Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

The Ångström Distribution project seems to have a head start on this :
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

Great effort... Maybe the day will come when the Nokia 770 or N800 will really run an open system. I'm not holding my breath, though :)

BTW: Did anyone try it? They have a file in a directory called images/20070104/nokia770/, but no instructions whatsoever of what to do with it. I don't want to brick my dear 770, but maybe one of those people who told us here that theirs is collocting dust under their beds could give it a try? :D

Link to the Nokia-directory at Ångström

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

I would really enjoy a keyboard that is either custom-made for the 770/800 or has fittings for them to snap into. What would be really nice for the n800 is to have the keyboard act as a (large) cover. The keyboard would be larger than the tablet and wider but roughly the same height; it could be snapped together securely to make it durable enough to throw in a book bag/briefcase.

Larry

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

A thumbboard is the one thing I do miss on the Nokia series, coming from the Zaurus SL-6000L. Input speed and accuracy just aren't as good with stylus keyboards. However, the SL-6000 was a bit bigger then the Internet tablet is. I think the later Zaurus models (with the flip-open clamshell) had the right idea...

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

I have and use an external bt keyboard.

But for walk-around use, a thumbboard, even one as small as the one in my treo, is a good twice as fast and much less annoying and cramp-inducing as pecking things out on the on-scren keyboard.

A treo type keyboard would surely add only a few mm thickness and trivial cost to this device.

In the meantime, a bt sidekick sized keyboard-and-cover for this thing would rock.

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

I got so fired up after this thread last night that I seriously started tackling the NXXX. I am factoring in user feedback and think I have some nifty solutions to many of the gripes. I'll post images later.

Now...if only someone at Nokia would take an interest...

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

I've been sitting watching ever since the 770 first came out - now the 800 is here it looks like I'll be buying soon, once I find a price cheaper than TigerDirect.CA's $507 here in Canada!

I am a Palm user for many a long year, currently on a T3.

What would make text-input easier and faster is if there were a Nokia N800 version of the FITALY text-input system with its keyboard layout and its tap and its 9 directions for each character slide capabilities. It is an incredibly fast way to input text.

Any other Palm FITALY users who would back me up on this statement?
.

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

Well, the two things I don't like with my Zaurus is 1) the hard plastic cover, and 2) the thumbboard..
That cover is IMO just in the way, it's much better (again, IMO) to use a PDA-style screen protector (those soft ones you stick on the screen), combined with a protective carrying case - this could be a leather case or something else. And for a touch-typist like me the tiny thumbboards are painfully inconvenient to use, particularly when I need some characters not immediately available (which you need all the time if you're not strictly in US ASCII land). I _much_ prefer to use the screen keyboard with a stylus.

What I would want from a 900 device is
1) Wake-up functionality! Otherwise calendar- and alarm apps can't work. I'm totally with the poster that went about this at length in another thread. An essential, ridiculously simple, but missing, function. [as I understand it this is still the case with the N800 - someone will correct me if I'm wrong]
2) USB host mode. It should be possible to switch into host mode at will.

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

You're wrong, at least partially ;-)

OS 2007 has a full-featured alarm framework. Details here:

http://www.maemo.org//platform/docs/...face_bora.html

Re: Proposal for the N900: dock/cover/keyboard/usb port
 

I've been having a lot of fun with my N900 proposal design. I've incorporated suggestions regarding speakers, a cover and docking. I can't wait to finish, post and see the resulting flames. :D