N900 Questions for Nokia World Attendees [Archive] - maemo.org

lemmyslender

2009-08-31, 13:41

I haven't seen a thread with just questions for the folks that will get to play with the N900 very soon. Thought it might be nice to consolidate a list for them. If they are nice enough to try to answer any questions we have, I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.

If any of my questions have been answered before, I apologize in advance, it's hard to keep up on so many threads about the N900.

1) Is it possible to disable/turn off the cellular radio without disabling wifi/bluetooth?

2) Is there connectivity preferences, ie choose wifi over cellular to keep data costs down?

3) Is it possible to disable transitions (eye candy)? I believe an app will be available to do this.

4) Is there a "Shared Folders" view in the File Manager like currently? I have read that there will not be.

5a) In non-Fremantalized apps running full screen, how do you switch back to non-full screen mode, like fbreader? From the video it looks like a keyboard combination?

5b) How do you pull up a menu?

5c) How do you switch tasks, or close the app?

Thanks in advance.

GeneralAntilles

2009-08-31, 14:12

3) Is it possible to disable transitions (eye candy)? I believe an app will be available to do this.

konttori has recently released (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=30936) an application to do this.

5b) How do you pull up a menu?

Tap the title bar.

As for the other questions, I suspect you may have missed Jussi and Quim's little demo video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP5R-5NX1BE). I recommend watching it.

krisse

2009-08-31, 14:18

1) Is it possible to disable/turn off the cellular radio without disabling wifi/bluetooth?

Yes, in fact this method works on all Nokia phones: take out the SIM card.

(Note. you can still use the cellular network for emergency calls even without a SIM card.)

EDIT: Many Nokia phone models also let you do this without removing the SIM card by going into Offline mode (which turns off everything radio related) and then manually confirming when asked that you wish to use a BT or Wi-Fi connection.

TheBootroo

2009-08-31, 14:47

if i plug the usb cable in my pc , can i see the content of internal memory (ALL the content) from my ubuntu like it was a usb pendrive ?

can we install a webkit based web browser (like arora or midori) instead of default gecko one ? (i think we can but im not sure)

can we use FM without pluging headset (internal antenn ?)

can we connect USB or bluetooth keyboard, gamepad and mouse ?

is memory card hot-pluggable ?

is there any system monitor to see in real time the ram, the cpu , etc ... ?

that's all for the moment ...

huuu, in fact another question : can i go with you to play with the n900 ????????

lemmyslender

2009-08-31, 15:00

Thanks for the answers so far.

1) Disabling is fine. I'd like to know if it's possible to turn the power off on the cellular radio. If I'm not using it, no need to have it on at all. I'd guess that would have some impact on battery life.

5) In the case of fbreader, in fullscreen there is no title bar to click on (at least there had better not be, screen real estate is already at a premium). I assume that there will be a keyboard combo? I hope we wouldn't have to go to a windowed mode to access a menu, then back to fullscreen?

allnameswereout

2009-08-31, 15:05

2) Is there connectivity preferences, ie choose wifi over cellular to keep data costs down?With third party software like Devicescape, which is ported to N8x0, this should work just like Devicescape works on other platforms like Windows, S60, iPhoneOS, ... If it sees a known WiFi network it will log you in automagically, even allowing you to use your login/passwd automagically. It doesn't supoort OTP though.

4) Is there a "Shared Folders" view in the File Manager like currently? I have read that there will not be.Seems like that. (https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1602) At least, official support. There are user-space smbfs implementations, but that depends on community.

The device supports UPnP (MAWF) which in some cases is a suitable alternative. There is presentations about this on Maemo Summit.

GeneralAntilles

2009-08-31, 15:06

5) In the case of fbreader, in fullscreen there is no title bar to click on (at least there had better not be, screen real estate is already at a premium). I assume that there will be a keyboard combo? I hope we wouldn't have to go to a windowed mode to access a menu, then back to fullscreen?

It depends entirely on how the FBReader developers decide to do it.

krisse

2009-08-31, 15:15

Thanks for the answers so far.

1) Disabling is fine. I'd like to know if it's possible to turn the power off on the cellular radio. If I'm not using it, no need to have it on at all. I'd guess that would have some impact on battery life.

Putting the phone into offline mode or removing the SIM card does turn the power off on the cellular radio.

But turning off the cellular radio won't actually affect battery life that much, all that a phone does in standby mode is occasionally send a signal to make the nearest cell aware it's connected. There's no permanent connection. The only time that the cellular radio really uses up the battery a lot is during calls or data access.

And on a device like the N900 with a relatively large 1300mAh battery the percentage of battery life you'd save from switching off the cellular radio is fairly small.

By the way, another option if you're just trying to reduce power is to switch to 2G (GSM) mode instead of 3G (WCDMA/UMTS). 2G modes usually have slightly longer standby times compared to 3G modes. The only disadvantages of 2G are the slower internet speeds and the inability to use the internet and call at the same time.

allnameswereout

2009-08-31, 15:18

if i plug the usb cable in my pc , can i see the content of internal memory (ALL the content) from my ubuntu like it was a usb pendrive ?Yes, but I'm not sure about locking.

can we install a webkit based web browser (like arora or midori) instead of default gecko one ? (i think we can but im not sure)Yes but is not officially supported.
can we connect USB or bluetooth keyboard, gamepad and mouse ?Yes, as is supported by BlueZ stack.

is memory card hot-pluggable ?Don't know, normally commits aren't atomic and therefore must sync first.

is there any system monitor to see in real time the ram, the cpu , etc ... ?These 2 shots show about official support

http://www.mobile-review.com/review/image/nokia/rx51-n900/scr/scr13.jpg

http://www.mobile-review.com/review/image/nokia/rx51-n900/scr/scr14.jpg

From what I can see it is similar as in Maemo 4.

Third party this exists on Maemo 4 in form such as Conky or Applet. I'm sure this will be ported to Maemo 5.

krisse

2009-08-31, 15:19

2) Is there connectivity preferences, ie choose wifi over cellular to keep data costs down?

I haven't used Maemo 5 but the latest Nokia S60 phones have a thing called Destinations where you can give it a list of priorities for how it should connect to the internet. By default it's set to try Wi-fi first, and if that isn't available it goes to 3G, but you can set it to whatever access points you want.

And the older versions of Maemo had a similar system of setting priorities where wi-fi was attempted and if it wasnt present it would try using your phone's connection via bluetooth, so Maemo 5 almost certainly has this feature.

grog

2009-08-31, 15:38

lemmyslender

2009-08-31, 15:56

Putting the phone into offline mode or removing the SIM card does turn the power off on the cellular radio.

But turning off the cellular radio won't actually affect battery life that much, all that a phone does in standby mode is occasionally send a signal to make the nearest cell aware it's connected. There's no permanent connection. The only time that the cellular radio really uses up the battery a lot is during calls or data access.

And on a device like the N900 with a relatively large 1300mAh battery the percentage of battery life you'd save from switching off the cellular radio is fairly small.

