Future of N900?

[darksurfer]

Hello community, this is my first post, so i would like to start by doing 2 things. One is apologizing for the opening of this thread, i assume that my question must be answered somewhere on the forum. However, after hours of reading all sorts of articles, i am still confused about it.

The other thing is to congratulate everyone for the awesome work, i´ve seen nothing but great proyects and contributions.

Now to the core of the thread itself. I´m about to change my cellphone, i´ve a Samsung Omnia II with WinMo 6.5, and i just can´t go on with it, its laggy and unmodifiable to the point that i feel like i bought som mid-range phone, i cant even play little java games! hehehe.

After doing some market research, i found that my 2 options are the Nokia N900, and the Motorola Milestone. When i came across this site i said to myself, "N900´s the way to go!". But after reading lots of articles on different blogs, and threads from this forum, i am left with a simple yet complicated question. What future is there for this great phone? I don´t want to get the phone, then find out that i´m gonna end up where i started, with a phone that has no future support. I´ve read that that´s not gonna happen, but still i would like someone to tell me "Yes, you should get this phone, theres plenty of years ahead to use this phone, there´s no need to change it", or "Reconsider your options".

Well, once again sorry if this is kinda lika a repost, but i want a straight up answer, and i find this to be the fastest method.

If i get this phone, i would like to start contributing to the different proyects, since i find that the number of posibilities is infinite.

Thanks a lot in advance, and keep up the good work!!!

[clasificado]

Your question has no answer.

it HAS support, and its already UNSUPPORTED:

- Official support, no way. Nokia (maybe) will release pr1.3, and no one expects nothing after that.
- Unofficial support: a lot of parts are open source, that can be upgraded without the help of nokia. and here we have a big community that loves the n900 a lot.

Another question is what we have, and what we dont. Mainly here is the Application Store
- Milestone have the Android Store.
- Here at maemo, we have a joke (ovi store).

And the closed source parts, like the phone, modest for mail, and several subsystems

hope this helps

[slender]

How you know that Motorola milestone has future support? Has Motorola released full roadmap for next n+1 android updates for device?

Only thing you probably know is that there is going to be 2.2.

If you like to test stuff and are not afraid to flash your phone once in a while then go for N900. There will be Meego also Nitdroid is looking pretty good already. Test, devel, enjoy freedom to do almost whatever you want to do (including breaking OS) then choose N900. If you want mature OS with good phone features then choose Motorola.

[bsving]

The N900 is going last for several years. Maemo probably will get an update, Meego will soon be installable (in a usable state) and Android is already working except the phone functionality as of today. There is nothing even remotely close to the functionality of the N900.

But if you simply want a phone, then get something else unless you get it cheap, or wait a couple of months for the N9.

just my opinion.

[darksurfer]

The N900 is going last for several years. Maemo probably will get an update, Meego will soon be installable (in a usable state) and Android is already working except the phone functionality as of today. There is nothing even remotely close to the functionality of the N900.

But if you simply want a phone, then get something else unless you get it cheap, or wait a couple of months for the N9.

just my opinion.

Exactly what i DONT want is just a phone, that´s what caught my eye about the N900, i can do lots and lots of stuff with it.

Well thanks a lot for your answers everybody, i´ll get this phone and start contributing to the community.

[darksurfer]

Hey people, i´ve been doing some more reading, and i coudnt fid a release date for the Nokia N9.

The reason why i ask this is beacuse when this phone comes out, won´t it replace the N900? Thus making it a little bit "obsolete" per say. The thing is, if I buy the N900 2 months from now, would i be buying an outdated phone? I think this fits on the topic of the thread, so I just wanna know what you think.

[xtian]

Nokia World is coming up (September 14-15). They might announce the N9. I would say wait as there will be more choices for you.

[joesphle]

how they going to come out N9 when N8 not even have on the market jet ?? I would say summer next year

[stlpaul]

Hey people, i´ve been doing some more reading, and i coudnt fid a release date for the Nokia N9.

The reason why i ask this is beacuse when this phone comes out, won´t it replace the N900? Thus making it a little bit "obsolete" per say. The thing is, if I buy the N900 2 months from now, would i be buying an outdated phone?

Short answer: Yes. But it's not that simple. :) All electronics are outdated by the time you open the box... there's always something newer and faster and more shiny coming out next week.

