

[dormant]

I'm confused by the headset - the specs say a WH-205 which looks like a nice small set with soft earbuds.

http://europe.nokia.com/MEDIA_BANK_100/R6Accessories/W/WH-205/R6_WH-205_240x240.png

But the photo in the specs shows shows a headset that is much more scary.

http://europe.nokia.com/PRODUCT_METADATA_0/Products/Phones/N-series/N900/images/n900_image_techspecs_device_music_319x265.png

I never liked my n800 headset and always carry a set of headphones for music only.

[dnastase]

Do I understand correctly that it has only 256Mb RAM ? That's only double than N810 which is almost 3 years older.
How much can you achieve with 256Mb when you have a full Firefox browser.
I'm very afraid the history is going to repeat itself (N770, G1 Android, etc): we're going to ran out of RAM and next version will have more RAM out of the factory.
Why can't they put 1Gb RAM from start ?! It's not that expensive.

[zerojay]

Do I understand correctly that it has only 256Mb RAM ? That's only double than N810 which is almost 3 years older.
How much can you achieve with 256Mb when you have a full Firefox browser.
I'm very afraid the history is going to repeat itself (N770, G1 Android, etc): we're going to ran out of RAM and next version will have more RAM out of the factory.
Why can't they put 1Gb RAM from start ?! It's not that expensive.

With virtual memory activated, you can have up to 1GB of RAM.

[benny1967]

No MMS? :(

That's bad. I write and recieve 10-20 MMS a week... would be great if this feature could be added software-wise in a (near) future upgrade.

[tso]

Heh, no MMS (not that I care one bit), but just wait for the "oh you all bashed iPhone for not having in and now your holy grail Nokia does not have it!" comments to start. :D

where is this "no mms" thing coming from?

never mind, i see now, it do not show up in the specs under messaging...

quim, feel like verifying or denying?

[volt]

Yes. If it's a mobile phone it should fit in your pocket and not look stupid with holding it like a 5-6" brick to your ear. ;)

Though, I usually put my N810 in my jeans and my cell phone in my phone pocket in the jacket. The extra mms on the N900 might just make a difference on that, tho'.

[volt]

There is accelerator, but nothing about screen rotation. Did I miss something?

screen rotation in one of the videos, when the incoming phone call stopped the music temporarily.

[dnastase]

With virtual memory activated, you can have up to 1GB of RAM.

That means swap file. It's SLOW, flash destroying and plain ugly. A real multitasking env will only make things worse w/ swapping.

[spock]

I'm confused about the 3G data connectivity. First of all, the n900 doesn't have any frequency that is relevant to me in Canada, but does " Maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (DL/UL) HSPA 900/1700/2100" seem really slow to anyone else? My E71 technically connects to Rogers' 7.2Mbps network and I typically get 1-2Mbps in speed tests. 384kbps is a big step backwards...

[volt]

Not that I have ever in my life sent an MMS, but didn't someone somewhere say about a recent telephone that there was no seperate way to start a MMS, you just inserted a picture into a SMS and it was an MMS? I swear I read that... No reason to have a seperate "create MMS" option"...

Let me search...

[chilko]

No MMS? :(

That's bad. I write and recieve 10-20 MMS a week... would be great if this feature could be added software-wise in a (near) future upgrade.

i also want to know that. does it have mms?

[tso]

Not that I have ever in my life sent an MMS, but didn't someone somewhere say about a recent telephone that there was no seperate way to start a MMS, you just inserted a picture into a SMS and it was an MMS? I swear I read that... No reason to have a seperate "create MMS" option"...

Let me search...

sounds like EMS to me, or a very smart message editor system...

[lardman]

time for the community to step up with a DSP codec then?

Hmm, let's hope the community are more interested in helping this time ;)

At least the new DSP has 8bit chars, which should make code porting far easier.

[zerojay]

That means swap file. It's SLOW, flash destroying and plain ugly. A real multitasking env will only make things worse w/ swapping.

Wasn't slow, flash destroying or ugly on the previous tablets, but whatever.

[pelago]

from forum.nokia.com
Supported Document Formats Excel, PDF, Powerpoint, Word[1]
Notes 1 Document format support via installable application (Dataviz).

So dataviz is going to be available for Maemo
http://www.dataviz.com/
Interesting. Documents2Go is a great app on Palm platforms I've used in the past.

Presumably this will be a paid-for app. Although if so it seems a little bit odd mentioning it as part of the specs of the N900, as that should presumably cover out-of-the-box functionality.

[volt]

sounds like EMS to me, or a very smart message editor system...

Maybe PMS?


I can't find anything about that concept or what phone it was, so I'll have to get back to it later if I remember where and what it was.

[mikkov]

I'm confused about the 3G data connectivity. First of all, the n900 doesn't have any frequency that is relevant to me in Canada, but does " Maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (DL/UL) HSPA 900/1700/2100" seem really slow to anyone else?

you stopped reading too early
"... WCDMA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (DL/UL) HSPA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS 10/2 Mbps ..."

Generally I recommend forum.nokia.com for specifications, because usually specs are all wrong or hard to read everywhere else.

[tso]

Maybe PMS?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Messaging_Service

[GeneralAntilles]

Do I understand correctly that it has only 256Mb RAM ? That's only double than N810 which is almost 3 years older.


The mobile space doesn't move the way the desktop space does.


How much can you achieve with 256Mb when you have a full Firefox browser.

Maemo Browser has been heavily optimized for mobile use. You'll be able to get plenty of use out of that 256MB of RAM and 768MB of swap.


Why can't they put 1Gb RAM from start ?! It's not that expensive.

Don't think in terms of desktop RAM, mobile RAM is much more expensive both in terms of power usage and price. In fact, nobody even make a 1GB PoP to go on the OMAP3.

[vvaz]

USB Host?

Even with relatively simple internal editor it would be great to download photos from camera, tag and only later import into full blown photo management system on desktop (or send directly to flickr).

Also - I really want to see digiKam on this :)

Also2 - I wonder if with declared openness will be some day possible to access RAW files from Nokia camera.

[volt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Messaging_Service

It was just a few days ago, it says EMS was "made obsolete" by MMS...

Nother thing is, as a developer, I don't think the system has to be all that smart. You set up a button saying "write message" instead of "write sms". On the "write message" page, there's an option to insert an image. If that button is clicked, the you send the message as an MMS, if not, as a SMS.


Aaaah, too exiting, I have to go home now or my hungry female will make me deadened.

[ColdFusion]

About MMS:
Only devices that offer compatible multimedia message or e-mail features can receive and display multimedia messages. Content appearance may vary. Some images and ring tones can not be forwarded

http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-n900/specifications#communications-em

So as far as I understand you can send/receive MMS on the n900

[GeneralAntilles]

USB Host?


It's OTG, so, of course.

[jalladin]

you stop coming to this site for a few weeks and this happens...

( the N900 is here and due to be released finally)

I really really wish i had waited to get this now instead of getting my n810, I plan on either giving it away or selling it and getting the N900.
Can anybody give some good advice to a young gadget lover thats just a bit over taken by the videos and pic's of the N900. I just would like another opinion on whether its a good idea to buy it or wait, when its really every thing i wished the n810 was out of the box. the one thing that is holding me back is the fact that its gona pretty much be tied to T-moble which i'm not sure i will go to when i get back to the states...

is it something i could use wit out utilizing the phone feature, meaning could i get away with just using the wifi feature to basically use it like i do my current n810?

any feed back would be great, thanks

[ColdFusion]

is it something i could use wit out utilizing the phone feature, meaning could i get away with just using the wifi feature to basically use it like i do my current n810?

any feed back would be great, thanks

Just don't put a sim card in it and you'll have only wi-fi like on the n810.

[sachin007]

So the sales package doesnt mention a stylus. Does that mean there is no stylus at all or there is no additional stylii

[ColdFusion]

The stylus is an easter egg ;)

[chilko]

btw, it up for preorder in various nokia sites - e.g. italia and germany
price is 599 euros with shipping in october

[ColdFusion]

btw, it up for preorder in various nokia sites - e.g. Italia and germany
price is 599 euros with shipping in october
А България...

[jalladin]

Just don't put a sim card in it and you'll have only wi-fi like on the n810.

i figured, but did it mention any where if VoIP calling (Google voice etc..) can be done on the n900. because i'm so sold on this thing

[Viipottaja]

N900

Call features

* Integrated hands-free stereo speakers
* Call waiting, call hold, call divert
* Call timer
* Logging of dialed, received and missed calls
* Speed dialing via contact widget
* Virbrating alert (internal)
* Side volume keys
* Mute/unmute
* Contacts with images
* Conference calling with up to 3 participants
* Internet calling

[ColdFusion]

i figured, but did it mention any where if VoIP calling (Google voice etc..) can be done on the n900. because i'm so sold on this thing

Of course! You can even see it in the videos and photos that there's an entry for Google contacts. And Dialcentral supports Google Voice.

[tso]

Of course! You can even see it in the videos and photos that there's an entry for Google contacts. And Dialcentral supports Google Voice.

i am tempted to say that if nokia plays up google voice support during nokia world, they are going to score a major media win vs apple ;)

[jalladin]

btw, it up for preorder in various nokia sites - e.g. italia and germany
price is 599 euros with shipping in october

can you give a link, would it be wiser just to wait for the american version though because by then it might be a tad bit cheaper with subsidy... right?

[ColdFusion]

i am tempted to say that if nokia plays up google voice support during nokia world, they are going to score a major media win vs apple ;)

As far as I can see they don't include GV support themselves, so the only thing that they can say is that they have an open development platform so if anyone wants to write a GV app, no one's gonna stop them. And probably mention that there's already such a community app - DialCentral ;)

[dormant]

can you give a link, would it be wiser just to wait for the american version though because by then it might be a tad bit cheaper with subsidy... right?

http://shop.nokia.de/nokia-de/default.aspx

[chilko]

can you give a link, would it be wiser just to wait for the american version though because by then it might be a tad bit cheaper with subsidy... right?

sure
nokia italy (http://shop.nokia.it/nokia-it/product.aspx?sku=6957164&culture=it-IT)
nokia germany (http://shop.nokia.de/nokia-de/product.aspx?sku=6958534)

[Phen0m]

Is the screen(viewable), wider than that of the N97? I know it doesn't approach iphone width, but how closer are they?