By the way, another option if you're just trying to reduce power is to switch to 2G (GSM) mode instead of 3G (WCDMA/UMTS). 2G modes usually have slightly longer standby times compared to 3G modes. The only disadvantages of 2G are the slower internet speeds and the inability to use the internet and call at the same time.

As Grog mentioned, I believe that I've read similar things. Also if you are in an area of partial coverage, the phone keeps bouncing between networks and can rapidly drain the battery.

Thanks for the info, as I've never had a phone with a sim and wasn't aware.

If I were to buy a N900, it'd likely be unlocked with either no sim or a very minimal payg plan. In either case, I'd like to get whatever battery savings I can and primarily use it as a tablet.

korbé

2009-08-31, 17:18

No share mode use samba or FTP with the File Manager? :o

uljanow

2009-08-31, 17:49

How much of the 256 MB RAM is used by the default OS with all applications closed ?

flamingsnot

2009-08-31, 17:58

I'm just interested in knowing to what extent you can use the N900 with one hand, i.e. portrait mode, seeing as they've now included the phone components, many people will instinctively want to use this as a phone (not as an internet tablet as only a few of us are familiar with that paradigm) with one hand.

dormant

2009-08-31, 18:00

korbé

2009-08-31, 18:25

I come to think: there is no software "Search"?

Yet there was one in Maemo 4.

Especially we have Tracker that index all. We can find an e-mail, a file, a appointment or conversation history almost instantly.

twaelti

2009-08-31, 18:26

Google "VOIP": What is the exact protocol used in the N900? What is the video support? How do they relate to the current implementation of Google Talk / Voice&Video Chat?

Google Talk with the N810 works only from NIT to NIT, but not to a PC using the Flash-based plugin, neither for voice nor video. For me, this must be solved in Maemo 5. One should be able to voice/video-chat with a user sitting at his PC in a gmail session of his browser.

zerojay

2009-08-31, 18:55

How much of the 256 MB RAM is used by the default OS with all applications closed ?

This is Linux. Almost all RAM is used at all times. If an app isn't actively using it, Linux fills the RAM up with caches to speed things up and gets rid of them as more RAM is required.

Free RAM that isn't being used is wasted RAM.

Jaffa

2009-08-31, 19:46

Can we - for the sake of mine and Tim's sanity - either start clearly demarking the questions in this thread (put them in bold, perhaps?) or taking anything which isn't a question or answer about N900/Maemo 5 which Tim and I should be able to find out at Nokia World in a different thread?

Thanks. Tim and I want to communicate as much as we can (http://maemo.org/community/council/nokia_world_2009/) back from NW09, so it makes sense to make it easy for us to answer all our questions!

korbé

2009-08-31, 20:00

I am disappointed that N900 haven't software "Search" using Tracker as the PC.

More I learn about the N900, more I feel that Nokia has missed time.

For those who go to Nokia wolrd and will test the N900, could you test the sound with very very good headphone?

I was very disappointed by the quality and the breath with the N810.

Can you check that means no breath in headphones for music?

ysss

2009-08-31, 20:08

Isn't it true that a phone uses much more power in the event that there are no networks available at all, because it'll keep on searching for one more often? If that is indeed the case, it would be great to able to switch it off (probably not much of an issue in most developed areas of the world now, but here in the Great White North (aka Canada), there's lots of places still without coverage).

The drain doesn't come from just the cellular radio being active, but they'd increase their transmission power in hope of reaching a (possibly) further away bts tower.

GeneralAntilles

2009-08-31, 20:09

Can we get a real answer about the AT&T 3G (http://thenokiablog.com/2009/08/29/nokia-n900-variant-850-1900-3g/) (WCDMA 850/1900MHz) bands?

uljanow

2009-08-31, 20:09

This is Linux. Almost all RAM is used at all times. If an app isn't actively using it, Linux fills the RAM up with caches to speed things up and gets rid of them as more RAM is required.

Free RAM that isn't being used is wasted RAM.

The question implied ignoring buffers and caches of course. The output of "free -m" would be sufficient.

128 MB would be plenty for user applications without the need to swap any memory content to NAND chips.

Bobbe

2009-08-31, 20:16

I actually got two questions:

Any plans whatsoever for Latin America launches (Brazil, especifically)? Have Nokia talked to carriers (or vice-versa), is there anything to be said? (not keeping my hopes up for this, no worries).

Question 2:

Will we be able to set the processor governor to performance mode like we could with the OMAP2 in the N8x0 devices?

Maybe somebody already knows the answer to this one. If so, my apologies.

aironeous

2009-08-31, 20:34

How does the n900 compare in volume to the N95's speakers when playing online videos from the browser and any youtube app such as digia, canola, mytube etc.?

GeneralAntilles

2009-08-31, 20:51

How does the n900 compare in volume to the N95's speakers when playing online videos from the browser and any youtube app such as digia, canola, mytube etc.?

N800 and N810, as well, if possible.

I'd also be interested in knowing about the sound quality.

mikkov

2009-08-31, 20:55

Output of "df"

Output of "free"

Output of "dmesg"

Nathan

2009-08-31, 21:40

Are they planning a CDMA version? (i.e. Verizon/Sprint)

Nathan

qole

2009-08-31, 21:48

Can we get a real answer about the AT&T 3G (http://thenokiablog.com/2009/08/29/nokia-n900-variant-850-1900-3g/) (WCDMA 850/1900MHz) bands?

That answer seemed definitive enough... :( :(

timsamoff

2009-08-31, 22:03

Instead of lots of this and other threads repeating the same questions, shouldn't we have an N900 FAQ, or just an AQ, on the wiki somewhere?

We can all add questions and answers as we go along.

Not that I've ever used the wiki, in fact I'm only assuming that this is the sort of thing it is for.

I like this idea. Can someone start a wiki page with all of these questions broken down into single subjects? Then, Andrew and I can fill in the answers as we go.

Thanks,
Tim

speculatrix

2009-08-31, 22:54

is there an internal battery for which would allow hot-swapping the main battery?
- I don't think so but it's something we've occasionally asked for

backlit keyboard - don't think so, but still hoping

pressure-sensitive touchscreen? - n800 had it, and it's useful in maemopad+

maximum sampling rates on audio output/input - think xoscope

aironeous

2009-08-31, 23:18

Try some of the video websites to see if they work. veoh, hulu, openflv.com, megavideo, xtshare, vreel, mrbrownee, wisevid are some examples. Do they work in the stock browser? Can I log on to secure websites and pay bills? Try shopping with the browser on amazon.com and some other websites, does it crash when you add stuff to your basket? Is it easy to accidentally click a link on the edge of the screen if a webpage is open and you sit it down and then pick it back up?

Nathan

2009-08-31, 23:24

That answer seemed definitive enough... :( :(

Actually not, I've seen a couple hints from a couple Nokians that they might have a AT&T band version (very soon) and one reference to (IIRC) Nokian saying they are developing CDMA high end phones.

I know AT&T is the second largest carrier in the USA, so having support for it would be in Nokia's best interest; and since Verizon is the largest USA carrier, having CDMA would be even better for Nokia if they truly are trying to target the USA market seriously this time around.
Otherwise they won't even make a dent in the USA, staying with T-Mobile.