While I have owned N900 since last year and love it and can't imagine using anything else, based on your concerns I would suggest you hold off at least until the MeeGo phone is announced and official specifications are available. My "gut feeling" (based on nothing) is that first generation MeeGo phone will be very similar to N900 in hardware. We won't know for sure until it is announced, though. Maybe they will "wow" us with a real game-changing device.

On the other hand, N900 stock is being cleared out and prices being slashed. If money is a factor in your decision, you can get an extremely good deal on N900 nowdays. Nokia USA had it for USD$199 with an old-phone trade-in. That's 1/3rd of the price it was 6 months ago.

In the short term, buying the "mature" N900 may give you more than with the MeeGo phone. I say this because N900 has almost a year of community effort and software development put into it. MeeGo will be starting from scratch with both community and commercial software. Surely some of the Maemo software will be easily ported to MeeGo but whether everyone does that or not will not be known until that day comes.

There's also the fact that MeeGo-on-N900 is alive and real, you can install it on your N900 today. I have high expectations that we'll someday see a consumer-quality Meego release for N900 and those of us who wish to use Meego rather than Maemo as our everyday OS on N900 will be able to. Hopefully, if MeeGo-phone's hardware is not radically different from N900, we'll be able to take advantage of new features and software developed for MeeGo on our N900s.

There's also NITDroid which installs Android in your N900, and you can dual-boot between Maemo and Android. I would never want to use a primarily Android-based phone (or I would have gotten one), but having it there for apps or whatever that can't be done on Maemo is of course a welcome option.

I'm personally going to hold on to my N900 and watch MeeGo with interest. Probably wait for 2nd-generation MeeGo phone to ditch my N900, depending on how things progress and what direction Intel and Nokia try to take it. I'm skeptical but hopeful.

As a linux user for many years, N900 is simply the ultimate phone. The power and joy of having a real linux distro in my pocket at all times is great. No other phone even comes close, in my opinion. You can have my N900 when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. ;)

[bandora]

I say move along and wait for the N9 or something if you're looking for official support from Nokia... Otherwise the N900 is a great device to use...

The N8 is a great option too imo.. And no don't believe those internet bastards that keeps on bashing Symbian.. Symbian is great.. S60 was terrible but that's history now...

I believe the N9 will be released around January 2011? I thin so...

[j.s]

But if you simply want a phone, then get something else unless you get it cheap, or wait a couple of months for the N9.
just my opinion.

Won't it be at least 2 months after the first rumored availability date before anyone actually gets one? Or even 2 months after Nokia announces that it is shipping?

Neither of those seem to be near yet.

[NvyUs]

how they going to come out N9 when N8 not even have on the market jet ?? I would say summer next year

N8 and N9 are very different beasts aimed at different market segments one will not be dalayed months for the other.
Nokia currently don't have a 2010 flagship and its been quoted many times by Nokians N8 is not the flagship.
so I'd say its odds on that in 12 days time that flagship will be revealed.
N95 8GB/n95was once nokias flagships but it did not stop them releasing there high end camera device(N82) at same time

[n900faniam]

with this phone you can really get under the hood and adapt it to the way you want it, which puts it in a class of its own.

As far as I'm aware no other phone is as adaptable to the individual user as the N900.

For as long as it continues to receive the community support it currently enjoys, people will be using the N900 for a long while yet.

[j.s]

with this phone you can really get under the hood and adapt it to the way you want it, which puts it in a class of its own.

As far as I'm aware no other phone is as adaptable to the individual user as the N900.


The openmoko freerunner is. But it has hardware limitations that might make it less useful. It might also be harder to adapt by casual users. But openmoko was much more open than Nokia.


For as long as it continues to receive the community support it currently enjoys, people will be using the N900 for a long while yet.

I hope so. At least until something better comes along.

[imperiallight]

What future is there for this great phone?

Diaper commercials (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=805592#post805592)

[scottuss]

with this phone you can really get under the hood and adapt it to the way you want it, which puts it in a class of its own.

As far as I'm aware no other phone is as adaptable to the individual user as the N900.

For as long as it continues to receive the community support it currently enjoys, people will be using the N900 for a long while yet.

Absolutely. I bought one very recently, ditching my Android handset in the process.

[lancewex]

I think your worry that it will be outdated says you should get something else. I have 2 N900s as I expect to use it a long time. I can't imagine needing anything more for a while. (except maybe Flash 10, though I am stupidly hoping...)