[hyartep]

i was unhappy with smaller screen size. however as n900 is a phone i understand and accept this.

but now i miss some hardware keys. not only green/red for calls, but home button as well.

is it there somewhere?

[ColdFusion]

i was unhappy with smaller screen size. however as n900 is a phone i understand and accept this.

but now i miss some hardware keys. not only green/red for calls, but home button as well.

is it there somewhere?

Nope. Only volume + -, camera, lock and power buttons.

Screen is 3,5" so it's as big as iPhone's

[dormant]

Does the one on sale from Nokia Germany website have a German keyboard?

The photo on their site shows a QWERTY keyboard, but the text says eine vollständige QWERTZ-Tastatur.

Getting one from Germany is the easiest option for me, but I'd hate to be stuck with the German keyboard.

[hyartep]

Screen is 3,5" so it's as big as iPhone's

i don't care for iphone. it is smaller than my n800! :-)

letters with small font, that i can read on n800 will be probably too small for me to read.

[kelkinny2004]

Nope. Only volume + -, camera, lock and power buttons.

Screen is 3,5" so it's as big as iPhone's

Hmmm....the screen size is disappointing. My wife has an iphone and it's too small for me. Especially after using the N810 for so long.

For now, I'll stay with the n810. Darn, I was waiting for the new one. :(

[hyartep]

Nope. Only volume + -, camera, lock and power buttons.

so how can i return to home screen? how do i make a call?

btwi: i prefer to have several physical buttons for phone, so i can operate it without looking. simple things, such as stopping a call, stoping morning alarm, start/stop playing music.

as n900 is the phone, i should be able to operate without slide-out keyboard.

[zehjotkah]

Does the one on sale from Nokia Germany website have a German keyboard?

The photo on their site shows a QWERTY keyboard, but the text says eine vollständige QWERTZ-Tastatur.

Getting one from Germany is the easiest option for me, but I'd hate to be stuck with the German keyboard.

yes, it will have the german qwertz keyboard...

[mobiledivide]

Linking to those European sites, makes me lol. People here are complaining about 550 Euros for this device, when the n97 retails for 650 Euros and there are dumb feature phones for 850 and 1300. 550 is such a great price for the N900 in comparison.

[Viipottaja]

Yup, a very good price indeed! Probably Nokia still "subsidizing" the N900 a bit to give more legs to Maemo and try to drive it to the market.

[debernardis]

It costs *less* than the e90 in retail stores here. And e90 is quite an oldie now.

[dormant]

yes, it will have the german qwertz keyboard...

Man, that sucks. So I probably can't buy until it appears in a European market with the US/UK variant. Or unlocked in the US.

Notable contrast between US and Europe launches - unlocked in Europe with no sudsidised handsets available yet but US seems to be set for subsidised handsets only at first.

That's capitalism for you, I guess.

[Cadabena]

Hmmm....the screen size is disappointing. My wife has an iphone and it's too small for me. Especially after using the N810 for so long.

For now, I'll stay with the n810. Darn, I was waiting for the new one. :(

New 'one'? I think we can expect a lot more than just one new Maemo phone! Just sit tight, let Nokia keep showing, and enjoy the ride :p

[urnass]

I didn't see anything in the specs that might indicate if this will have native support for external input devices. It's got USB OTG & BT and I assume a keyboard will work, but will mouse support be better than on the NXX series?

With the TV out & the good mouse support, this could easily replace a laptop.

[Cruelkix]

I didn't see anything in the specs that might indicate if this will have native support for external input devices. It's got USB OTG & BT and I assume a keyboard will work, but will mouse support be better than on the NXX series?

With the TV out & the good mouse support, this could easily replace a laptop.

On that thought, since this is charged using the micro usb port, can you charge it and use OTG devices at the same time? (i.e. charge and use a usb mouse or keyboard or flash drive). I would love to use the tv out and the usb to hook this up to an after market LCD touchscreen for 7" on incar delight! After all, Nokia says this thing doesnt really "need' the harware keyboard with Maemo 5.

So yeah Charge plus OTG usb devices? Yes or no?

[skatebiker]

USB Host?

Even with relatively simple internal editor it would be great to download photos from camera, tag and only later import into full blown photo management system on desktop (or send directly to flickr).

Also - I really want to see digiKam on this :)

Also2 - I wonder if with declared openness will be some day possible to access RAW files from Nokia camera.

There is an app USBHost which probably works on the N900 and otherwise when you have an SD with MicroSD in it on your camera you can easily plug it into the Micro SD slot as with the N810.

[qole]

That's more vague than I'd like. I'd be nice to know if it records in Simple or Advanced Simple. Part 10 seems highly unlikely, and they'd probably call that one out a bit more directly were it used.

No codecs for Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora. But I would have been very surprised if Nokia shipped with those codecs.

Isn't this all GStreamer (http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/documentation/plugins.html)? Ogg and Theora should be included in the base codecs package. As for sjgadsby's questions, I'm curious too... But it seems to me that recording in other formats with community-written software shouldn't be too difficult.

[drizek]

FLAC support and 32GB might be enough to make me buy this. If this costs $199 on contract, I can see Nokia moving a LOT of hardware.

Edit: Also, yesterday, Google put up like a million ebooks for free in EPUB format. Hopefully FBReader will be available. That said, reading books on the n800 is a painful experience. Literally, it hurts to have to push the tiny button over and over to turn the page, and the touch screen just plain doesn't work properly for page turning. It's the little things like this that make me hesitate, because it all seems so nice in theory.

[harisund]

I have a quick question.

I live in the US and have a AT&T connection. I had a Nokia 6102i initially with them, with the data plan.

I ordered a e71 through Amazon.com (unlocked, obviously). I then inserted the SIM card from the 6102i to the e71, and everything worked. The data rate is 3.5G where I live, and is absolutely awesome.

Now, can I order this n900, and if I just remove the SIM from my e71 and insert it into my n900, will it continue to work? Same speed?

(The thing is, I am not a fan of buying subsidized cheaper phones from carriers. I would rather get some toy from them, buy a costly unlocked phone straight from vendor and insert the SIM in there. This way I can use the same handset in other countries)

[spock]

I don't think the n900 has the same 3G frequency as AT&T uses, so it'll work as a GSM phone and using EDGE for data but no 3G. This also excludes ALL of Canada since there's only one GSM provider here at the moment.

[krisse]

I live in the US and have a AT&T connection. I had a Nokia 6102i initially with them, with the data plan.

I ordered a e71 through Amazon.com (unlocked, obviously). I then inserted the SIM card from the 6102i to the e71, and everything worked. The data rate is 3.5G where I live, and is absolutely awesome.

Now, can I order this n900, and if I just remove the SIM from my e71 and insert it into my n900, will it continue to work? Same speed?

It should work, that is after all the entire point of SIM cards, so that users can swap phones whenever they want.

If you lived here in Europe I could guarantee 100% that it would work. I do it all the time, I have one SIM card between half a dozen phones and never have any problems.

Unfortunately the sometimes rather awful people who operate phone networks in North America seem to put in all kinds of dirty tricks to try and absolutely control everything their users do.

[JayOnThaBeat]

Flash Player 9.4, eh?

<sigh>

(Fixed in Harmattan?)

[krisse]

(The thing is, I am not a fan of buying subsidized cheaper phones from carriers. I would rather get some toy from them, buy a costly unlocked phone straight from vendor and insert the SIM in there. This way I can use the same handset in other countries)

Why don't you just buy SIM-free phones?

EDIT: Sorry that was a stupid question, I'll try reading the post next time. :-)

[harisund]

It should work, that is after all the entire point of SIM cards, so that users can swap phones whenever they want.
The phone part of it likely will, that I am sure of. It's the 3G part I am not.


If you lived here in Europe I could guarantee 100% that it would work. I do it all the time, I have one SIM card between half a dozen phones and never have any problems.
Cellular phone technologies in Europe, Asia (I am from India) are far, far more advanced than this silly country.

Unfortunately the sometimes rather awful people who operate phone networks in North America seem to put in all kinds of dirty tricks to try and absolutely control everything their users do.
Agreed. I bought a e71-x from AT&T, and within a couple of days returned it and ordered an unlocked e71 from Amazon :)

Why don't you just buy SIM-free phones?

EDIT: Sorry that was a stupid question, I'll try reading the post next time. :-)
There's no such thing as a "stupid question" :-)

Besides, it's kind of hard to get SIM-free phones in this country ..One of the times I wish I was back home !!

[iamNarada]

Hmmm. Delicious. I have a question....I couldn't find the answer so I figured maybe one of you mavens knew. What is the maximum resolution supported by the n900's external display option? I'm thinking along the lines of if I connected it to a computer monitor and a keyboard.... I seem to remember a certain noBounds project (http://www.internettablettalk.com/2008/03/14/the-nobounds-project/) that seemed to be implemented on a n810. From what I can see the CA-75U connects via the 3.5mm jack (huh?) and terminates in component video (please tell me if this isn't true).

[Viipottaja]

JayOnThaBeat, are there any phones with better Flash support (I honestly don't know so don't take this as a sarcastic question)?

[sjgadsby]

From what I can see the CA-75U connects via the 3.5mm jack (huh?) and terminates in component video (please tell me if this isn't true).

That's composite plus stereo audio, not component. So, the maximum resolution is 480i/576i.

[iamNarada]

That's composite plus stereo audio, not component. So, the maximum resolution is 480i/576i.