Your talking 88 Million w/ Verizon, 78 Mill At&t and only 33 Mill with T-mobile. Not that 33 Million is small, but when you are dealing with leaving easily 170 million potential subscribers in the USA on CDMA and then another 78 million by just adding AT&T bands is a significant number of subscribers your leaving on the table... Lets see a market of 33 Million or a market of 248 Million. Nokia would be utterly stupid not to attempt to get a much larger market in the USA. (Also, Canada also appears to have a larger CDMA base than GSM, so this would help their also)

How long is the Exclusive period with T-Mobile in the USA? Hopefully this will be release info on the 2nd.

Nathan.

Nathan

2009-08-31, 23:28

I like this idea. Can someone start a wiki page with all of these questions broken down into single subjects? Then, Andrew and I can fill in the answers as we go.

Thanks,
Tim

I'll start one: http://wiki.maemo.org/index.php?title=NokiaWorld_2009_QA

I believe I added all the questions, and any answers I saw. Forgive me if I missed one, I can understand why Tim wanted a Page. Lot of fluff in the thread to go through just to pull out the questions. ;-)

Nathan

qole

2009-08-31, 23:31

I also think we need to keep the thread open, too. Some comments are better kept in a forum-style thread than on a wiki page.

Darken

2009-09-01, 01:33

I am curious about new calendar application. Can I use it to access remote calendar over caldav? (like in ical or lightening).

allnameswereout

2009-09-01, 02:51

Will Maemo 5 on N900 support DUN? There is contradicory information about this. The Nokia website says it doesn't. (source (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=317254#post317254[/url))

Team C

2009-09-01, 06:54

Is this coming to T-mobile USA as subsidized phone? If yes what date. If no will the warranty be valid for people in the USA who buy it unlocked? Thanks

Jaffa

2009-09-01, 06:58

I'll start one: http://wiki.maemo.org/index.php?title=NokiaWorld_2009_QA

I've answered as many as I can from the information already gleaned from the SDK, screenshots & videos. Will add to those answers if there is more info exposed at the event.

Can anyone volunteer to tend that page - perhaps add some styling to the questions to differentiate them from the signed answers?

Architengi

2009-09-01, 07:33

debernardis

2009-09-01, 08:23

My main question (but maybe Qole already has elements to answer) is: are we going to be able to run a chroot environment, possibly in a separate display like in Xephyr, to enable easy debian or easy ubuntu or easy mer or whatever?
If I have that I have all I need :)

vkv.raju

2009-09-01, 08:40

backlit keyboard - don't think so, but still hoping

I think, N900 HAS a backlit keyboard. I remember seeing them in the videos.

patstew

2009-09-01, 10:36

It definitely has a backlit keyboard (I saw a photo of it on flickr which seems to have gone), and the tv-out will only support composite given the type of cable it uses. You can't do vga over one wire. (It uses a 3.5mm jack with 4 rings instead of the usual 3. These are ground, audio left and right, as on a normal 3.5mm jack + one for composite video. A proper VGA connection would need separate RGB signals among other things)

pelago

2009-09-01, 10:54

Jaffa

2009-09-01, 12:16

Thanks pastew. How do you know how many rings the jack has? Have you seen the device?

Well, it has to be compatible with normal 3.5mm headphones and it's a fairly standard connector (already available on several Nokia phones AIUI)

OVK

2009-09-01, 12:25

dwould

2009-09-01, 12:27

added questions about support for dynamic wep 802.1x wifi. My place of work supports EAP-TLS and EAP-LEAP.
I'm pretty sure that LEAP is not going to be supported as it's widely regarded as insecure.
I'm really hoping I'll be able to get my n900 on the work wifi. Unlike my 810

zerojay

2009-09-01, 12:29

What is your most favorite improvement? What is the biggest change from previous tablets? How has holding and playing with the N900 changed or re-enforced your previously held thoughts on it?

sjgadsby

2009-09-01, 12:54

How do you know how many rings the jack has?

According to the specifications for the N900 listed on maemo.nokia.com, the device comes with a Nokia CA-75U video out cable. From there, Google is your friend:

http://a.swistak.pl/000/113/113456_1024.jpg

Peter@Maemo Marketing

2009-09-01, 13:14

I'll start one: http://wiki.maemo.org/index.php?title=NokiaWorld_2009_QA

I believe I added all the questions, and any answers I saw. Forgive me if I missed one, I can understand why Tim wanted a Page. Lot of fluff in the thread to go through just to pull out the questions. ;-)

Nathan

Uhhh! I hope I'm not supposed to answer all of those tomorrow? It will be a long day! But, we'll give it a try. Please understand that we won't be able to give out unanounced commercial information such as shipments in which countries.

sjgadsby

2009-09-01, 13:18

You can't do vga over one wire.

You could do SMPTE 424M for SDI at up to 1080p60 over a single coax cable, but yeah, Nokia isn't going to do that, and it would help almost no one if they did.

Bobbe

2009-09-01, 14:55

Uhhh! I hope I'm not supposed to answer all of those tomorrow? It will be a long day! But, we'll give it a try. Please understand that we won't be able to give out unanounced commercial information such as shipments in which countries.

Roger that :D
Will try to come up with a question u guys can answer then. Just a thought though: you can't answer specific questions (like dates, numbers, etc.), which makes perfect sense, but can you answer more generic questions? Like "are there plans for X" or "if you could guess, what would be the feasibility of X happening in the near future?"?

Thanks in advance for the willingness to feed this eager crowd ;)

Jaffa

2009-09-01, 15:42

Uhhh! I hope I'm not supposed to answer all of those tomorrow? It will be a long day! But, we'll give it a try. Please understand that we won't be able to give out unanounced commercial information such as shipments in which countries.

I thought it was primarily aimed at Tim and I having to answer. We'll split it up: although you can concentrate on getting the converts from other platforms and getting the device into as many people's hands as possible :-)

magog

2009-09-01, 16:39

I added some questions about audio recording and whether the phone works with 3G in Canada (Rogers/Fido).

cachmon

2009-09-01, 18:26

Java support? Does the browser supports java applets?
Thanks

alephito

2009-09-01, 20:56

Sorry - not registered on the Wiki site and my question there didn't seem to stick.

If USB is the only charging option, where will power come from for extended host-mode sessions (longer than battery life)? Y-cable again? Mini Y-cable is widely available, but not micro. Will Nokia supply a micro Y-cable, or are we back to hardware hacking?
I added this question to the Wiki page for you.

sachin007

2009-09-01, 21:03

My questions:

1. Is a stylus included with the n900?

2. How is the web browser? Do we have to wait for it to load completely before we scroll?

3. How are the speakers in comparision to the current tablets?

4. Can you confirm the absence of DUN? Or more importantly can you tether?

5. Does the video camera zoom while shooting a video?

Ill most more as i remember.

Nathan

2009-09-01, 21:08

zerojay

2009-09-01, 21:08

My questions:
2. How is the web browser? Do we have to wait for it to load completely before we scroll?

