I'd like to ask to all the Nokia Team guys here, the Gurus and Programmers of Maemo/Linux world to concentrate and join some efforts in order to improve VERY quickly the Main issues that N900/Maemo 5 has right now:

- very poor Phone app
- too basic email client (Modest)
- too limited Calendar App
- limited Blootooth car support
- lack of full local search
- problems/lack of functions in sync with Exchange server

In the various threads of Talk and in Brainstorm section there are already many ideas and very good advices to how improve those programs/apps BUT WE NEED TO ACT and to concentrate mainly in the business/work area where N900 is really poor compared to other devices/platform.

The only good point is the web surfing application (though also here we could have many improvments but at least it is already quite powerfull); the other apps, expecially the email/calendar ones for an "internet Table" are really poor.

I'm seeing a lot of "strange" and very niche apps being ported/tested to N900/Maemo 5 but it seems that almost no one (except some Nokia man perhaps) is working to fill the gaps and improve the standard apps or port/develop other more advanced app to Maemo in order to integrate and expand the use of the standard one (I would like in fact to keep the integration with the std DB in order not to loose the sync capability with Exchange server and PC outlook app).

Then of course there are the other more advanced apps like (PIM and good GTD applications, Navigation SW, etc etc) but there are in second place, after the basic point.
It is crazy but the best things that our N900 do are on the multimedia side (music, video, photo) instead of "serious tablet side".

Please work on this aspects !

Even if you want to create commercial apps...I and many business user are willing to pay for good business apps...We need them !

N900 has great potential but we need to start to exploit for every day useful application and tasks.

Thanks for all the support and help anyone can provide,
SkyEagle

Your post while speaking towards the issue, doesn't really talk about what specifically needs to be addressed and how it would be benefit those persons besides yourself who'd like these changes. The corresponding topics in Brainstorm do this to a degree, but you might have something to add there.

Or better yet, what specific business needs is the N900 supposed to meet that it doesn't? And how does meeting those needs translate into whatever features you are asking for.

Question is, what are you going to do about it?

Well...the detailed list is quite long....now I don't have the time to write all the list of needed improvments...and I don't want to repeat many of the things already very well explained in the forum talk and brainstorm. Many user of N900 have already discovered them...but if it is really necessary I will do a list in the near future..

I now would just like to focus the general attention on these "business" aspects that seems that are quite ignored by most of the developers here.

I understand that there are other priority for Nokia but now it has to address very quickly to those business shortcomings, starting to ADD functions and features and not only limiting itself to bugfixing.(and even in this aspect please add some more people to speed up the process: Android is getting much more attention by Google and we don't have to forget the Ipod Apple domination...it is easy to loose the battle for the "developers" if you don't show commitment)

Also the Maemo Community could eventually help because there are many smart Linux/Maemo programmer in this community.

But please concentrate some efforts on those improvments.

I would like really start using and taking full potential of such a great HW N900 has...but the standard application are really too basic for a 600 euro phone (even if you compare to much more economic Nokia Symbian phone)...and for many aspects using N900 is not going forward but backwards...I'm strong believer in the platform and this Community but I need also to work and would like to use N900 like my primary work device...and so...
SkyEagle

Are you talking to me ?

If you ask me what can I do to improve the situation I can only say:
- test some new application and give feedback to developers
- support some good apps buying them

I'm sorry but I can't do any coding / programming...I would love to be able to code but I never learn (only few Pascal code almost 20 years ago...now it is forgot everything).
I'm quite expert in PC area/ Windows / system integration and networking but no programming..sorry.

Hi SkyEagle,

I would like to share with you some insights I have regarding the development for the N900 by Nokia and by the community.

First, I believe that everyones intentions are basically good. Everybody want's that the N900 will fulfill their needs, but each has different needs.

Both Nokia developers and the community are not developing around the open source concept per se. The development from the professional (and I don't mean extreme technical skills, but professional development aka Waterfall or Incremental or Agile) is based upon well defined requirements, much like the one ARJWright was looking for.
The amateur developers are working with vague requirements, and usually alone (meaning it's a one person job).
The open source concept, as I grasp it, is to share development between a large number of developers, allowing each one to donate small part, and the Open Office is a good example. If every app developed for the N900 would have gone under the hands of the majority of the developers here, things would have been different.