Sorry, I knew it started with a "c", but I haven't used that or s-video in quite a while. So, next question. Somewhere in the deluge of info, there was also mention of the other method of viewing was UPnP via WLAN. Any ideas what the resolution limit would be in that case? I've seen somewhere (http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ti-omap3,4316.html) that OMAP3 supports 720p HD video, but I don't know what implementation that was vs what implementation is in the n900.

I mean imagine, walking in your house and having your n900 automatically connect to your monitor and bluetooth keyboard when you set in on your desk! Yeah? Maybe?

[danramos]

Just don't put a sim card in it and you'll have only wi-fi like on the n810.

Is that really true? In any case, you'd still have to buy a cellular radio along with this tablet--so there goes an extra roughly $300 you never wanted to spend if you just wanted wifi.

А България...

Whoa there... hitting a little static on your dial-up?

Man, that sucks. So I probably can't buy until it appears in a European market with the US/UK variant. Or unlocked in the US.

Notable contrast between US and Europe launches - unlocked in Europe with no sudsidised handsets available yet but US seems to be set for subsidised handsets only at first.

That's capitalism for you, I guess.

Capitalism, yes. Free-market, no. I wish people knew the difference more often. I'm at least glad that you, and other people here, know. :) I do hate the US telco systems right now.

Flash Player 9.4, eh?

<sigh>

(Fixed in Harmattan?)

Ooooo!! New drinking game!!

[krisse]

The phone part of it likely will, that I am sure of. It's the 3G part I am not.

Erm... how is 3G not part of the phone?

Oh wait... do you mean that your SIM card only works with networks that don't use your phone's frequencies?


Cellular phone technologies in Europe, Asia (I am from India) are far, far more advanced than this silly country.

America could be leading the world in mobile technology if they got rid of those tyrant phone network operators they have. The relationship between American phone network operators and their customers can be summed up with a still from Lord Of The Rings:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Grima_and_Th%C3%A9oden.jpg

[nilchak]

Besides, it's kind of hard to get SIM-free phones in this country ..One of the times I wish I was back home !!

Amazon Cell phone store is always there for unlocked phones. You will certainly get a bigger selection than the providers themselves ... unless of course its these new breed of "Exclusive only" releases like the iPhone and some Blackberry's.

[iamNarada]

Besides, it's kind of hard to get SIM-free phones in this country ..One of the times I wish I was back home !!

At brick and mortar, definitely. I don't think I've ever found a SIM-free in a physical store. Over the internet, that's another story, though in many cases (mine included) they're importing so technically they're not in this country. My e51 has some (what I think are) Chinese charterers on the keys.

[krisse]

Capitalism, yes. Free-market, no. I wish people knew the difference more often. I'm at least glad that you, and other people here, know. :) I do hate the US telco systems right now.

The only truly free mobile market is in countries where phone locking is banned. It's shocking that any country allows it.

Is there any possible advantage to a customer having their phone locked? Does it promote competition in any possible way? Nope. All it does is reduce competition and make phone networks lazy.

Some people seem to think "free market" means an economy where companies can do whatever they want. In fact a real free market means an economy where customers can do whatever they want, choose whichever services they want, which means the companies have to jump to it if they want to keep people coming back for more. The harder you make companies work for customers, the more efficient and innovative they will be.

[krisse]

Honestly, I don't know.

When I try to view (most) Flash objects (myspace music player, various video sites) on my N810, they all say I need to upgrade to the latest version of flash (which is ver10 atm), which is not possible.

Are you absolutely sure you haven't got Flash switched off some of the time? If you go to a Flash site on the tablets with Flash switched off, you'll get exactly the same error message about it being out of date even when it isn't.

Flash automatically switches off if the tablet runs out of RAM, and it won't tell you it's switched off so you won't know it has.

[sjgadsby]

Sorry, I knew it started with a "c"...

No problem. The words are too similar, and it gets worse when you have to read spec sheets from different video hardware manufacturers who randomly pick one or the other to abbreviate as "CV".

...there was also mention of the other method of viewing was UPnP via WLAN. Any ideas what the resolution limit would be in that case?

I'm guessing, but that's likely a less "hard" boundary. It's probably going to depend upon the processor load vs capability, the bus, and the connection. It's an area that will be ripe for exploration and experimentation once the device ships.

[ColdFusion]

Whoa there... hitting a little static on your dial-up?


Trying to be witty or just a douchebag?

[harisund]

Erm... how is 3G not part of the phone?

Oh wait... do you mean that your SIM card only works with networks that don't use your phone's frequencies?

Actually, I was referring to "voice" and "data" as two separate parts of the phone. Additionally, this post, the immediately reply to my first one, kind of scared me.

I don't think the n900 has the same 3G frequency as AT&T uses, so it'll work as a GSM phone and using EDGE for data but no 3G. This also excludes ALL of Canada since there's only one GSM provider here at the moment.

As for the rest of the conversation with everyone around US Telco companies and being able to buy unlocked phones online, I agree completely.

[Baloo]

Trying to be witty or just a douchebag?

Need, and is there any?

Lets all play nicely together please.

[nilchak]

From Quim's twitter feed ...
"Ogg lovers: Maemo 5 comes with Speex. Vorbis/Theora can be developed by the community as one-click install http://bit.ly/nFWKs"

Isn't Speex the text to voice engine ? So it is integrated with all text based apps or just a standalone engine which has to be called from any text based app ? How would it work ? Am curious .

[Bundyo]

Whoa there... hitting a little static on your dial-up?

Well, Bulgaria has better broadband than a good part of the world, so probably not. :) There is no Nokia e-shop here though. :(

[jdowdell]

[QUOTE=JayOnThaBeat;316623]Honestly, I don't know.

Then that makes two of us.... ;-)

Nokia has licensed sourcecode for Adobe Flash Player, and I don't have full details on the implementation... hard for me to talk specific details yet, sorry.

But I do know that many content sites check for H.264 support, which arrived on the desktop in Adobe Flash Player 9.0.115.0 in December of last year. Some sites today specifically use Player 10 features, and some always check for the current versions as a security nudge... it's hard to generalize about sites' various detection schemes.

But, as before, we're in the final months of an architecture change... Player 10 is moving beyond laptops to mobile and home systems. First results should be at the end of the year, with production ramping up next year. This generation features over-the-air updating, as well as intrinsic cross-device support, so things should be simpler than they are today.

Best word on what the N900 can do would come from Nokia themselves, but I know that general progress is being made in this area, if that's of help.

jd/adobe

[luca]

Isn't Speex the text to voice engine ?

Nope, just a lossy audio codec optimized for speech (http://speex.org/)

[hyartep]

That said, reading books on the n800 is a painful experience.

as for me, n800 is really great as ebook. couch browsing and ebook reading are my main activities with n800.

[Kozzi]

so there is no digital compass?

[chill633]

so there is no digital compass?

Well, since it has aGPS and 3D accelerometers, a "digital compass" is nothing more than a simple app.

Probably a good practice app for a new developer. :D

[attila77]

so there is no digital compass?

Alas, no, just GPS based heading.

[dormant]

Well, since it has aGPS and 3D accelerometers, a "digital compass" is nothing more than a simple app.


You think?

The accelerometers can't give the horiizontal orientation of the device which is needed to find north.

[daperl]

I like this guy. Every time I bi+ch about Flash, he pops out from the woodwork :)

"Nokia recommends Adobe"

[hfm]

HSPA 900/1700/2100

T-Mo US 3G .. SWEET DAY!

[ColdFusion]

"Nokia recommends Adobe"

Nokia also recommends Windows! Why is there no Windows, i can't use all my super special apps and i don't want to learn another OS just to make phone calls! If i don't see a desktop wallpaper of a green meadow under a blue sky, i'm so going to return this n900! :p

[munky261]

Is the keyboard going to be backlit or not?

[loranth]

Is the keyboard going to be backlit or not?

Yes it is.

[flerchjj]

Alas, no, just GPS based heading.
Where did you read no digital compass? It's fairly sad that is missing.

[jandmdickerson]

I thought quim was playing with an acelerometer?

Did I miss something on the specs page?

[lsolano]

Why can't they put 1Gb RAM from start ?! It's not that expensive.

Agree, it's not so expensive and will make it run much faster, specially for heavy websites.

[Kozzi]

Agree, it's not so expensive and will make it run much faster, specially for heavy websites.
As I understand, it isn't possible to do so but they try to achieve this using 768MB nand memory as swap so in teoria we do have 1 GB of Ram. Correct me if I'm wrong

[imperiallight]

This thing is freaking fat the more I stare at the promo photo at roughly 20mm. Its in no way a cool looking phone like the iphone or n97 but yeah I know, its not something most people on this forum care about. As a young student its a bit of a bummer though.

[ColdFusion]

This thing is freaking fat the more I stare at the promo photo at roughly 20mm. Its in no way a cool looking phone like the iphone or n97 but yeah I know, its not something most people on this forum care about. As a young student its a bit of a bummer though.

The first time I took an iPhone it stroke me how thin it is. It felt alien in my hand and i didn't like it. I think that 18mm is pretty normal thickness for a phone to feel good in my grip. My current phone is thicker, so it's an improvement for me ;) I guess it's a matter of taste, but I really think one should try it out in person before deciding.

[k4r1m]

Has it been confirmed that the 768MB of "virtual memory" is space swap? because there is also something called compcache (http://code.google.com/p/compcache/) which is a different type of swap that is getting pretty popular in the linux community....

thanks,

[attila77]

I thought quim was playing with an acelerometer?

Did I miss something on the specs page?

Accelerometer = vertical orientation

Compass = horizontal orientation

It' not the same. For most stuff the accmeter is enough, but it does not replace the compass.

[ysss]

Compass + accelerometer = Augmented reality w/ low CPU\bandwidth usage

Otherwise you'll have to process the movement from the video feed or something.