Why would we need to wait for it to load completely before scrolling? We never had to wait before... so... ?

sachin007

2009-09-01, 21:11

Why would we need to wait for it to load completely before scrolling? We never had to wait before... so... ?

Well on intensive sites my n810 just gets stuck after opening the site halfway.... then it becomes responsive once the page loads completely.

Go to engadget and see if your touch screen responds to immediately...

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-01, 21:38

It's been cleaned up.

qole

2009-09-01, 22:05

I want to know if the telephony stack on the N900 actually is open source. Did they use the oFono (http://ofono.org) stack, or something proprietary?

That could make a huge difference. If it is open source, it will be hard for any provider to mess with the device as part of a contract lock-in scheme...

EDIT: Added to wiki

Nathan

2009-09-01, 22:08

It's been cleaned up.

Egads, I appreciate the work you did cleaning it up -- and maybe it is just me -- but now it just has WAY too much BOLD... Can we somehow kill the bold on the Questions?

I find:
http://wiki.maemo.org/index.php?title=Nokia_World_2009_QA&oldid=17225

easier to read then

http://wiki.maemo.org/Nokia_World_2009_QA

but I do like how each q has a link to it -- Good job on that!

Nathan.

qole

2009-09-01, 22:12

What are you talking about, it looks fine!

kanishou

2009-09-01, 22:14

Well on intensive sites my n810 just gets stuck after opening the site halfway.... then it becomes responsive once the page loads completely.

Go to engadget and see if your touch screen responds to immediately...

I think you will be pleased with the new browser.

attila77

2009-09-01, 22:17

That could make a huge difference. If it is open source, it will be hard for any provider to mess with the device as part of a contract lock-in scheme...

Not sure that's a guarantee. When I worked with some embedded GSM modules, they acted as mini-kingdoms of their own, separate flash, separate baseband processor, CPU, etc, just communicating with the rest via some sort of a serial link (AFAIK the N810's GPS is similar in this regard, it's pretty independent from the rest of the device). To release the lock, you had to either flash the device or execute an AT 'magic string' command (e.g. stuff below the telephony layer).

sachin007

2009-09-01, 22:18

I think you will be pleased with the new browser.

Is this a guess based on cpu performance or is it after you have extensively used it?

Thanks anyway.

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-01, 22:19

Can we somehow kill the bold on the Questions?

Wait until the answers get filled out.

Tried <h4>, but unfortunately the styling is broken. Will have to cope with it as-is for now.

sjgadsby

2009-09-01, 22:24

I want to know if the telephony stack on the N900 actually is open source. Did they use the oFono (http://ofono.org) stack...

In the "Telephony API?" thread (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=31038), qgil explained Maemo 5 does not use oFono (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=317522#post317522).

aironeous

2009-09-01, 22:38

I think you will be pleased with the new browser.
The only browser that comes close to pleasing me is tear but even that fails to perform some of the basic functions that I would hold as valuable for a mid or tablet. I can't watch videos (even if i could it's not loud enough), i can't pay bills, replying on sites like this in text fields is taking a chance cuz i might accidentally click a link on the edge of the screen if i put it down to think and pick it back up, i can't shop cuz it keeps crashing, crashing, it pretty much is only reliable for looking and reading web pages. So i need you to check this out for me/us on the N900.

danramos

2009-09-01, 22:47

What are you talking about, it looks fine!

Stop that! You're using up my CPU cycles and battery to render that! ;)

sachin007

2009-09-01, 22:51

The only browser that comes close to pleasing me is tear but even that fails to perform some of the basic functions that I would hold as valuable for a mid or tablet. I can't watch videos (even if i could it's not loud enough), i can't pay bills, replying on sites like this in text fields is taking a chance cuz i might accidentally click a link on the edge of the screen if i put it down to think and pick it back up, i can't shop cuz it keeps crashing, crashing, it pretty much is only reliable for looking and reading web pages. So i need you to check this out for me/us on the N900.

From twitter

"Desktop browsing gone mobile. I have not found a site yet that I cannot access and use as I would on my PC or Mac."

And check out the n900 video walk through you will be amazed with the browser!

qole

2009-09-01, 22:53

Stop that! You're using up my CPU cycles and battery to render that! ;)

Even better, you quoted it, so it's on everyone's screen twice now! :D

Nathan

2009-09-02, 00:03

Wait until the answers get filled out.

Tried <h4>, but unfortunately the styling is broken. Will have to cope with it as-is for now.

Thanks! Was worth a shot!

Nathan

zerojay

2009-09-02, 00:56

The only browser that comes close to pleasing me is tear but even that fails to perform some of the basic functions that I would hold as valuable for a mid or tablet. I can't watch videos (even if i could it's not loud enough), i can't pay bills, replying on sites like this in text fields is taking a chance cuz i might accidentally click a link on the edge of the screen if i put it down to think and pick it back up, i can't shop cuz it keeps crashing, crashing, it pretty much is only reliable for looking and reading web pages. So i need you to check this out for me/us on the N900.

I never have these problems. Not a single one of them. I find a lot of weirdness like this goes away when you stay with mainly the default stuff installed and don't mess around too much.

qole

2009-09-02, 09:18

The N900 From A Community Perspective (http://maemo.org/community/council/the_n900_from_a_community_perspective/)

seiichiro0185

2009-09-02, 10:01

Is it possible to disable data roaming?

I often work near the border so my phone switches to roaming in other networks sometimes. For my normal provider I have a 3G Data-Flatrate but in foreign networks I have to pay (quite a bit) for data. So is there a way to restrict data use over 3G to your home operator?

pelago

2009-09-02, 10:30

The N900 From A Community Perspective (http://maemo.org/community/council/the_n900_from_a_community_perspective/)
Thanks for that article. Quoting:
One humourous note; opening and closing apps is accompanied by such human-sounding “whshhht” and “fshhhht” sounds that people look at you, wondering why you're making those funny noises with your mouth.
I hope that can be disabled!

barry99705

2009-09-02, 11:11

pycage

2009-09-02, 11:39

Stop that! You're using up my CPU cycles and battery to render that! ;)

If you wanted to save battery, you should WRITE ALL CAPS, because as we know, this means having voltage on one bit less for every character in memory. :)

smilingshark

2009-09-02, 17:23

Hi all!

I wonder whether it has MMS support.
The tech spec does not mention this feature.:confused:

sjgadsby

2009-09-02, 17:26

I wonder whether it has MMS support.

The N900 does not support MMS (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=318414#post318414).

zerojay

2009-09-02, 17:37

In case anyone was wondering, I found out a bit more about Documents To Go, the suite of apps for opening MS Office documents on the N900.

There's a free version of the apps that allows you to open all Office files, however you will need to pay for the full version of Documents To Go for the ability to create/edit Office files.

scaler

2009-09-02, 20:55

I added this question to the Wiki page for you.

Thank you for your help. I deleted my post (to reduce clutter) when I saw that you had added my question to the wiki, but then I saw Jaffa's answer in the wiki, saying that
Nokia does not support host mode.