Well defined requirements are prioritized on a "Return of investment" basis. If the gain from improving the "basic calendar" or the simple email client is not profit enough, it will not be addressed.
To me, it seems that most of the official applications for the N900 developed by Nokia can be described as "it's working". From this description to a "well polished" application there's a gap that should be filled with (a lot of) money.

Vague requirements gives us, the users, some great applications - great in the sense they "do what they're suppose to do". And again, there is that gap from an application that do something, to an application that do something and gives the end user an "Experience" and extra functionalities. User experience is a young concept, used to be addressed by the phrase "UI" - User Interface, and references the maximization of the good experience and enjoyment of the user with the software.
As I see it, most of the developers community for the N900 comes from a hard linux programming background. Linux never tried to compete with its User Experience over other OS's like Mac OS or Windows, and the application they develop, which I and everyone else are grateful for, lack in those aspects.

Now I'll try to bind what I've just said with your thread: "Poor phone app" is ambiguous. If you'll ask the Nokia guys, they'll say it does what a phone should do. lack of capabilities and a modest client application are ambiguous as well - anything beyond the current email client, calendar and build-in bluetooth is an enhancement request that is based on ROI or developed by one guy that does it in his own free time, and prioritized accordingly.

If the N900 will be sold in hundreds of thousands, and the revenue for it will be enormous, we might see some improvement with the phone built-in softwares. I do not expect this from the community, but I might be surprised.

Dear Omeriko,

I totally agree with you and your thougts.

Now I have to go home and don't have time to reply...Just one thing: to sell N900 in hundreds of thousands I think Nokia need to have something little better than a phone/table that "just works".

Now the battle for the leadership in mobile world is a matter of:
- "raw HW" features and tech specs (and here N900 is quite good)
- UI experience / features richness of the platform/OS
- avaiable Apps for the common business/home user
- number of developers working on the platform (that leads to more apps in a virtuous ciircle)

Apart for point 1 the others are a bit disappointing right now.
There is the potential but Nokia need to exploit and build on that quickly or we'll miss the train. Iphone and Androids have already thousand of apps and they're improving fast...and you see ? Now Apple is preparing the Iphone 4.0 that will probably be better or similar to N900 HW with the tremendous apps base appeal. Why is acting faster ? because of Android competition...also Nokia needs to act faster and show how nice and powerful and REAL usefull can be N900/Maemo 5 (and not only a geek/Linux guru phone)...or when it will come out Maemo 6 probably would be too late.

Good night,
SkyEagle

PS: Just to be clear I am a N900 owner, not a troll. I just would like to have the SW to fully exploit this beautiful Phone/mini PC also for my business.

Considering how the major problem areas with this device (phone,email,calendar,maps,etc) are closed-source, and the only other option is a totally new application to replace the Nokia-provided ones?
There's nothing developers CAN do other than hit the 'brainstorm' site (lol..) or spend a TON of time trying to replace the problem applications Nokia has shipped with this device.

I think this is the problem. There is little the community can do and we are left to wonder whether nokia is doing something. Personally, I take issue with the calendar. People have often taken notice of my n900 and inevitably ask, "how do you like it?". You can imagine the reaction when I am forced to respond, "its great but the calendar is unable to create biweekly appointments." I mean how ridiculous is this?

As you say, we are left voting on brainstorming ideas and wondering if nokia is even taking us seriously. Whats better? Check out the bug reports filed for this. The devs seem to think that this is a complex issue and close the enhancement report citing the change does not fall under "simple enhancement". Seriously, a calendar being able to make bi-weekly appointments is a no-brainer.

I love my n900, but I am sorry a fully functioning calendar is simply a must.

This thread is really important, but not because of the question the OP asked...