[Matyas]

Yes. If it's a mobile phone it should fit in your pocket and not look stupid with holding it like a 5-6" brick to your ear. ;)

To further clarify the concept, please, look at this video from D. Pogue :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBzfQ1qoFcQ

Cheers

P.S.
It is outdated when talking about services, but it is very funny about big/clunky phones...

[chilko]

comparison with nokia e71

http://twitpic.com/fkmbe

[zehjotkah]

on nokia.es it says that the n900 does have a 3.6" screen^^
http://www.nokia.es/productos/moviles/nokia-n900-maemo-pantalla-tactil-teclado-qwerty
El Nokia N900 combina una enorme pantalla táctil de 3,6”

mistake?? or does the spanish version have a bigger screen?? xD

[ccmcphe]

It would be nice to see what the chip set is. Even the wireless chip set.

[qole]

ccmcphe: Any specific commands that one could run from the command line to find out what drivers are being used? The community guys at Nokia World might be able to answer the chipset question by telling you the loaded drivers...

For now, post over in the N900 Questions (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=31150) thread if you have any questions about the new device that you think could be answered by the community members with their hands on one of these devices...

[tso]

dmesg and lsmod should give a hint somewhere, no?

[sarahn]

Compass + accelerometer = Augmented reality w/ low CPU\bandwidth usage

Otherwise you'll have to process the movement from the video feed or something.

I'm also very disappointed about the lack of a digital compass, and I suppose for someone very enterprising it should be possible to add a bluetooth dongle... smart bluetooth chip acting as serial device + microcontroller or PLD + ADC + analog compass should do it. Pre digitized compass is too expensive I think.

[Benson]

Does anyone know why the N900 lacks 802.11n?

This seems to be a strange omission. :confused:

Not all that strange. I doubt the N900 can saturate an 802.11g link in any real-world task, and it certainly doesn't have room for multiple antennas for MIMO. The only real benefit would be the ability to operate on 2.4GHz n-only networks, but those are practically non-existent anyway.



So, did anyone catch this detail in the specs from forum.nokia.com:
Supported Document Formats
Excel, PDF, Powerpoint, Word[1]
Notes
1 Document format support via installable application (Dataviz).
Where DataViz is the shop that makes Documents To Go for basically every platform except Maemo 4. I hadn't heard any mention of this yet (although maybe I just overlooked?), but it looks like great news for business-type users.

[ysss]

I'm also very disappointed about the lack of a digital compass, and I suppose for someone very enterprising it should be possible to add a bluetooth dongle... smart bluetooth chip acting as serial device + microcontroller or PLD + ADC + analog compass should do it. Pre digitized compass is too expensive I think.

And the dongle is affixed somewhere on the device? That'd be neat, but kind of annoying that it:
- costs extra
- is optional to the device (when profiling your audience)
- needs separate power

I have no idea of how much AR apps would really matter in the realworld without a headgear-type setup. I think it'd be awkward to take out your smartphone and aim it around and around when you need to use it ;) BUT.. rumor is, Apple is going to make this 'a feature' in their next OS increment. So I'm expecting the community here to ***** about how apple didn't invent AR but profit from hyping it up and taking up all the limelight (and secretly envy Apple for doing so).

[kenny]

And the dongle is affixed somewhere on the device? That'd be neat, but kind of annoying that it:
- costs extra
- is optional to the device (when profiling your audience)
- needs separate power

I have no idea of how much AR apps would really matter in the realworld without a headgear-type setup. I think it'd be awkward to take out your smartphone and aim it around and around when you need to use it ;) BUT.. rumor is, Apple is going to make this 'a feature' in their next OS increment. So I'm expecting the community here to ***** about how apple didn't invent AR but profit from hyping it up and taking up all the limelight (and secretly envy Apple for doing so).
Augmented Reality is already embedded in the Yelp app on the iPhone.
I hear that the iPhone compass swings alot....

[ysss]

Augmented Reality is already embedded in the Yelp app on the iPhone.
I hear that the iPhone compass swings alot....

Yes, for some reason Apple is holding back all AR related apps. Yelp got through because they hid the AR feature as an easter egg (you engage it by shaking the phone 3 times).

I don't know about the compass being unfaithful, maybe it should drink less.

[RWFarley]

Yes, for some reason Apple is holding back all AR related apps. Yelp got through because they hid the AR feature as an easter egg (you engage it by shaking the phone 3 times).

I don't know about the compass being unfaithful, maybe it should drink less.

MySky works GREAT on Android. It's been available from the start. I REALLY wish it was possible (i.e. there was a compass) for the N900. :-(

[inte]

does no one know if it supports ALS (alternate line service) or not?

[ralphb]

Please forgive me if it's been discussed already in this (lengthy) thread, but can anyone tell me what the Proximity Sensor might be (and might be for)? It's listed alongside the "3D Accelerometer" in "Additional features", so presumably it's not related to Bluetooth proximity detection. Or camera auto-focus. Or is it?

[zerojay]

Please forgive me if it's been discussed already in this (lengthy) thread, but can anyone tell me what the Proximity Sensor might be (and might be for)? It's listed alongside the "3D Accelerometer" in "Additional features", so presumably it's not related to Bluetooth proximity detection. Or camera auto-focus. Or is it?

I believe is so that if you aren't around the tablet, it dims or turns off the screen.

[ysss]

@ralphb: the proximity sensor on iphone is located near the earphone slot just above the screen. It detects nearby objects (1-5cm from the screen?) and afaik it's ONLY used to detect if the user is holding up the phone to their ear\face. If they are, then the screen (and touchscreen) is immediately turned off to avoid unintentional input from your face and saves power.

I believe it's used similarly here (I saw some sensor 'holes' around the N900's earphone opening, one of them could be it).

[GeneralAntilles]

I believe it's used similarly here (I saw some sensor 'holes' around the N900's earphone opening, one of them could be it).

There are 4 components on the front face of the N900 near the earpiece: the LED, the proximity sensor, the ambient light sensor, and the VGA camera.

[scaler]

It's OTG, so, of course.
I posted a question in the wiki about power for extended host-mode sessions, and the answer from Jaffa included a statement that Nokia does not support host mode.

Do you have any further info on OTG operation?

EDIT: My apologies to Jaffa, who was using the term "support" more precisely than many other contributors to these forums. It often seems to mean merely that two things can cohabit without actually blowing each other up.

qole has found that answering "Of course" doesn't quite cover the subject. See his post at http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=320585&postcount=88

[qole]

I posted a question in the wiki about power for extended host-mode sessions, and the answer from Jaffa included a statement that Nokia does not support host mode.

Do you have any further info on OTG operation?

Please see my answer in this post (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=320506#post320506).

[Jaffa]

I posted a question in the wiki about power for extended host-mode sessions, and the answer from Jaffa included a statement that Nokia does not support host mode.

As GeneralAntilles points out in the thread qole links to, I'm not being sloppy with language here - and thought the difference between these two statements would be clear. Perhaps I should have made the first and the inverse of the second:


Nokia does not support host mode.
The N900 does not permit host mode.


The word "support" in the question was not the word the questioner was looking for - it's too vague and has too many meanings in IT.

[Espoo888]

Just had 10 minutes to play with a N900 in the Nokia Store, Helsinki.

I wish I could have had more time but there were people waiting behind me and my wife's continuous "can we go now" was starting to bring me out of my trance :(

Overall very, very impressed and I will not be cancelling my pre-order :) Switching between desktops, applications and the dashboard is smooth as silk and very intuitive. The build quality is good and the screen is responsive and very sharp. The UI graphics are also pretty sweet and with the user customisation potential I think we can safely say that Nokia have taken it to the next level - chew on that Apple1:p

The only problems I noticed were:

1. YouTube videos did not stream well over wifi - JKK posted a very good video which also shows the same problem

http://www.umpcportal.com/2009/09/jkk-gets-hands-on-with-the-nokia-n900-video-and-podcast/

2. There is some v-sync tearing visible now and then - scrolling through the panoramic desktops and playing back a video I shot with the device

3. Whilst zooming in and out during browsing the phone had problems keeping up with the rendering.

4. Activating links in the browser was a little tricky - but I think that most of that was me not being used to the touchscreen - I also didn't have time to play with the "mouse cursor" thingy

All of the above should be fixable in firmware updates. I do not know if there will be a firmware upgrade before the production models ship (probably) but my feeling is that the N900 will need a couple of decent firmware upgrades before it really starts to fly.

Also, the device could have been better set up as a demo model. For example there were no video clips, photos or music library pre-installed - which is pretty poor given the its capabilities in those areas.

In my opinion, Nokia firmware/application development and support and community application development are the factors that will make the difference between this being a very good or a truly great device. Let there be no doubt (I know there's not much here :)) the N900 and Maemo have enormous potential.

Roll on October :cool:

[livefreeordie]

I tried out the N900 as well.

1. Did not notice vsync tearing, even though I used to want 85+ Hz CRT screens, minimum. Maybe I was lucky and didn't trigger it. The worst I did was load a large site in the background while panning the desktop.

2. Panning the desktop jerks a bit, but it doesn't look like a performance problem. More like it's swapping too aggressively and can't load the next screen fast enough. FPS seemed completely smooth.

3. Had some trouble with the touchscreen, probably because I like my 5800 so much. The 5800 screen is just so insensitive you can rest your finger on it and just so sensitive touching it with your nail triggers an action. The N900 was so sensitive I think my presses were registering in between my nail and thumb, which my fingers didn't expect. I guess more sensitivity is better, but I hope it doesn't strain my thumb more.

4. Mouse cursor needs optimization. I had trouble triggering it before I realized it only activated at the bottom of the left side, not the whole left side. Even then it was hit and miss at first, until I got used to it.

5. Was unable to use the scrollbar at least in the browser. This is bad. I don't want to kinetic scroll through meters of text and playlists, even though it's obviously better for gradual scrolling. I wonder if there's already a bug filed about this.