Sorry about the bold, but this is appalling. How can the device be a computer and not act as a USB host? I'll repeat my wiki question here, because once again the community will be left to work out an answer:

If USB is the only charging option, where will power come from for extended host-mode sessions (longer than battery life)? Y-cable again? Mini Y-cable is widely available, but not micro. Will Nokia supply a micro Y-cable, or are we back to hardware hacking?

OK, there are probably mini-to-micro adapters somewhere, but what else will be needed? Perhaps GA has some answers, since he was very definite about OTG operation in this post:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=316374&postcount=54

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-02, 21:06

Nokia does not support host mode.

Sorry about the bold, but this is appalling.

Perhaps your intense reaction stems from a misunderstanding of the meaning of "support" in this context? Host-mode is available and it should work fine but Nokia does not test it or provide for it as an officially supported feature. That means that it's not guaranteed to stick around and it's not guaranteed to be completely functional. That does not mean that it wont work at all.

The vast majority of Nokia's customers don't care in the least about host-mode support. They're going to plug their devices into their Windows machines and transfer files, perhaps sync with Ovi Suite and that's about it. Since that's the case and given that Nokia has limited resources to dedicate, then the extreme expense of supporting a feature like this (and host-mode is probably the most expensive feature they could choose to support) just doesn't make any sort of sense.

I don't know how you will provide power to the device while in host-mode (perhaps tapping into the USB pins in the battery compartment), but I am sure there will be no issues using it for as long as the battery holds out.

qole

2009-09-02, 22:56

jolouis will whip something up for us, I'm sure! We just need a micro USB OTG dongle, and the rest should be easy to piece together from off the shelf parts. (EDIT: It should be the same adapter as the N810 one he already stocks)

I'll try to see what I can find out about actual support...

qole

2009-09-03, 03:00

Texrat

2009-09-03, 03:33

Why would we need to wait for it to load completely before scrolling? We never had to wait before... so... ?

depends on the site and usage. Many times I have to wait... even on a very fast connection.

debernardis

2009-09-03, 04:44

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"...

That's very, very bad news. Any comment from Nokians? Being able to connect a usb stick has been a life saver to me several times.

EDIT: please Committee members, Alan, Tim, Jaffa, whoever, go ask why it behaves this way and whether there's a hack to circumvent the problem. That's really a regression. I can understand Nokia does not support something, but unfortunately this seems more like a prohibition...

sachin007

2009-09-03, 04:47

Did you guys already get to see this?

http://www.youtube.com/user/thenokiablog#play/user/205E74892D89AC78/0/Zr-BF0Gs0_E

joshua.maverick

2009-09-03, 04:52

Will the contacts menu support windows live messenger as well as google chat, facebook chat etc.?

qole

2009-09-03, 06:30

Quim assured us that all of the Pidgin protocols would be handled through telepathy-haze. So that means IM support for MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and more.

BaKSo

2009-09-03, 06:34

hey guys i got a question,

can we go to offline mode with this device?

i mean we can disable wi-fi, but how about Packet Data connection?

N97 have simple button to go to offline modes on the widgets

and for the contacts app, is this app always connected to the internet and check whether my contact list are online? or only when i open the contact application?

and what do you think is needed for a month of full online mode? 1 Gig 2 Gig (of data plan) ?

joshua.maverick

2009-09-03, 06:48

Quim assured us that all of the Pidgin protocols would be handled through telepathy-haze. So that means IM support for MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and more.

so awesome, thanks

ragnar

2009-09-03, 09:33

hey guys i got a question,
can we go to offline mode with this device?
i mean we can disable wi-fi, but how about Packet Data connection?
N97 have simple button to go to offline modes on the widgets

Yes, offline mode is fully supported.

and for the contacts app, is this app always connected to the internet and check whether my contact list are online? or only when i open the contact application?

Presence is a global service (like in Diablo): once connected to your communication services, it keeps the contact list constantly up to date. So no need to launch Contacts for that.

thecursedfly

2009-09-03, 11:15

Hello all, I'm new on these forums, very attracted by the N900.
Reading specs, info and stuff about the previous Maemo devices one of the things that made me "WOW" was the possibility to use the "host mode" to access USB memories, external drives (was thinking about my 1 TB external harddrive, yummi), and pretty much anything else with self alimentation that can be recognized by this linux "distro", just having the right cable, adapter, and piece of software.

Are you saying it won't be possible? is it a hardware limitation, a software block/lack we'll probably see fixed by the community later or something else? (or maybe we simply cannot know yet)

I really hope it will be possible; it's too cool. ;)

Jaffa

2009-09-03, 13:11

I fully expect USB host to work, despite the problems qole's had above.

As GeneralAntilles' says - the emphasis is on support. If you ring up Nokia Care and say "I've got a USB OTG cable and can't mount a USB disk" or "I've got the standard micro-USB cable and a female-female adapter and can't switch sysfs into host mode", they'll say "eh?"

However, we don't need to go to Nokia Care as we can speak directly with Maemo Devices' management and developers through this forum and the maemo-* mailing lists.

dwould

2009-09-03, 14:30

Any chance there are further answers coming to the wiki shortly? Or does it contain the sum of what was discovered during nokia world at this point?

Jaffa

2009-09-03, 14:37

I think there's still some stuff we can fill in. Tim'll probably be home before me now, and may make a pass at the questions.

Anything commercial related is unanswerable; so anything about business partners, networks etc. However, there were a lot of operators here at Nokia World, and many meetings between Maemo Devices representatives and them (AFAICT).

qhorse

2009-09-03, 14:38

Quim assured us that all of the Pidgin protocols would be handled through telepathy-haze. So that means IM support for MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and more.

So does this mean that all those other IM will also be on the contact "card" as Ovi Chat and Gtalk ?

That would be great :D

Mikey Dread

2009-09-03, 15:21

Will this workflow be possible with a N900 and Maemo 5:

1) Connect n900 directly to a Canon EOS via usb cable.

2) Browse to a reasonably sized jpeg on FAT16 compact flash card and transfer image to N900.

3) Open it in some basic image editor to lighten or darken. (something with a histogram, but Gimp is over kill)

5) Add IPTC info to the file.

5) Send via FTP.

Another question for me is interoperability with the Mac OS via bluetooth, i.e. calendar, adressbook, file transfer etc. Symbian is very very good at this, where as the iPhone is very limited.

I'm happy on an e71 with ATT at the moment, but would jump ship in a second if the N900 and Maemo 5 are this capable.

zerojay

2009-09-03, 15:37

So does this mean that all those other IM will also be on the contact "card" as Ovi Chat and Gtalk ?

That would be great :D

Just like in previous tablets and previous versions of Maemo, yes. If they are implemented through telepathy-haze, they will show up on the contact card and among your list of ways to contact that particular person. Keep your eyes out for more protocols being added in the future. There's a few in the pipeline now that I think a lot of people will enjoy. ;)

dwould

2009-09-03, 15:53

I see that the list of games got updated, to reflect the usual suspects and that bounce is in the repos.
So probably stupid question...I don't suppose marbles is going to have been updated in anyway, new maps/puzzles? would be nice for those of us coming from previous tablets

nilchak

2009-09-03, 15:59

My questions:
[B]
1. Is a stylus included with the n900?

