Re: N900 specs revealed
 

The Good (from things I've asked for):

• It's a PHONE, with voice and SMS!
• It's a T-Mobile 3G phone (it's a PHONE!!! that runs MAEMO!!!!)
• A NIT with a respectable photo camera!!!
• Base memory of 32GB!!!
• Did I mention Nokia Maemo Phone!!?!?!

The Bad:

• 4.3"x2.4" device!? with a 3.5" screen? Didn't all of the maemo phone advocates all say they didn't want to shrink the size? What's Nokia smoking here?
• 3 row keyboard ... bleh. We wanted MORE keys, not less. 5 rows... not 4, not 3. 4 row keyboards are bad enough, but 3 row keyboards are ATROCIOUS. Full qwerty, with dedicated number keys. Nothing less.
• They have two great designs right now (the N97 and today's leak of the Mako), but this one looks VERY plain, and downright disappointing. Why couldn't they have gone with a design like the N97 or Mako? ... and especially with a tilt screen like the N97.

So much to be excited about ... so much to be disappointed about.

I really would have preferred to see a giant (meaning "N810 size") N97 or Mako, with 5 row keyboard. The Mako, with a 4.1" tilt screen, 5 row keyboard, retaining its dpad and button cluster on the face, and running Maemo ... THAT would have been a SEXY beast. Though, really, even just the Mako and/or N97, the size they are, with Maemo, would look MUCH nicer than this thing. This thing just looks SO plain.

It'll be interesting to see where this goes. Will there ALSO be a 4.1" screen tablet (with or without phone functionality)? What about the rumors of a Maemo netbook? Will there be AT&T versions of these devices as well?

(for those who didn't see the Mako, it was on Engadget and Engadget Mobile)

Will I buy it? There's a good chance I will, because I don't want to see a Maemo phone fail. I want this to be the first of several Maemo phones from Nokia. But, given what other things Nokia is releasing right now, I think they could have done better with their first Maemo phone. A LOT better than what we see in that rendering (it's a rendering, right?). If I do buy it, I will likely still harp for something much better.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

And what's the number of the rumored Maemo netbook?

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

:D Nope

It's going to be a *usable* *computer*, though, and it seems I'll have it in my hands much before that... thing... (eeek!). is available in Europe.

"This thing is way too late in shipping to customers, but when it is done, it will be a solid little product you will have fun with over the balance of your summer." [see here]

EDIT: but I understand that speaking Pandora here is a thread crapping, and it's my fault. So please accept my excuses :)

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Seeing these specs I am glad I picked up a N810 when it was 150$ on the Nokia website :-) I had buyers remorse and thought I should have waited for the N900 but this screen size does not appeal to me. I read a lot on the N810 and I would rather like to see a larger screen (isn't Apple going for a 7" in its internet tablet?).
The phone functionality is a definite bonus though, and maybe this will bring Maemo to the mainstream iphone/G1/PRE customers.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

No. It is a 2x increase in RAM, easily eaten by Clutter, QT, and other assorted stuff found in Fremantle. Amount of memory swapped to disk does not count here.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

(I now have to admit that I've just seen a 4 row qwerty keyboard I can respect: it's on the HTC Fortress, for AT&T -- it still has a dedicated number area though, off to the right side of the qwerty keys, sort of like a full desktop keyboard, only thumb size; there's a picture on Engadget.)

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Well I'm every hopeful this isn't the replacement tablet - 3.5" screen is not what I want at all, I was hoping for something larger than the existing 4.3" screen.

Fine for a phone though, assuming it has voice.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

I do share your general concern, but if the "leaked" info is real I don't necessarily think that it has anything to do with open development.
mobilcrunch.com indirectly states that their source seems to be located in Helsinki so such things could also happen with completely closed development.

??? N900 versus N800 ??? STILL GOT LOTSA FLAWS ??? WSOD Screen Error ???
 

??? N900 versus N800 ??? STILL GOT LOTSA FLAWS ??? WSOD Screen Error ???

Any1 know how to fix WSOD (white lines on black screen defect due memory corrupt)?

I used to connect my iMac to N800, was never anything. Until recently I installed SyncTunes on my Mac OS X Tiger to sync iTunes to N800, instead my N800 got into such troubles!!!
SyncTunes accessed my both SD cards in N800. But the song title in Japanese, Korean, Thai and Chinese are in a "mess" cant be read!
How to solve such problem? Installing Fonts? iKeyboard?

Any better syncing software other than SyncTunes.
Nokia MultiMedia Transfer couldnot work for N800, only Symbian platform?

Many thanks for help! GBU any1 !

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

This is obviously not the N810 replacement (or I'm in denial), the specs on that read like a smartphone.

One of the things that bother me is texrat's comments. He seems reliable and from what he has contributed, I'm not very pleased at all.

What also bothers me is that a lot of people have said that they do not want a reduction in screen size and we have representatives here that have spoken at various events with Nokia reps. So...