6. Demo people need more training. They didn't even remember how to activate the main menu or ask me if I want to preorder (already have).

7. Tried xterm. Don't care about fourth row of keys, but it REALLY badly needs another column of keys labeled / TAB -, so please, please fix this in the next devices. (Esc and | behind shift on the same keys too)

8. Seems pretty awesome overall, but you should ship a 5-10 line UI guide with it if you don't want idiots ranting about how much easier the iPhone is.


Edit: although really I shouldn't complain about the salespeople. In some other country they would've tried to forcibly sell me god knows what and I would've left the store after ten seconds of use. They were very professional and left me alone with the N900.

[Espoo888]

Thanks for the hands on experience report. It might be nice to have a Maemo members N900 hands on thread to collect and collate experiences from now (pre commercial shipments) to Christmas (too much noise already!). I have a feeling that the Nokia Maemo team might be looking here for feedback and inspiration ;)

I will try to do my bit when I get my own N900 and with a bit of organisation we can collectively deliver feedback that has more validity and greater focus.

Any more N900 first experiences out there...?

[scaler]

As GeneralAntilles points out in the thread qole links to, I'm not being sloppy with language here - and thought the difference between these two statements would be clear. Perhaps I should have made the first and the inverse of the second:


Nokia does not support host mode.
The N900 does not permit host mode.


The word "support" in the question was not the word the questioner was looking for - it's too vague and has too many meanings in IT.

Correction accepted. I have edited my post accordingly, including apologies for misconstruing your answer.

I still think that power supply in host mode is a serious question. The usbLAN app by jolouis should have given Maemo a chance to grow out of the toyshop and find a market replacing some of the laptops and notebooks that travellers haul in their hand baggage. Connection to hotel-room data ports is a requirement for that market. So is a full-size keyboard (which can go in checked baggage), and many business users avoid bluetooth for security reasons. USB sticks are absolutely standard tools these days. It is not always possible to schedule a full battery when these things are needed.

[tso]

especially now that the thing comes with video out.

i am not familiar with hotel policy in regards to tv's in rooms, and connecting a video source.

[GeneralAntilles]

The usbLAN app by jolouis should have given Maemo a chance to grow out of the toyshop and find a market replacing some of the laptops and notebooks that travellers haul in their hand baggage.


You really think the vast majority of business users are going to be able to move to Linux, let alone a 3.5" screen for their travel use. . . .


Connection to hotel-room data ports is a requirement for that market.


Travel router (http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WTR54GS-Wireless-Travel-Speedbooster/dp/B000A1AQOO).


So is a full-size keyboard (which can go in checked baggage)

Bluetooth (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB167LL-A-Wireless-Keyboard/dp/B000V01RLK/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252336164&sr=1-13).


and many business users avoid bluetooth for security reasons.


None that I know.


USB sticks are absolutely standard tools these days.

Perhaps in certain markets, but definitely not in the mobile computer niche Nokia has created. Your definition of business users seems to be a bit distanced from the reality.

[MaemoGuy]

TV out is "PAL and NTSC".

Does this mean it can give either, or will we have different models in different markets?

World travellers are every sensitive to these things.

If you go into 'TV out' Settings, you get to choose either PAL or NTSC.

So, I'd say you get both.

[YoDude]

Will a user be able to browse the internet while in a call on speaker phone or with a BT headset using only the N900's cellular connection (no WiFi)? ... BTW, is there even a dang speaker phone? :confused:

[MaemoGuy]

i also want to know that. does it have mms?

Not that I can see.

When you open up Conversation aplet, which handles both IM chat and SMS, there's no option for MMS.

Also, in both IM and SMS sessions, I can't find a way to add an attachment either. so it looks like it can handle purely text messages on IM and SMS.

[GeneralAntilles]

Will a user be able to browse the internet while in a call on speaker phone or with a BT headset using only the N900's cellular connection (no WiFi)?

I'd assume so, as I can do this without issue on my 5800.

[texaslabrat]

If you go into 'TV out' Settings, you get to choose either PAL or NTSC.

So, I'd say you get both.

You definitely get both with a N95 (I've plugged mine into hotel room tv's all over the world)...so I can't see how the N900 would be any different.

[texaslabrat]

Not that I can see.

When you open up Conversation aplet, which handles both IM chat and SMS, there's no option for MMS.

Also, in both IM and SMS sessions, I can't find a way to add an attachment either. so it looks like it can handle purely text messages on IM and SMS.

There's a dev link (?) somewhere where it is explicitly stated that MMS was not included for initial release and listed a series of rationalizations for it. So, most definitely "no" to MMS at release.

[MaxiKana]

Just had 10 minutes to play with a N900 in the Nokia Store, Helsinki.

I wish I could have had more time but there were people waiting behind me and my wife's continuous "can we go now" was starting to bring me out of my trance :(

Overall very, very impressed and I will not be cancelling my pre-order :) Switching between desktops, applications and the dashboard is smooth as silk and very intuitive. The build quality is good and the screen is responsive and very sharp. The UI graphics are also pretty sweet and with the user customisation potential I think we can safely say that Nokia have taken it to the next level - chew on that Apple1:p

The only problems I noticed were:

1. YouTube videos did not stream well over wifi - JKK posted a very good video which also shows the same problem

http://www.umpcportal.com/2009/09/jkk-gets-hands-on-with-the-nokia-n900-video-and-podcast/

2. There is some v-sync tearing visible now and then - scrolling through the panoramic desktops and playing back a video I shot with the device

3. Whilst zooming in and out during browsing the phone had problems keeping up with the rendering.

4. Activating links in the browser was a little tricky - but I think that most of that was me not being used to the touchscreen - I also didn't have time to play with the "mouse cursor" thingy

All of the above should be fixable in firmware updates. I do not know if there will be a firmware upgrade before the production models ship (probably) but my feeling is that the N900 will need a couple of decent firmware upgrades before it really starts to fly.

Also, the device could have been better set up as a demo model. For example there were no video clips, photos or music library pre-installed - which is pretty poor given the its capabilities in those areas.

In my opinion, Nokia firmware/application development and support and community application development are the factors that will make the difference between this being a very good or a truly great device. Let there be no doubt (I know there's not much here :)) the N900 and Maemo have enormous potential.

Roll on October :cool:

I went to see the N900 on Saturday. The Nokia rep that was handling the device at the time didn't really know anything about it (I knew more). I think it may be because they haven't yet recieved training on it?

I asked her if it was a pre-prod or a prototype. She said it was a prototype with about a month old software loaded (NOT the latest version & NOT the version at NW AFAIK). She also said the hardware wasn't final and that the touch screen in this device had already begun to loose its sensitivity when I tried it on Saturday (they received the device on the 3rd of sept). I wonder if they now have a device from NW or several devices? You'd think it would be better for the compan to show of a newer device with a touchscreen that is not a prototype.

tl;dr version:

My experience with the device was awesome. I tried playing youtube videos (clicked on the first one I could on the main page) and it loaded and played without problems or stuttering as seen in some videos, I wonder if the device was booted before the poster I quoted tried the divce? The rep said that over 200 people try this prototype every day, and since it's an early software it might suffer from memory leaks which would deteriorate video playback smoothness. The device froze just before I tested it and the rep booted it just prior to handing it to me. Flash seems to take around 10 seconds to load after the main page has loaded, the cursor that you load from the left side worked just fine once I got to used it, as did the spin zooming with one hand, to get better performance out of it you need to spin in a small circle, not a wide one.

I loved the stylus + web browsing. That combined with the Highres screen made web browsing awesome. It limited the need to zoom in to click links like you have to do on the iPhone (if they are closely spaced). It loaded heavy sites like engadget or hs.fi easily, beating IE 6 on the PC.

The screen was IMO just as sensitive as on the iPhone, eventhough it wasn't as good as it was suposed to be.

I like it, will be definately buying it.

If you feel I missed something, ask. I could go back and test it again later in the week, since my school & work place are quite close to the flagship store.

Oh yeah, they should reveale availability this week, and the rep told me to expect it in the first half of october, possibly the first week.

[tso]

Will a user be able to browse the internet while in a call on speaker phone or with a BT headset using only the N900's cellular connection (no WiFi)? ... BTW, is there even a dang speaker phone? :confused:

if your connected by way of UMTS/HSPA, yes, as it was specifically designed to handle data and voice at the same time (how else would it be able to handle a video call?), but not with a GSM/EDGE connection.

[korbé]

Not that I can see.

When you open up Conversation aplet, which handles both IM chat and SMS, there's no option for MMS.

Also, in both IM and SMS sessions, I can't find a way to add an attachment either. so it looks like it can handle purely text messages on IM and SMS.

No file transfer via IM?

[SD69]

if your connected by way of UMTS/HSPA, yes, as it was specifically designed to handle data and voice at the same time (how else would it be able to handle a video call?), but not with a GSM/EDGE connection.Not necessarily, for example, UMTS/HSPA was also specifically designed to handle MMS but the N900 can't do that due to complications of integrating linux with telephony stack (or possibly a bug or something else). And 5800 (or other Symbian phone) isn't an accurate indicator of what the N900 can do.

This is a big step forward - integrating linux with 3G, so I think it's prudent to watch reviews and videos to ensure that certain functionality or use cases do in fact work.

[tso]

well the umts data should be a radio thing, as the gsm radio used the same channel for both talk and data.

still, nokia's mms explanation makes about zero sense, given that android seems to handle it fine, without a need for kernel patches.

all in all, there should be no technical hitch, in theory, when it comes to surfing and talking at the same time.