Yes to that .. see Qole's review (http://maemo.org/community/council/the_n900_from_a_community_perspective/) and he mentions that specifically.

konsiderulo

2009-09-03, 19:03

Does the N900 feature a magnetometer/electronic compass? So far I've just found contradictory info on this. Nokia's specs page for the N900 does not mention a magnetometer while the N97 page does.

qole

2009-09-03, 19:32

No compass (unless it is an Easter Egg (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=30852)).

sjgadsby

2009-09-03, 19:48

daperl

2009-09-03, 19:55

No compass (unless it is an Easter Egg (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=30852)).

This is a big bummer. Really big. Nokia, please fix this before October. Thanks in advance.

dadiduekappa

2009-09-03, 20:07

How much color have the screen?? Specification not have detail about number of color. 16M, or 65000???

MountainX

2009-09-03, 20:21

Thanks to everyone who answered questions one the wiki:
http://wiki.maemo.org/Nokia_World_2009_QA

I've been trying to follow NW09 closely, but it seems like T-Mobile US did not make any announcements regarding the N900.

Does anyone know more about the N900 carriers, release date, prices, etc. for the US?

Or do we just have to wait until October 1st to learn more?

thecursedfly

2009-09-03, 21:01

Will this workflow be possible with a N900 and Maemo 5:

1) Connect n900 directly to a Canon EOS via usb cable.

2) Browse to a reasonably sized jpeg on FAT16 compact flash card and transfer image to N900.

3) Open it in some basic image editor to lighten or darken. (something with a histogram, but Gimp is over kill)

4) Add IPTC info to the file.

5) Send via FTP.

I'm not an expert, and never owned any of the other Meamo devices, but my guess is that it's possible. Not supported by Nokia (as usb host mode isn't supported officially), but if you have the adapter and the right softwares, if should be no problem. No idea about what software allready exists to help you with that (points 3, 4, 5), apart from the usb host mode enabler for previous Internet Tablets.
Wait for a more expert answer though. :p

allnameswereout

2009-09-03, 22:09

Are there pictures of internals already? :)

Jaffa

2009-09-04, 08:09

This is a big bummer. Really big. Nokia, please fix this before October. Thanks in advance.

You do know that redesigning the hardware (including chipsets, motherboard layouts, manufacturing rigs) a month before the release ain't gonna happen, right?

Yes, having a magnetometer would be cool. It doesn't. Let's move on with what we can do.

pelago

2009-09-04, 11:08

I'm not an expert, and never owned any of the other Meamo devices, but my guess is that it's possible. Not supported by Nokia (as usb host mode isn't supported officially), but if you have the adapter and the right softwares, if should be no problem. No idea about what software allready exists to help you with that (points 3, 4, 5), apart from the usb host mode enabler for previous Internet Tablets.
Wait for a more expert answer though. :p
There is certainly software for FTP for Maemo 4 (GFTP), so hopefully it should be easy enough to get that working on Maemo 5 too.

daperl

2009-09-04, 13:05

You do know that redesigning the hardware (including chipsets, motherboard layouts, manufacturing rigs) a month before the release ain't gonna happen, right?

woosh

Let's move on

Well, device convergence is kind of being shoved down our throats, so AR recently became more important to me. These devices are part toy, and one of the biggest fun factors will be missing. Here we have something that can only be done with a mobile device, and the technological capability is now reasonably available. And Nokia neglected a piece. So yes, as far as a purchase goes, I'll probably remain in a holding pattern or move on.

But of all the people who actually programmed for the device, who was more bummed than you?

Jaffa

2009-09-04, 13:12

so AR recently became more important to me. These devices are part toy, and one of the biggest fun factors will be missing. Here we have something that can only be done with a mobile device, and the technological capability is now reasonably available. And Nokia neglected a piece.

I'm assuming it was looked at and not a viable option (either due to cost, h/w constraints, time to market etc.). It's possible Nokia didn't consider it. Either way, we don't have it - and it does suck.

But of all the people who actually programmed for the device, who was more bummed than you?

I'd love to have (or develop) an AR app. I think it's a fun toy and will have interesting and compelling mainstream use cases too.

However, for me, the advantages of the N900 over another device outweigh the disadvantage of no magnetometer. And there's nothing I can do to make the N900 have one (unless we can tack one on via USB)

BaKSo

2009-09-04, 13:19

I'm assuming it was looked at and not a viable option (either due to cost, h/w constraints, time to market etc.). It's possible Nokia didn't consider it. Either way, we don't have it - and it does suck.

I'd love to have (or develop) an AR app. I think it's a fun toy and will have interesting and compelling mainstream use cases too.

However, for me, the advantages of the N900 over another device outweigh the disadvantage of no magnetometer. And there's nothing I can do to make the N900 have one (unless we can tack one on via USB)

hi jaffa, i want to ask about video calling, i made a thread in N900 section, but since you are here ( and you are the one who answer most of the wiki page on N900) i just ask again here.

Is N900 is capable of making cellular and web cam video calling?
if yes and can be used out of the box, why is it not mentioned is specs?
if no, what is the purpose of nokia putting front camera? can it be implemented in the future? why isn't nokia put it as a default call apps? i bet it is not as ancient as MMS

Jaffa

2009-09-04, 13:26

hi jaffa, i want to ask about video calling, i made a thread in N900 section, but since you are here ( and you are the one who answer most of the wiki page on N900) i just ask again here.

I did see it there, sorry for not anwering it.

Is N900 is capable of making cellular and web cam video calling?

Video calls over IP using Google Talk definitely worked between an N8x0 and an N900 - I tested this. I haven't seen if you can make a 3G UMTS video call. Although on any of my 3G phones to date, I think I've only used video calls once; however with my N810 I use it whenever I'm away from home to say g'night to the kids (& wife ;-))

Whether Skype will finally support video or not, I've no idea.

if yes and can be used out of the box, why is it not mentioned is specs?

That's a question for Nokia's marketing dept ;-)

BaKSo

2009-09-04, 13:36

. I haven't seen if you can make a 3G UMTS video call.

thanks for the reply, however is this possible? i mean to be implemented in later stages?

daperl

2009-09-04, 14:02

@Jaffa

As one of your constituents, I appreciate your honesty.

zerojay

2009-09-04, 14:23

I'm far from being a Skype expert by any means, but from what I understand there is not a single mobile device at this point that supports Skype video. If the N900 had it, you have to imagine that both Nokia and Skype would be completely whoring the fact out in every single press release and showing. (Sorry Peter... hehe.)

qole

2009-09-04, 23:33

qole: If permitted, and if video recording software is available and functional on your N900, would you please record video of a scene with vertical lines (trees, a brick wall, etc.) while moving the N900 back-and-forth fairly rapidly? (See example link below.) I'm not asking you to post the video. I'd simply appreciate it if you could record video, watch it, and if permitted, speak to what you see.

I'm late with my question, but it is: Does the 5MP camera on the N900 use a rolling shutter?