One of the hardest things for a user to tell me (I train and support folks with a current client and internally to a consulting firm) is what the problem is, or to specifically tell me what it is that should work. They really have a legit gripe about items, and in many causes I can emphathize with their experiences, however, that only goes but so far. Most of my time with them is spent asking questions towards how they use something, what are their expectations, and doing my best to simplify the problem into things that can be managed by any attending developers or others responsible. When I can get the conversation to that point, the user usually feels heard and respected, and will usually think a bit more detailed before they come to me again asking about an item (and they do come, again and again, but with much clearer goggles).

I am not a developer. I can prototype and wireframe pretty well though.

On the other side of those dealings with my client, I also interface with developers - who also happen to be client and internal. These persons care about hard data and requirements. They want to know the value of what they code/create and how it will translate into a normob/business user understanding what it is they go thru. They don't deal well with ambigious requirements, and many like a hard deadline - even if its unrealistic - vs no deadline at all. In my dealings with them, there are some more complicated concepts and discussions, but always the same point as it is with the end-use - to identify the problem and correctly nail the opportunity.

So to the original post and some of the resulting comments...

To say that the N900 doesn't meet your business needs is something that cannot be debated. There are indeed many holes in the OS, 3rd party applications, and overall user experience. These are noticable more in your business context, hence why you came here to air them.

This isn't a business device.

Therefore what you construe as an issue will eventually either fall towards something to be improved (see the Mail for Exchange issues) or fall off the map completely (see some items that were in Brainstorm). Reason is that there are only so many ways to make a non-business device fit your business needs. And at the same time, you not airing what you feel is missing is a problem. You need to speak up, you must.

So what should you do as a business user whom this device is falling short, and you don't have the time/ability to code a solution? Simple really, be as detailed as you can about the use case where the device is failing, and offer to test a solution when/if it becomes available.

What you can't or shouldn't do is be ambigious towards the issue. And yes, you do feel like you are being detailed when you say things like "the calendar should work like a business calendar." But you aren't. You are overgeneralizing - the same sin you are lamblasting the Maemo platform for. You have to say things like, "I expected that this calendar would be as featured as the ones used on previous mobile devices that suited my business needs with features such as XYZ and ABC, but am finding that either this feature isn't here, or that I'm really overlooking it. Is there a developer or two who would like to assist me in making the calendar better usable by adding these features XYZ, ABC, etc. And can someone with an understanding of the core OS at Nokia speak towards why these features may have been left out?"

When you come at it from that end, you are not only more likely to get a positive response, but things like Bugzilla and Brainstorm really begin to shine because they can be used to isolate bugs and features, and then the community-led development approach that's meant to happen, is allowed to happen.

So again, I don't want to discourage you from posting, but I do want to make it clear that much like a statement of work, business use needs to be detailed to the context of use. Otherwise, the non-business ears around here will not hear what needs to be heard, which is that there are more than just non-business persons who have vested interest in this platform prospering.

Kind regards

This is very much a chicken and egg situation then. A new OS expecting to sell hundreds of thousands of units, in 2010 when for the last few years everything has been about "apps" and the user experience. No matter how good the community is, and they do seem to be very good, Nokia cannot expect them to save their wonderful little machine from disapperaing without trace (and I mean in the wider scheme of things, not amongst Linux developers). Nokia really do need to attend to the basics, they need to demonstrate that they are supporting the N900. without some of the basic issues being solved, they won't shift hundreds of thousands of units. Apple have shown the way here. They aren't selling **itloads of Iphones because the hardware is the best around.

For me the calendar is off little use, and the email app too unreliable to be taken seriously.

@ARJWright

you've made some important points there, in the context of community led development, which is one of the strong suits of this platform.

But, isn't there also a strong case for commercial development that can run parallel with the community? this isn't a problem for the community, but one for Nokia. Without a viable sales outlet for third party application development, Nokia aren't going to attract third party software, and the development of the N900 will solely be in the hands of the community. We've seen SIO2Interactive trying their best to get a paid for app in the system, whilst the Angry Birds level pack has been pulled, and the community has been left to design their own levels. Workarounds really are not the way forward, but simply the best available when Nokia cannot get it's house in order. The N900 deserves a better showcase than this, surely.