[SD69]

well the umts data should be a radio thing, as the gsm radio used the same channel for both talk and data.

still, nokia's mms explanation makes about zero sense, given that android seems to handle it fine, without a need for kernel patches.

all in all, there should be no technical hitch, in theory, when it comes to surfing and talking at the same time.UMTS standardizes the cellular connection and the user equipment is always abstracted in the specs. Just because simultaneous data and voice is supported by UMTS doesn't mean that the N900 supports it. MMS is a case in point. It is supported by UMTS and yet there is some hitch, technical or not, which prevents the N900 from performing MMS.

Point is, we can't assume that the N900 supports a particular feature just because the feature is part of the UMTS standard.

[tso]

heh, why do it seem like nokia is rushing the release to reach the christmas shoppers?

kinda like "get basic phone and data in there and working! the rest we can SSU in later!"...

[texaslabrat]

heh, why do it seem like nokia is rushing the release to reach the christmas shoppers?

kinda like "get basic phone and data in there and working! the rest we can SSU in later!"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_Razor ;)

[tso]

texaslabrats and texrats, color me confused ;)

[R-R]

from:
http://mobile-review.com/review/nokia-rx51-n900-en.shtml
http://mobile-review.com/review/image/nokia/rx51-n900/scr/scr14.jpg

Any reasons why the apps space is so small?
Hopefull we don't go back to a 256MB internal storage space for the / fs, tell me we do have a full 32GB!!

[GeneralAntilles]

Any reasons why the apps space is so small?
Hopefull we don't go back to a 256MB internal storage space for the / fs, tell me we do have a full 32GB!!

Because he's using an older build with a different partition arrangement.

[korbé]

Because he's using an older build with a different partition arrangement.

The internal memory, with 32G, is mounted in /home/ ?

[GeneralAntilles]

The internal memory, with 32G, is mounted in /home/ ?

The current layout as I understand it (all pre-release specifications are subject to change, of course):

32GB eMMC

768MB of swap
"Over" 1GB of ext3 mounted on /opt
Remaining space mounted on /home/user/$MYDOCS as FAT32

256MB NAND

Bootloader
Kernel
rootfs

MicroSD

FAT32 partition

[tso]

ugh, i truely wish that some regulatory office would slap microsoft into including a open, unpatented FS in future os's, and pushed out ASAP as a update to existing ones, and make sure it follows the specs to a t, both present and future, no extensions or omissions...

[attila77]

32GB eMMC

768MB of swap
"Over" 1GB of ext3 mounted on /opt
Remaining space mounted on /home/user/$MYDOCS as FAT32



Wait a tic... How is this going to help applications ? Don't tell me we have to shove everything in /opt...

[dansus]

After watching Peters videos, couple of questions came to mind..

How is notifications handled. ie if im in the browser and an IM or tweet comes in, will something pop up like the Pre?

Im guessing the usb is host, so can i just plug in a usb key and it will show up as mass storage?

[korbé]

The current layout as I understand it (all pre-release specifications are subject to change, of course):

32GB eMMC

768MB of swap
"Over" 1GB of ext3 mounted on /opt
Remaining space mounted on /home/user/$MYDOCS as FAT32

256MB NAND

Bootloader
Kernel
rootfs

MicroSD

FAT32 partition


Thanks.

A posibility to format 32G internal memory on ext2/ext3 ?

[Jaffa]

Wait a tic... How is this going to help applications ? Don't tell me we have to shove everything in /opt...

Presumably yes (unless someone finally produces a realistic unionfs for Linux and makes it available as a module on Maemo).

But that isn't so bad, icons and desktop file in /usr/share and application code, images, translations in /opt/application.

This is all conjecture though, as Nokia haven't announced yet how they intend developers to use /opt (although it's being left a little late!)

[geneven]

As GeneralAntilles points out in the thread qole links to, I'm not being sloppy with language here - and thought the difference between these two statements would be clear. Perhaps I should have made the first and the inverse of the second:


Nokia does not support host mode.
The N900 does not permit host mode.


The word "support" in the question was not the word the questioner was looking for - it's too vague and has too many meanings in IT.

Yep, the word "support" is probably the most misused word in tech support, in my experience. Even the people who use it frequently don't understand what they are saying.

What it usually means is, "hey, you may be able to do that, and more power to you if you do, but we aren't going out of our way to help you and we take no responsibility for how well you do it."

People misinterpret it thus: "well, you don't support it, so you obviously oppose it," like we were talking some sort of political process. It doesn't mean that. Often, technicians themselves use this line of reasoning to chase away people who are trying to do something, like "we told you we don't support that, and if you are having problems now, it's your own fault" as if people trying to do it are somehow immoral.

Users who do something that isn't supported are perfectly free to do so, but they can't expect help from a company that has announced that it won't help. That is all that "we don't support that" means.

[attila77]

This is all conjecture though, as Nokia haven't announced yet how they intend developers to use /opt (although it's being left a little late!)

Yes, I should have seen this /opt thing coming when kimitake said he's using /opt/qt4 to hold the Qt libs... Was hoping for some unionfs action, myself, too. Duh. Back to my Qt-on-loop-device monstrosity, it looks like we might be needing it for Fremantle, too :) :(

[texaslabrat]

Thanks.

A posibility to format 32G internal memory on ext2/ext3 ?

I don't see why you couldn't format it ext2/3..though you would lose the ability to use the N900 as a mass storage device on windows machines.

[attila77]

It's not that easy, or better to say not without consequences on Diablo, where certain bits expected to have a VFAT partition on /media/mmc2. We'll see if the N900 inherits that stance or not :)

[GeneralAntilles]

It's not that easy, or better to say not without consequences on Diablo, where certain bits expected to have a VFAT partition on /media/mmc2. We'll see if the N900 inherits that stance or not :)

I talked to timeless about this one and the assumptions are a lot more limited in Fremantle than they were in Diablo. So, no, ext3 shouldn't be an issue.

[scaler]

Im guessing the usb is host, so can i just plug in a usb key and it will show up as mass storage?

Join the club. I too guessed that any normal computer user reading the specs, with references to USB mass storage etc., would interpret them as you have. I got flamed by the big man. Apparently Nokia's customers are not supposed to be interested in host mode, even if the device is billed as a "computer", for Nokia's first time ever.

You need to read the earlier part of this thread and the discussion about what "support" means.

You should also read the long threads about host mode on earlier Maemo devices. It eventually turned out to be very easy to switch USB modes, once you got some basic facts that Nokia wasn't handing out. For a long time, Nokia's line was that you needed to have a Linux PC handy if you wanted to switch modes.

For the N900, as for the earlier devices, the default USB mode is to act as a peripheral device, connected to your PC for transferring files back and forth.

It is generally believed that the Maemo community will be able to figure out how to change modes on the new device, as it did for the earlier ones. Watch this forum for the next few months.

[GeneralAntilles]

It is generally believed that the Maemo community will be able to figure out how to change modes on the new device, as it did for the earlier ones. Watch this forum for the next few months.

It's as simple as having an OTG adaptor and the hardware handles the rest.

[epilido]

It's as simple as having an OTG adaptor and the hardware handles the rest.

as per qoles earlier post....

OK bad news, using the standard micro USB cable, my always-useful Female-Female adapter, and an 8GB USB key, I installed and ran "usbcontrol" from the repositories and the mode wouldn't switch from "b_idle" to "host" at all. Trying the old "echo host > /sys/.../musb_hdrc/mode" had the same result. Whatever you write, it is overwritten with "b_idle"...

Is this just because he did not have a powered adapter. I havent seen anyone that said host mode was working with and OTG adaptor.....

Epi

[GeneralAntilles]

Is this just because he did not have a powered adapter. I havent seen anyone that said host mode was working with and OTG adaptor.....


USB OTG isn't powered, pin 5 is simply grounded which tells the software that it needs to be in host mode. jolouis manufactures these (http://www.electronicproductonline.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1781) adaptors for the N800.

[theflew]

as per qoles earlier post....



Is this just because he did not have a powered adapter. I havent seen anyone that said host mode was working with and OTG adaptor.....

Epi

For the N810 you either used the software switch mentioned by qole or a USB OTG adapter which I don't think anyone has tried yet.

[theflew]

USB OTG isn't powered, pin 5 is simply grounded which tells the software that it needs to be in host mode. jolouis manufactures these (http://www.electronicproductonline.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1781) adaptors for the N800.

Also found on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-USB-Host-Cable-4-Nokia-N810-OTG-adaptor-data-sync_W0QQitemZ260470153020QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_C ables_Adapters?hash=item3ca53b1f3c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14) for the N810 (should also work with the N900 - micro USB). I grabbed one off of ebay about 8 months ago. Works fine with my Linksys USB ethernet adapter.

[epilido]

USB OTG isn't powered, pin 5 is simply grounded which tells the software that it needs to be in host mode. jolouis manufactures these (http://www.electronicproductonline.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1781) adaptors for the N800.

I have only used a home made reverse powered hub for my N800, and that's been awhile since I have gotten big SD cards. I was just questioning your statement that the OTG adapter will work when I hadn't seen anyone saying that they had plugged one in.

Epi

[GeneralAntilles]

I have only used a home made reverse powered hub for my N800, and that's been awhile since I have gotten big SD cards. I was just questioning your statement that the OTG adapter will work when I hadn't seen anyone saying that they had plugged one in.


The hardware is USB OTG, so there's no reason for it not to work.

[joshua.maverick]

I'm confused about the 3G data connectivity. First of all, the n900 doesn't have any frequency that is relevant to me in Canada, but does " Maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (DL/UL) HSPA 900/1700/2100" seem really slow to anyone else? My E71 technically connects to Rogers' 7.2Mbps network and I typically get 1-2Mbps in speed tests. 384kbps is a big step backwards...

Oh spock it is relevant, Wind Mobile, which should be launching in October (crosses fingers) uses that band for 3g. Screw Rogers.

[joshua.maverick]

I've heard mixed things about the digital compass, is there a definitive answer? I saw a video where a Nokia Rep says there is one, (although not in english)

[attila77]

Presumably yes (unless someone finally produces a realistic unionfs for Linux and makes it available as a module on Maemo).