If it does, we may have to contend with the Jello-effect (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cItYepSTw74) in both video and stills.

Ah, if only you had asked earlier, I could have checked for you. As it stands, I think we're all going to have to wait until October for that kind of answer.

But if it helps, there was nothing as obvious and severe as the effect in your link. I would have noticed it. It might be there, but just more subtle.

mrojas

2009-09-04, 23:54

Ah, if only you had asked earlier, I could have checked for you. As it stands, I think we're all going to have to wait until October for that kind of answer.

But if it helps, there was nothing as obvious and severe as the effect in your link. I would have noticed it. It might be there, but just more subtle.

I bet that the N900 camera module is the same that comes for the N97, and maybe even the N95. So if those have a rolling shutter, good chances are those too have it.

For what is worth, I am going to try filming something with my E71 and see what happens.

Update: Jell-O effect present on the E71 video, but remember that it uses a very basic 3.1 Megapixel camera module.

allnameswereout

2009-09-05, 00:11

Check here at 10:30 till 11:00 and 15:20 till 15:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHa3AoNdglY I think you can see it has at least some jello effect.

sachin007

2009-09-05, 05:27

Hello qole, Jaffa and Tim. I have a question.

How was the video playback? Did the videos have to encoded in a particular way? What formats played without any conversion and at what bitrates? Does the mplayer need to be installed or the default media player is able to play all formats.

Thank you.

ysss

2009-09-05, 06:17

Please ask them about VSync Tearing... :( :( :(

qole

2009-09-05, 06:21

I didn't see anything noticeable. I don't know why it keeps coming up, since it really didn't seem to be visible to me. I guess there's just some serious vsync connoisseurs here...

sachin007

2009-09-05, 06:30

I didn't see anything noticeable. I don't know why it keeps coming up, since it really didn't seem to be visible to me. I guess there's just some serious vsync connoisseurs here...

Even i did not see anything.... But i guess the eyes only can see what your mind wants to see :rolleyes:

ysss

2009-09-05, 06:33

Trust me, I don't want to see vsync tearing on a device I'm planning to buy. This is a dealbreaker for me.

qole

2009-09-05, 06:49

It doesn't do colour fax either ;)

ysss

2009-09-05, 06:53

I'm sorry to have higher standards than the other fanboys here :D

But I'm still hoping to see resolution to this issue..

aironeous

2009-09-05, 08:13

Can I still bluetooth tether to my N95 to get on the at&t network?

BaKSo

2009-09-05, 09:03

have any of you guys ever saw N900 qwerty on screen keyboard ? it is listed on the specs but no video ever use it...

ysss

2009-09-05, 10:02

@meatball: what good would that be though, if it doesn't support portrait?

BaKSo

2009-09-05, 10:16

@meatball: what good would that be though, if it doesn't support portrait?

yeah i know but at least i can write without opening the keyboard (at some occasion) , it will be much better if it has portrait on-screen keyboard also tho..

PS: how do you know that my name means meatball?

ysss

2009-09-05, 10:50

@bakso: i love meatballs :D

pelago

2009-09-05, 11:01

Check here at 10:30 till 11:00 and 15:20 till 15:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHa3AoNdglY I think you can see it has at least some jello effect.
Hmm, the device was held at such an angle to the camera in that video that I don't think you could tell either way.

qole

2009-09-06, 02:33

have any of you guys ever saw N900 qwerty on screen keyboard ? it is listed on the specs but no video ever use it...

You have to enable the on-screen keyboard in the Settings. It looks almost identical to the on-screen finger (non-stylus) keyboard of the N8x0.

EDIT: Oh it even has the same weird "Ka-Crunch" sound when the keyboard pops up that the N8x0 has. Very reassuring. :)

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-06, 03:28

Trust me, I don't want to see vsync tearing on a device I'm planning to buy. This is a dealbreaker for me.

Have you stopped to consider that you're seeing all of these videos from the other end of a 24/30fps camera? You know how you can see CRT refresh lines on video but not in person. . . .

ysss

2009-09-06, 03:37

@GA: Yes, it's been discussed before and we talked about camera angles and onscreen positions.. perhaps it's the combination of 24 fps pulldown and slight screen stutters during the home screen swipes.

dadiduekappa

2009-09-06, 08:19

How many colors has the screen of N900?
16M or less???

dadiduekappa

2009-09-06, 14:39

Can i associate internet links to a browser other than the default, like Fennec?
If you have N810 or other old Nokia internet tablet, it's already possible?
And can i install other Instant message plug-in like Windows Live Messenger for use in the contact detail like gtalk or skype?

Team C

2009-09-06, 20:57

Can you use a animated GIF file for your wallpaper on the N900?

dadiduekappa

2009-09-06, 20:59

It's possible multiple selection of images or songs (i.e. for creation of playlists)? It's slow process like the series 60 V5 or it's fast to select?

allnameswereout

2009-09-07, 02:09

Is it possible to have device on AC, and then take out battery (or swap battery), without it shutting down? Like on my laptop but not possible on Nokia N8x0?

allnameswereout

2009-09-07, 04:19

Will Maemo 5/N900 support iSync on Mac? source (http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=322619&postcount=1)

pycage

2009-09-07, 05:53

Can you use a animated GIF file for your wallpaper on the N900?

I'm pretty sure that you can load animated GIFs as wallpaper, but I don't think it will display any animation. ;)

qole

2009-09-07, 06:25

Hey guys, if your questions can't be started with the phrase, "From what you remember..." then we probably can't answer them at this point.

twaelti

2009-09-07, 07:12

There is certainly software for FTP for Maemo 4 (GFTP), so hopefully it should be easy enough to get that working on Maemo 5 too.
It is already available (http://repository.maemo.org/extras-devel/pool/fremantle/free/g/gftp/)for Maemo5. IIRC, I also saw it installed on a N900 in one of the videos.

pycage

2009-09-07, 07:47

How many colors has the screen of N900?
16M or less???

Since the SDK runs with 65k colors, I suppose the actual device will be the same.

Jack6428

2009-09-07, 09:32

Since the SDK runs with 65k colors, I suppose the actual device will be the same.
nah, thats silly, it cant have only 65k colors..even my old N70 has more (262k)...i assume it has 16 million...atleast thats what the reviewer at the czech site told me...ill try to ask him where he got the info...

ragnar

2009-09-07, 09:35

I don't know technically how many colours it has, but I know it has plenty of them. The images look good. :)

vkv.raju

2009-09-07, 10:41

I don't remember exactly where I saw this but it is supposed to be 16M colours.

attila77

2009-09-07, 11:07

The (byte) size of the framebuffer is the same as it was on the N8x0-es, so it hints the same (65K) color configuration. However, at the N900's DPI, you're really pushing for fighter pilot eyesight if you can see significant (I daresay almost any) difference.

pycage

2009-09-07, 15:49

Dithering actually looks good at this high resolution. :)

scaler

2009-09-07, 15:51

Perhaps your intense reaction stems from a misunderstanding of the meaning of "support" in this context?

You are right, and I now realise that my question does not belong in this thread or the wiki, but in the thread about N900 Specifications. My apologies for that.