I'm depressed.:(

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

I can’t see this ‘leak’ being true.

After all this is supposed to be the new Internet Tablet. The screen size of an IT or MID is in the range of 4.5” to 6” - ok give or take a bit, it is not cast in stone. Bigger is a UMPC and smaller is a smart phone.

A screen size of 3.5” puts it in the Palm Treo, iPhone, HTC, etc. category.

This is not an Internet Tablet, at least as I would understand the term.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Not really. We have been promised a Maemo-based device, not necessarily a tablet.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

IF this is true, I am very, very disappointed indeed. That is a phone, not the next gen IT.

the screen size of the N8x is great for video on the plane/train, reading books etc. this is an iphone spec.

IF this is true, this is defintely one N770/N800 user that will NOT be buying the next gen, with greaty, great disapointment after waiting this long and not going down the iphone route.

I will probably look at a cheap 810 and mer for the next year or so and hope someone else picks up the ahead of its time and now seemingly ended IT form...:mad:

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

In fact, iirc, they explicitly stated that they wouldn't use the term 'internet tablet' any more.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

After a little thought. The only way it (having voice and 3.5" screen) makes sense with the N97 so close in launch is if this is a transitional device. The reason could be that on super-high end phones (like the N97 is for Nokia) you can't experiment. If it sucks, it damages the whole generation devices and even the brand itself. Hence, make a shadow N97-with-maemo device and experiment with Maemo telephony in public. If this chimera device works out, the next Nseries generation can move to a Maemo derivate (which would be the final, fifth generation) without fear of user acceptance. This strategy is only valid is there IS another device in the queue, as Rover is not more a N810 replacement than the N97 is.

Ahh. Nothing like the smell of fresh speculation in the morning :D

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Also a few points for the previous posters:

- The current battery is 1500mAh, so it's still there, with the smaller screen it's roughly on-par with the current generation battery-wise

- Guessing about the two circles. You guys don't have a N800 do you ? :D The N810 already has two circles in the same exact spot - the webcam and the ambient light sensor.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Wow!

...and if I want to use it with my service provider I might have to sacrifice 20% of that 3.5" screen to an advertisement? :p

These recent leaks are killing me :rolleyes:

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

If it's a phone - I can live with that.

If it has a smaller screen than the N800/810 - I can live with that too, so long as it is a phone.

We all, perhaps naively, believed that the Maemo 5 lead device would be a tablet-like device with similar large screen and data only via HSPA. We have also seen comments from Nokia that they are readying Maemo 5 for primetime. Tablets do not sell in the numbers that phones do. For Maemo 5 to go primetime, it probably has to be launched on a phone platform first. Then all the hype around the awesome OS and apps will allow them to throw their second punch - a tablet-like device with the same hardware, and data connection via HSPA (no cellular voice). If the leaked information is correct, this is how I hope the Maemo 5 based devices play out after the phone's launch.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

One crucial point they must do is announce (even if not ship) all devices at once. Otherwise people will just play wait-and-see hoping the other devices are what they're looking for damaging sales for both. If I had no previous Maemo devices, I'd probably buy Rover, but as I do, the Rover is not for me.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

And I think it was very sweet of Nokia to leak these specs at this time. Like qgil in Texrat's thread, Nokia saw how we were turning on one another without any new horrible design mistakes to complain about (in these wonderful devices we love so much, and defend so ferociously), understood the problem, and fed us exactly what we needed.

Nokia truly loves the maemo.org community!

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

I love it! I will pick one up at launch (if these specs are accurate). Although there may be 'shortcomings' (to some... I love the specs) there appear to be no complete deficiencies of features.

As Atilla77 stated, a transition device, and IMO a great one.

The size and features make it a much more consumer-friendly device, which is probably why it's ticking off the community: it does not appeal to a market that seems far too small to economically support this product line. But the OSS component and the increased specs will still appeal to the original NIT community which I suspect will come to love this new device, and/or be replaced by a hoard that do.

This seems to be playing out very much how the N810 release played out. Most of the community were up in arms over the N810 release and the decisions Nokia made. Now, despite its arguable shortcomings, it would seem that the majority of individuals here actually prefer the N810 (myself included).

I foresee something similar with the N900.


As an aside....

If this picture is an acurate representation of the final device, take a note of where the headphone port is. It would seem that the 'kick-stand' is either missing or has changed. I'm guessing that it's a ring around camera lens.


YARR!
}:^)~
Captinicas Corrupteos

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Screen itself does not consume that much power, but backlight does (whether it is LED or the traditional backlight). Thus, somewhat smaller screen size will not affect power consumption.

Yes, it is most likely a small webcam + sensor. Not much weirdness there.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Let us pray now and then make a <preferably bloody> sacrifice! =)

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Only if you pump the same amount of light into a smaller screen, making it brighter. Or, I suppose, if you backlight the bezel instead of just the screen. But neither of those seem particularly likely; even if the maximum backlight power is maintained, the adaptive brightness would leave it turned down farther except in conditions calling for full brightness.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

I hope this item is successful as a phone -- and then that success is leveraged to strengthen the maemo/ IT/ open source concept to corporate sales and whatever other inside resistance those ideas have been meeting, (if any), because frankly, seeing this, I think the amazing sales of the iphone have perhaps been influential and pulled the idea away from where the 770 and N8x0 were headed.