But that isn't so bad, icons and desktop file in /usr/share and application code, images, translations in /opt/application.

This is all conjecture though, as Nokia haven't announced yet how they intend developers to use /opt (although it's being left a little late!)

Well, it's official now. For better or worse, it's 1GB of /opt ext3 to shove everything into (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=31435).

[quingu]

Also found on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-USB-Host-Cable-4-Nokia-N810-OTG-adaptor-data-sync_W0QQitemZ260470153020QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_C ables_Adapters?hash=item3ca53b1f3c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14) for the N810 (should also work with the N900 - micro USB). I grabbed one off of ebay about 8 months ago. Works fine with my Linksys USB ethernet adapter.

sorry for bringing this up yet again. I am still unsure what kind of usb micro adapter i would need that doesn't involve power injection. what about this one (http://www.amazon.de/InLine-Micro-USB-Adapter-Micro-Stecker/dp/B001CX5G8K/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=ce-de&qid=1251753928&sr=8-13)? Description says its a "Micro-A" plug. Yet it looks different than the plug of the n810 adapter you linked (which looks more like a micro-b (http://www.amazon.de/Micro-USB-Adapter-InLine®-Micro-B-Stecker/dp/B001CX3EKM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=ce-de&qid=1252501054&sr=8-1) plug).

qouth the wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_OTG):
The device that has a micro-A plugged in [...] is a power supplier. [...] The default link configuration is that A-device act as USB Host and B-device is a USB Device.

excuse my stupidity. I can't make sense of this. n810 plugs look like micro-b, yet it would be logical to use micro-a.

Help please!

[R-R]

Do we have any idea how long will the battery last just using it as a phone and letting it idle just on GSM?

And than on GSM / SIP over wifi ?

I'm guessing that playing heavily with it will kill it within 3-4h like the n810 but what about non-desktop-like usage...

[matthewcc]

Will the N900 support an upgrade to Maemo 6?

[sjgadsby]

Will the N900 support an upgrade to Maemo 6?

That question has been asked multiple times.

The answer is that there's no official answer yet. It is too early for Nokia to commit to anything. However, expectations are that Maemo 6 devices will bring a smaller processing power jump than is occuring between OS2008 devices and Maemo 5 devices. Therefore, it appears probable that Maemo 6 will work on Maemo 5 devices.

If not, there's always Mer, which will be developing alongside Harmattan.

Buy (or not) based up on what the N900 will give you now though, not what might happen in a year or so.

[GeneralAntilles]

Do we have any idea how long will the battery last just using it as a phone and letting it idle just on GSM?


Nokia claims 2-4 days in their spec sheet (http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Press/Materials/White_Papers/pdf_files/data_sheets_2009/Nokia_N900_data_sheet.pdf).*


*This number is, of course, based on pre-release hardware and software and is subject to change.

[theflew]

sorry for bringing this up yet again. I am still unsure what kind of usb micro adapter i would need that doesn't involve power injection. what about this one (http://www.amazon.de/InLine-Micro-USB-Adapter-Micro-Stecker/dp/B001CX5G8K/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=ce-de&qid=1251753928&sr=8-13)? Description says its a "Micro-A" plug. Yet it looks different than the plug of the n810 adapter you linked (which looks more like a micro-b (http://www.amazon.de/Micro-USB-Adapter-InLine®-Micro-B-Stecker/dp/B001CX3EKM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=ce-de&qid=1252501054&sr=8-1) plug).

qouth the wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_OTG):


excuse my stupidity. I can't make sense of this. n810 plugs look like micro-b, yet it would be logical to use micro-a.

Help please!

The plug I linked to on ebay has a micro type B plug on one end and a type A receptacle on the other to plug in normal USB devices (mouse, keyboard, USB sticks, hubs, etc...). The plug is an OTG adapter so it will switch the N810 into host mode. The plug you linked to from Amazon are just gender benders - male to female. It will not put the device into hose mode and a software switch solution would be necessary.

Injection is necessary regardless of cable used if your device requires more power than the device can deliver. The NXXX do not provide enough power to power some USB sticks, harddrives, etc... so you'll need to provide the power. If the device is in host mode you could use a powered hub.

[joppu]

Nokia claims 2-4 days in their spec sheet (http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Press/Materials/White_Papers/pdf_files/data_sheets_2009/Nokia_N900_data_sheet.pdf).*


*This number is, of course, based on pre-release hardware and software and is subject to change.

Nope, that's the always online time, it probably means that it's updating your widgets and stuff trough 3g.

Also, is the USB Host port confirmed?

[GeneralAntilles]

Also, is the USB Host port confirmed?

As I've said before, the port is USB OTG. All of the hardware is there.

[texaslabrat]

Injection is necessary regardless of cable used if your device requires more power than the device can deliver. The NXXX do not provide enough power to power some USB sticks, harddrives, etc... so you'll need to provide the power. If the device is in host mode you could use a powered hub.

Something like this looks like it would be pretty handy:
http://www.amazon.com/Cyberpower-CP-H420MP-USB-Hub-Battery-Powered/dp/tech-data/B0002UQALQ/ref=de_a_smtd

[konttori]

I can testify that you get easily more than 2 days with device idle (and no open app misbehaving). Screen is a drainer, so all use consumes a lot, but it easily lasts a full working day of normal use.

[ysss]

konttori: can you elaborate a bit more on 'full working day of normal use'? :)

Approximately how many hours of the following activities for the day:
- voice call
- use of IM
- use of web
- use of email
- use of apps (what kind?)
- radio condition (3g/wifi/bt)

[korbé]

On the Nokia website, if you compare the N900 with another mobile by clicking on "Compare" (http://www.nokia.co.uk/find-products/compare-phones), you see.... you see...... :
Display colors: Up to 16 million colours


Finally, if there is no error on the website...

[joshua.maverick]

Anybody know about the compass? Anybody... anybody? lol

[qole]

joshua.maverick:

There's no compass.

Anyone who said otherwise was not a trustworthy source, so, in the absence of any trustworthy information, they're wrong. And if there is, Nokia hasn't told anyone about it, nor has it turned up in any of the source code released by Nokia so far. If the N900 had a compass, why would Nokia keep it a secret?

Why do you keep asking?

[qole]

ysss:

Battery life is one thing that the Maemo people have said that they're actively working on in these last few weeks before the device goes on sale. So any detailed numbers anyone could give you would be wrong by the time the device goes on sale.

[sachin007]

joshua.maverick:

There's no compass.

Anyone who said otherwise was not a trustworthy source, so, in the absence of any trustworthy information, they're wrong. And if there is, Nokia hasn't told anyone about it, nor has it turned up in any of the source code released by Nokia so far. If the N900 had a compass, why would Nokia keep it a secret?

Why do you keep asking?

Well it could be the Easter egg just like the fm receiver which is confirmed and without being anywhere in the specs.

[ysss]

@qole: cool. so whatever konttori answers would be a baseline and we can expect something better on the final product :D

[harisund]

What good is a piece of high-end technology without a feature that dates back to the middle ages circa 200 BC????

They had digital compasses in 200BC? They had digital anything that time ??

[attila77]

What good is a piece of high-end technology without a feature that dates back to the middle ages circa 200 BC????

Yeah. Totally sucks. And it can't even light a fire (exploding batteries excl), which is a technology that dates back hundreds of thousands of years ! :D

[qole]

And it can't even light a fire (exploding batteries excl)

Oh right, I guess the iPhone fans will point out that their devices have exploding batteries. Can the N900 do that?

[luca]

I can testify that you get easily more than 2 days with device idle (and no open app misbehaving)

Oh, my current tablet will last forever turned off and hidden in a drawer, but that's not very useful

Screen is a drainer, so all use consumes a lot, but it easily lasts a full working day of normal use.

If for "normal use" you mean keeping it your pocket waiting for incoming calls, I could believe it.
Actually using it, that's another matter.

[joshua.maverick]

joshua.maverick:

There's no compass.

Anyone who said otherwise was not a trustworthy source, so, in the absence of any trustworthy information, they're wrong. And if there is, Nokia hasn't told anyone about it, nor has it turned up in any of the source code released by Nokia so far. If the N900 had a compass, why would Nokia keep it a secret?

Why do you keep asking?

I asked again, because I did not receive any confirmation. I didn't mean to upset you.

[allnameswereout]

Oh right, I guess the iPhone fans will point out that their devices have exploding batteries. Can the N900 do that?You know those mortars you have to bump to stone and then throw as if its a grenade? They inspired Apple design team... :cool:

What good is a piece of high-end technology without a feature that dates back to the middle ages circa 200 BC????They were used for entirely different purposes. There are 2 main usage patterns: better navigation on map (this was far more important in ancient times, but you could use heavenly bodies for same purpose, as the stargazers in pacific ocean have done for millenia) and 2: augmented reality. By the time the latter takes off we're a year further.

For if what you say is true there must be many crappy high-end technologies then because last time I checked almost no smartphone, netbook, laptop, digicam (slr), blahblah etc etc blahblah has digital compass. Hmmm, maybe its a bit overrated.

[Bratag]

You know those mortars you have to bump to stone and then throw as if its a grenade? They inspired Apple design team... :cool:

They were used for entirely different purposes. There are 2 main usage patterns: better navigation on map (this was far more important in ancient times, but you could use heavenly bodies for same purpose, as the stargazers in pacific ocean have done for millenia) and 2: augmented reality. By the time the latter takes off we're a year further.

For if what you say is true there must be many crappy high-end technologies then because last time I checked almost no smartphone, netbook, laptop, digicam (slr), blahblah etc etc blahblah has digital compass. Hmmm, maybe its a bit overrated.

G1 has one - its a nice novelty - not much in the way of real world use though. GPS substitutes for it most times

[allnameswereout]

It's called sarcasm, people.