The vast majority of Nokia's customers don't care in the least about host-mode support.

I had in mind the vast public that Nokia is missing. A lot of the laptops and notebooks that travellers haul in their hand baggage could be replaced by Maemo devices. Problem is, those travellers and their employers have never heard of Maemo. For the record, most of them don't care in the least about Accelerometer-Induced Enhanced Delusion, or the other features that sell well in the toyshop. One of the things they do want is to be able to plug in their USB sticks at print shops whose owners might object to unfamiliar devices.

I don't know how you will provide power to the device while in host-mode (perhaps tapping into the USB pins in the battery compartment) ...

Part of my question was, "Are we back to hardware hacking?" It sounds as though the answer might be "Yes."

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-07, 15:56

I had in mind the vast public that Nokia is missing. A lot of the laptops and notebooks that travellers haul in their hand baggage could be replaced by Maemo devices. Problem is, those travellers and their employers have never heard of Maemo. For the record, most of them don't care in the least about Accelerometer-Induced Enhanced Delusion, or the other features that sell well in the toyshop. One of the things they do want is to be able to plug in their USB sticks at print shops that might object to unfamiliar devices.

Unfortunately I still think that the barriers to migration for these users will go well beyond USB issues.

Part of my question was, "Are we back to hardware hacking?" It sounds as though the answer might be "Yes."

I definitely would've preferred either dual MicroUSB ports or a 2mm jack (I only have about a thousand AC-4Us lying around), but both cost and user confusion come into play here.

Koios

2009-09-12, 09:02

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"...

When you search this kernel patch
http://repository.maemo.org/pool/maemo5.0alpha/free/k/kernel/kernel_2.6.28-20090702r01.diff.gz (http://repository.maemo.org/pool/maemo5.0alpha/free/k/kernel/kernel_2.6.28-20090702r01.diff.gz)
for "USB OTG" you can find comments like

+ * MENTOR USB OTG controller on OMAP3430

+ * USB: OTG: Introduce new otg.c code

+ * USB: MUSB: Set OTG_ERR_DEVICE_NOT_SUPPORTED for devices drawing too much power

and so on... This gives me some hope!

korbé

2009-09-12, 15:05

I don't remember exactly where I saw this but it is supposed to be 16M colours.

Look here (http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=324909&postcount=7).

ming387

2009-09-13, 23:30

Anybody know if I can use a phone to connect the N900 to use the internet?

ie. Using a AT&T 3G phone for data plan and then pair that with N900 via bluetooth; then go online on the N900.

I've been able to do this on all previous NITs.

Bratag

2009-09-14, 00:24

This is in fact mentioned in the specs of the phone

Capability to serve as data modem via USB connection

ming387

2009-09-14, 00:36

This is in fact mentioned in the specs of the phone

Capability to serve as data modem via USB connection

I'm referring to the reverse, use my AT&T phone as a modem and let the N900 connect to it via bluetooth to go online.

This way I can use the N900 with no SIM card.

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-14, 01:55

I'm referring to the reverse, use my AT&T phone as a modem and let the N900 connect to it via bluetooth to go online.

Yeah, adding Bluetooth DUN client support should be trivial. One of the BlueZ guys has a talk at the Summit about that topic, in fact.

lma

2009-09-14, 02:27

One of the BlueZ guys has a talk at the Summit about that topic, in fact.

Looks unlikely (http://wiki.maemo.org/Talk:Maemo_Summit_2009/Submissions#Hacking_officially_unsupported_Bluetoo th_profiles_to_work_in_Fremantle) to be accepted at the moment :-(

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-14, 02:32

Looks unlikely (http://wiki.maemo.org/Talk:Maemo_Summit_2009/Submissions#Hacking_officially_unsupported_Bluetoo th_profiles_to_work_in_Fremantle) to be accepted at the moment :-(

Well, then, I guess we'll just have to disseminate the information over beer. ;)

manda

2009-09-15, 02:38

Trust me, I don't want to see vsync tearing on a device I'm planning to buy. This is a dealbreaker for me.
According to this http://www.valeriovalerio.org/?p=266 vsync tearing is fixed.

ysss

2009-09-15, 03:14

According to this http://www.valeriovalerio.org/?p=266 vsync tearing is fixed.

Thanks very much :)

I'm very glad that:
1. I wasn't hallucinating when I spotted vsync in some of the early videos
2. It's gone now!

qole

2009-09-15, 04:55

Whew! Now we can all sleep sounder! ;)

zkyevolved

2009-09-17, 14:06

Quim assured us that all of the Pidgin protocols would be handled through telepathy-haze. So that means IM support for MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and more.

That's wonderful :) The main reason I have a smart phone is to be able to communicate via ALL methods: Facebook, AIM, MSN, GTalk, Skype, etc. :) So I'm happy to hear this!

EDIT: Question, so .... I'm a total newb to Maemo, and especially Maemo 5. But... Telepathy-Haze is the built in app around the contacts program that allows you to have the chat function via skype, gtalk and ovi, right? So when TH releases their "newer version" You'll be able to chat across the other protocols? Thx :)

mike_shenoda

2009-09-17, 16:19

so three q plz
does the n900 support mms?
does the n900 got a digital compass so augmented reality app can be supported?
is the n900 upgradable to maemo 6?
thnx

GeneralAntilles

2009-09-17, 16:22

does the n900 support mms?

No.

does the n900 got a digital compass so augmented reality app can be supported?

No.

is the n900 upgradable to maemo 6?

Unknown, but current speculation points to yes.

qole

2009-09-17, 17:02

All three of those questions should be drinking game (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=29907) questions. Drink! Drink! Drink!

(thanks for answering them again, GeneralAntilles)

zkyevolved

2009-09-17, 18:15

I'm really excited about this phone. I've never really owned a Nokia phone, is this going to be worth 600 euros in your point of view? And I asked a question on page 17 which I just edited in :$ Could someone answer that? Thanks :D

qole

2009-09-17, 18:24

EDIT: Question, so .... I'm a total newb to Maemo, and especially Maemo 5. But... Telepathy-Haze is the built in app around the contacts program that allows you to have the chat function via skype, gtalk and ovi, right? So when TH releases their "newer version" You'll be able to chat across the other protocols? Thx :)

Telepathy is the core of the contacts engine in Maemo. By default, Maemo only has a few protocols built-in. Telepathy-Haze is the library that uses libpurple (the Pidgin library) to get access to a vast array of IM protocols.

Nothing is in the repositories yet, but we've been told quite firmly that we're getting the Pidgin protocols integrated in. I think that even means stuff like Facebook chat.

zkyevolved

2009-09-17, 19:10

Cool :) Thanks for the explanation! I'm so hyped about this phone. I really want to pre-order it.

Does MAEMO5 support Idle Imap for GMAIL?

Did you guys pre-order the device? :D

zkyevolved

2009-09-17, 20:06

Did anyone notice that on the videos on youtube, when the people with N900s showed of the GTALK, it showed that the person was online and then upon trying to send a message, it said that they weren't? Strange... right? Or is this something everyone knows about already xD