[pindu]

i have both the milestone and the n900. i bought the milestone on release last december and it is an excellent phone and once it gets the 2.2 update should be even better god willing. i bought my n900 about 4-5 weeks ago and have using all the time since but for 2 seperate days when i used the milestone. the first thing that hits you going to the milestone from the n900 is the number of apps for it and all the stuff you can do with them and the phone, wheras the n900 is severely limited in this regard although most of the basics are covered.

[scottuss]

i have both the milestone and the n900. i bought the milestone on release last december and it is an excellent phone and once it gets the 2.2 update should be even better god willing. i bought my n900 about 4-5 weeks ago and have using all the time since but for 2 seperate days when i used the milestone. the first thing that hits you going to the milestone from the n900 is the number of apps for it and all the stuff you can do with them and the phone, wheras the n900 is severely limited in this regard although most of the basics are covered.

For number of apps, I agree. However, I would argue that the quality of the apps is higher on the N900. For me, quality is better than quantity.

[Laughing Man]

For number of apps, I agree. However, I would argue that the quality of the apps is higher on the N900. For me, quality is better than quantity.

That really depends on what your looking for. For example, there's no GPS app that really compares to what Google Maps on Android does. But there's nothing on the Android devices (or iPhone) that match up to running easy Debian.

[darksurfer]

Same here, i was browsing through the android market and most apps are kinda unnecesary.

Besides with the N900 not only can you see the insides of the apps, but you can also make your own and contribute with other proyects.

What i meant by "outdated" was that when the N9 comes out, most developers would start to make apps for it and slowly leave the N900 behind. However, Meego will be there for the N900, so there´s not much worrying about that after all.

[SAABoy]

Same here, i was browsing through the android market and most apps are kinda unnecesary.

Besides with the N900 not only can you see the insides of the apps, but you can also make your own and contribute with other proyects.

What i meant by "outdated" was that when the N9 comes out, most developers would start to make apps for it and slowly leave the N900 behind. However, Meego will be there for the N900, so there´s not much worrying about that after all.

have you heard of qt 4.6?

By the way, thanks for starting this thread. The responses have made me feel even better about my spare n900 purchase :D

[arkanoid]

My "gut feeling" (based on nothing) is that first generation MeeGo phone will be very similar to N900 in hardware. We won't know for sure until it is announced, though. Maybe they will "wow" us with a real game-changing device.



As i played a bit with N8 prototype i'd say "definitely not". It is likely to be *much* faster. It is shame that Nokia did not drop Symbian on n series as promised already :-(

[TheBootroo]

future of the N900 is the N9 ! need it

[schettj]

What future is there for this great phone? I don´t want to get the phone, then find out that i´m gonna end up where i started, with a phone that has no future support. It's nearly a year old, and is nearly End of Life for direct support. Once the n9 comes out, it should be all done - that's rumored to be by the end of this year.

It's a decent and fairly open hacking platform, so if you get it for a decent price you can get a year or two of use out of it. The stock OS (maemo) is functional as it goes, and you can pretty much develop/customize far easier than winmo.

You should like it a lot more than winmo, that's for sure.

I dunno what to tell you. I always assume every phone I purchase is obsolete the moment it ships, and needs to be replaced within a year. Two years is forever for mobile hardware, even if there are OS updates.

[oneFinn]

Nokia has pushed N900 to side track months ago. From their perspective, N900 and it's users do not exist.
I've asked their support issues concerning N900 (like getting decent version of Maps app) and it's about same as sending an email to Jupiter.

N900 is a record phone from Nokia. In less than a year (well.. in 6-8 months), it's official support is gone, where are all qgils and other Nokia fellows from this forum, nobody knows about patches etc.

Last spring they were telling us how Maemo is future of Nokia's smart phones, even in this forum.

Anyway, N900 is a good piece of HW and hopefully the community can extend it's life by porting Meego (with Maps of course) to N900. Nitroid looks promising, too.

Nokia will not do it.

[nicholes]

N900 is a record phone from Nokia. In less than a year (well.. in 6-8 months), it's official support is gone, where are all qgils and other Nokia fellows from this forum, nobody knows about patches etc.

Last spring they were telling us how Maemo is future of Nokia's smart phones, even in this forum.

Anyway, N900 is a good piece of HW and hopefully the community can extend it's life by porting Meego (with Maps of course) to N900. Nitroid looks promising, too.

Nokia will not do it.

so it means n900 father has died (nokia) and this community has adopt it!