For what its worth, if the N1's speech recognition is anything like the DROID's it should be considered "extremely good". Using the Talk To Me app (speak one language into the DROID, it audibly reproduces in another), I was able to hold a conversation with my g/f's family (Spain) over the phone using speaker from the DROID, into the speaker of the house phone.


For the OP, as far as the bulkiness of the 900, having taken mine apart due to the USB port coming out, there is no real reason for it being so thick. That said, I wouldn't mind it being "thicker" if it meant a smooth back and space for a higher capacity battery. If this was a tablet, I would have hoped Nokia engineering and management, would have designed it for prolonged use away from power source.

As far as a "metal body", with the Droid, I did several signal tests, and even made a make shift antenna to improve reception. I noticed with its metal battery door off, I experienced a significant gain in signal strength. While I like metal bodied electronics, I can see where it could be beneficial to go full plastic. I will concede however if this is just the nature of CDMA technology, not affecting T-Mo/AT&T 3G bands.

Lastly, chalk me up for not being in love w/Google...they want way, way, too much user info up in "the cloud".