I forget that a lot of people can't read sarcasm.

Sorry.Welcome to the Internet! Smileys are useful on the Internet to explain (con)text. A useful smiley to denote sarcasm is: :rolleyes:

[konttori]

I cannot quantify the times. Over 4 hours of display lit, mostly email, sms, IM through gtalk, browser and conboy use, checking facebook through the applet, online all the time through 3g. Perhaps 1h of calls per day. This is my subjective feeling that I'm talking here, so I don't have the numbers for you.

[konttori]

Oh, my current tablet will last forever turned off and hidden in a drawer, but that's not very useful



If for "normal use" you mean keeping it your pocket waiting for incoming calls, I could believe it.
Actually using it, that's another matter.
Using is what I meant with normal use. Idle use is keeping it in your pocket. For that it lasts far more than 2 days (again, no numbers - I do know the theoretical measured numbers, but those are taken with completely idle device, and I want to tell from a device that has applets on home, and apps running on the device).

[danramos]

Oh right, I guess the iPhone fans will point out that their devices have exploding batteries. Can the N900 do that?

Fixed in Fremantle.

[twaelti]

Battery life is one thing that the Maemo people have said that they're actively working on in these last few weeks before the device goes on sale.
IIRC, I've seen the Nokia Energy Profiler showing up in some N900 videos. This is a cool application that originated from Symbian showing the current power drain (http://www.forum.nokia.com/Technology_Topics/Application_Quality/Power_Management/Nokia_Energy_Profiler_Quick_Start.xhtml)on a device (I've used it on my N82 to compare FM radio vs. Internet Radio power drain). Glad to see it ported to Maemo.

[arj]

I find it very strange that flac and ogg is missing from the supported codecs. I guess they are very easy to install afterwards?

Probably the main question is if they are accelerated then. :confused:

[matthewcc]

Does the n900 support haptic feedback? It is a really nice feature on the 5800xm that i am currently running.

[matthewcc]

Does the n900 support haptic feedback? It is a really nice feature on the 5800xm that i am currently running.

I answered my own question - Yes, it does have haptic feedback per a number of reviewers.

[tso]

IIRC, I've seen the Nokia Energy Profiler showing up in some N900 videos. This is a cool application that originated from Symbian showing the current power drain (http://www.forum.nokia.com/Technology_Topics/Application_Quality/Power_Management/Nokia_Energy_Profiler_Quick_Start.xhtml)on a device (I've used it on my N82 to compare FM radio vs. Internet Radio power drain). Glad to see it ported to Maemo.

just wish it could show up on older maemo, or even somehow on mer.

[dansus]

Ive just been hanging out at the onedotzero exhibition in Londons Southbank and i managed to score some alone time with the N900.

Im told it was running a very recent build and to me the firmware is very solid, the UI felt ready for primetime. I will post some more thoughts when i get back to my desktop.

http://thumbnails13.imagebam.com/4847/7aec9248460813.gif (http://www.imagebam.com/image/7aec9248460813)

[dansus]

Ive just been hanging out at the onedotzero exhibition in Londons Southbank and i managed to score some alone time with the N900.

....I will post some more thoughts when i get back to my desktop.
.

I spent about 20mins with the device and overall i was impressed, any doubts i had about owning the N900 are now long gone.

I started playing with Karsten's 3D text app which projected messages on to the side of a building which showed off the accelerometer as i moved around text sucked up from Facebook,Twitter and others streaming across a 100ft+ wall. I felt like a Borg taking in the worlds thoughts.

Hardware wise it feels solid and natural in the hand, the keyboard was immediately usable and the learning curve was working out where all the usual keys are and adjusting to the offset spacebar, after 10mins i was flowing nicely. The thing that slowed me down was shifting for 1+2 because theres only one shift key on the left, it was annoying to try and press two keys so close to each other. So a left and right shift key here would be ideal.

The sreen felt solid and there was no sense of give or squishiness, responsiveness was fine in most cases, moving widgets around the home screen was instant and the only part that reminded me of M4, the rest is all new. At times the home screen and photo app wouldnt respond well to short swipes, you need to use a confident and firm swipe to activate it but if you use your nail it was very sensitive, maybe thats by design, maybe screen tech, but i remember what Quim said about the sensitivity being dialled down by design. The rest of the UI responded well to short swipes.

I had a chance to go through the process of setting up new widgets, email, photos and have a look around the repo, it felt like home, easy to use and the UI flowed nicely, I dont think ive ever picked up a new UI so quickly.

I plugged in my quality headphones and jammed while exploring the device, the audio didnt hesitate while doing other stuff and the quality was on par with other N-Series but didnt have time to fully pass judgement. The 2 videos i played worked and looked nice without any obvious judder or smearing but again hard to judge without using my own sources.

The only thing i didnt get to play with sadly was the browser due to lack of connectivity but kinetic scrolling in the repo was sa-weeet. :D

I know people are saying its not a NIT any more and its just a smartphone but when you use it, you really feel like your using a device that is more than a smartphone and im really excited about getting my N900.

Big thanks to Karsten for being so accommodating. :)
.

[qole]

dansus: you nailed how I feel about it too. Thanks.

[slate8]

@dansus Thanks for the mini review! Great info.

[OPS]

It's a shame the N900 doesn't have support for mms and portrait mode (except for when using it as a phone)... Otherwise this is a great device and hopefully my next "mobile phone".

[zehjotkah]

It's a shame the N900 doesn't have support for mms and portrait mode (except for when using it as a phone)... Otherwise this is a great device and hopefully my next "mobile phone".

The fact, that the homescreen isn't in portrait mode doesn't mean, that the n900 don't support portrait mode. Every developer can make their programs to support portrait mode, even based on the accelerometer. And as we've discussed many times before, Nokia will add MMS functionality with a OS-update.

[Benson]

Join the club. I too guessed that any normal computer user reading the specs, with references to USB mass storage etc., would interpret them as you have. I got flamed by the big man. Apparently Nokia's customers are not supposed to be interested in host mode, even if the device is billed as a "computer", for Nokia's first time ever.
Not first time ever -- Nokia has called its N-series smartphones as "multimedia computers" for quite a while.

[pelago]

as we've discussed many times before, Nokia will add MMS functionality with a OS-update.
Has that actually been officially announced, or just guessed?

[texaslabrat]

Has that actually been officially announced, or just guessed?

either way, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I've sent exactly one MMS in my life...and that was just to see how it worked. Email ftw ;)

[joshua.maverick]

either way, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I've sent exactly one MMS in my life...and that was just to see how it worked. Email ftw ;)

For sure, on a device like this, whats the point of MMS? People who don't have email on their phone don't deserve to receive multimedia! lol

[shadowjk]

just wish it could show up on older maemo, or even somehow on mer.

Well we know how to talk to bme, it's on the wiki, so creating a Energy Meter for N8x0 is doable for someone with spare time. Me, I don't have enough spare time and just fake it by parsing ftd logs, which is user-unfriendly to say the least, and fills up the rootfs until everything crawls to a halt :)

[zerojay]

And as we've discussed many times before, Nokia will add MMS functionality with a OS-update.

Uh, they will? Where did you get that information from because I have not seen any Nokian saying anything like that.

[hagba]

Does N900 support Java Midlets OTB?since this is just about the only thing which is stopping me from a preorder.

Thanks in advance.

[Bundyo]

No. No midlets of any kind.

[vinc17]

Is the accelerometer official? It isn't mentioned in Nokia's N900 technical specifications (http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/specifications/). So, I'm wondering...

[texaslabrat]

Is the accelerometer official? It isn't mentioned in Nokia's N900 technical specifications (http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/specifications/). So, I'm wondering...

http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/009/09/bounce_boing_voyage_on_n900_looks_awesome.htm

[vinc17]

http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/009/09/bounce_boing_voyage_on_n900_looks_awesome.htm
This page does not mention an accelerometer, and I can't watch the video on either my laptop or on my N810.

[texaslabrat]

This page does not mention an accelerometer, and I can't watch the video on either my laptop or on my N810.

Ah, well...my intention was to show you the demonstration of the bounce game..which dramatically shows off the accelerometer in action. There are other videos that show the switch from portrait to landscape as you change the orientation of the handset...but they aren't as cool ;)

Short version: yes there is an accelerometer.

[Jack6428]

Is the accelerometer official? It isn't mentioned in Nokia's N900 technical specifications (http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/specifications/). So, I'm wondering...

what do you think :D? look at all the videos

[vinc17]

Ah, well...my intention was to show you the demonstration of the bounce game..which dramatically shows off the accelerometer in action.
OK, I suppose that the GPS isn't accurate enough and that the cameras aren't used, so that this means that there is an accelerometer. :) I'm still wondering why Nokia doesn't say a word about it in their spec.

There are other videos that show the switch from portrait to landscape as you change the orientation of the handset...but they aren't as cool ;)
I've seen such a video, but isn't it something that could also be done with a gyroscope?

[texaslabrat]

OK, I suppose that the GPS isn't accurate enough and that the cameras aren't used, so that this means that there is an accelerometer. :) I'm still wondering why Nokia doesn't say a word about it in their spec.


I've seen such a video, but isn't it something that could also be done with a gyroscope?

gyroscope? um, yeah..in theory I suppose if you want to waste money. A solid state gyroscope would be at least as much as the n900 by itself...assuming you could find one small enough. And the gyroscope definitely wouldn't help out in the bounce game with the linear movements that move the ball into the air.

edit: mems single-axis gyroscopes have come down signficantly in price since i last looked....they are now $50-ish. Still doesn't help with linear motion though and they would need to be calibrated occasionally unlike an accelerometer which does not.

[kenny]

gyroscope? .

I heard some people on a tech podcast refer to the iPhone's accelerometer as a gyroscope. Plenty other phones have these too, so.......
I'm running out of research time. Can anyone authoritatively explain what exactly is a smartphone accelerometer and how does it work?