As specs and concepts have been released recently, I have to admit my N800 has been looking better and better every day...



This is key for me, personally. I want maemo, Nokia and the entire concept around open source ITs to succeed but I don't see how this is an improvement over what I currently use the N800 for, (of course it will "perform" better, but it won't add many more useful functions/ usability over my N800).

A smaller screen is a big disappointment to me which a TV and usb vga out could mitigate some, but what I really want seems closer to the N800 I already have.

I would be annoyed to buy what I think is the highest end model, only to find out that it's been obsoleted (to me personally) by a new model more suited to current use, which could very easily happen if what I see in RX-51/N900 specs is true.


Joe

Edit: on the plus side, I no longer have a lust for a new device. :p

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Not sure I follow. A smaller screen reqires less power to illuminate to the same level. So you either need less backlight/LEDs or you can run them at a lower level to have equal brightness to a larger screen. 3.5" vs 4.1" should be in the range of 30% difference in area, which is a considerable power factor.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

3.5" will require about the same amount of backlighting as 4.1", so do not expect much change there.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Care to elaborate why ? We're talking amount of emitted light per area here. While 0.6" does not sound like much, area grows with a square, so it's really 12.25*const vs 16.81*const, which is...(calculator tapping) ~37% more.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

I for one would welcome a 3.5" screen, if it means that the rest of the device is also smaller accordingly. Hopefully it really turns out the be a full phone, but I seem to remember that it was mentioned repeatedly by Nokia people that the next Maemo device would be data-only, so unless Nokia has changed its mind I very much doubt that part of the rumor.

Also, I think it's a bit weird that anybody really expected full-sized SD slots. Apart from cameras, no handheld device uses normal SD cards anymore, unsurprisingly. microSD is the way forward, if you ask me.

And remember: even if this rumor turns out to be true, it's only one Maemo device, while apparently at least two are coming up - RX51 and RX71...

Edit: interestingly, somebody I'd call very reliable just mentioned that the hardware specs in that MobileCrunch post were "pretty much spot on"...hmmm...

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Nokia has thus far only officially announced data, and, when asked about voice, has repeatedly pointed out that they've only announced data. I've not seen or heard any actual denial of voice support in Maemo 5.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

This difference is negligible with respect to the total power consumption by the device. Let us assume that backlighting is done by 4x60mW (4x3Vx20mA) LEDs i.e. they consume 240mW. Let the device consume total of 2.5W (that is how much N810 draws when running at full speed, if I remember ITT posts correctly).

Now, with the smaller screen you will only need 240W*0.63=151mW or 90mW less. The total power draw by the device will go down by (90mW/2500mW)*100%=3.6%.

By comparison, the battery capacity is going down by (180/1500)*100%=12%.

Of course, the above numbers are all estimates, but they are not that far off from the real numbers.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Why in f*ck's name is the screen smaller?

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Because the buttons are now touch-friendly bigger ;)

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Thank you for the corrections and clarifications.

I thought an Internet Tablet is what we are all waiting on? There is a 159 page 1,581 posts thread called “What would you realistically like to see in the N900?” How many times was there a request for a 3.5” screen?

I only come here because it used be an Internet Tablet Talk forum. It looks like things have moved on.

Personally speaking if I want to discuss mobile phones I shall go to Howard Forums or somesuch.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Ah, we have a miscommunication in terms. I wouldn't call 3.6% such a bad deal in a worst case scenario (as we don't have our precessors pegged to 100% all the time :) ). With fbreader type power usage you're possibly even going to last longer as you're evening out the 12% at about a 750mW average, which is not something unheard of.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

If you are referring to on-screen buttons that are bigger, which I think you are, that is pure genius. Bigger buttons, smaller screen. I can't believe I didn't think of it first! :confused:

If you are referring to the keyboard buttons, you will recall, I don't even want a hardware keyboard. But anyway, if the keyboard buttons are bigger, wouldn't that make the screen bigger, too, since the keyboard slides underneath the screen?

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Yea, that would be roughly equal to the loss in battery capacity. On the other hand, I am somewhat sceptical about needing 4x60mW LEDs for such small screens. Just chose a safe overestimate.

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

Yep "pure genius" :D

As far as I can see the n900 is a 5mm thicker IPhone which is because of the keyboard. Not bad a trade off I'd say.
http://sizeasy.com/page/size_compari...N900-vs-iphone

I'm on the fence right now... I'd have to hold it in my hand to see if it's going to work for me. I kinda like it, but we'll see what the other devices will be...

Re: N900 specs revealed
 

I probably wasn't going to buy it anyway, but the screen size is the clincher.