qgil | # 71 | 2009-01-09, 16:16 | Report

Ah, so much energy invested in threads like this one...

Nokia hibernating? Silence? We are around maemo.org and related upstream projects every day. We actually comment a lot, also about future plans, compared to the usual practices in this industry.

If you want to know more about the future of the Maemo platform and even help forge it, go to http://bugs.maemo.org or http://www.octofish.net/bugjar/ and vote, comment on the features that interest you more. Or create new requests if what matters to you is missing.

There is quite a lot known about Fremantle thanks to the push done by people like you investing their time in fruitful work there and also looking at the pre-alpha release done in December. And there are even some sparks about Harmattan.

About the 5 steps/generations, a tip: don't get too obsessed. In his posicion as vice-president of Markets, Anssi Vanjoki talks mainly about hardware (discrete objects) while Maemo SW people like Peter, ragnar or myself talk mainly about software (continuous development). This is why you see the software people less concerned about such steps. Think also that you, me, Anssi or Peter might have very different barometers for what "mass consumer products" means.

And don't get obsessed because you are going to be impressed by Fremantle and are going to be impressed by Harmattan as well.

About the devices to come with Maemo inside... trust Nokia. B) If you liked the progress 770 --> N800 --> N810 you are probably going to love what comes next.

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Last edited by qgil; 2009-01-09 at 16:19.

allnameswereout | # 72 | 2009-01-09, 16:37 | Report

LOL. Ridiculous! How much per MB does it cost? And do they not allow that they instead cap you, or close your subscription for the rest of the month? Do they notify you that you reached the limit?

It really depends on what you use your device for. You can download some heavy bandwidth stuff via your WLAN, USB, or BlueTooth. Just surfing around will not cost you much (especially not if you'd use Opera Mini btw) except for things like software downloads, some big pictures and Flash (banners, Youtube). Using specially crafted websites like .mobi won't burn much.Things like checking your e-mail, getting updates on OMWeather, using AGPS hardly use data traffic while they're very useful being able to use 24/7 as is the case with a good WWAN network. With current tablet you can grab RSS feeds in the morning and use 'em throughout the day, and check your e-mail in morning too. With WWAN, you can do this throughout the day, and the traffic is really minimal. Just be careful wrt roaming. All in all, for the usages I described you'd have more than enough with 400 MB. The added latency does not matter for something like OMWeather either. Think about it: 13 MB a day, and if they're a nice corporation they won't bother about a few MB more one month if you use a few MB less the other month.

My issue is rather. Will they allow a mobile phone subscription, or a laptop subscription? The laptop subscriptions are more expensive. But allow more data being used, and do allow tethering. This is calculated in the price of the subscription.

allnameswereout | # 73 | 2009-01-09, 16:50 | Report

If you look in some threads about economy I clearly described how the economy is based on a lot of hot air. It has to collapse one time. Might be now, might be later. If you make money digital its even more easily created allowing more flexible handling.

If you take that into account, and look at the price of hardware which has been going down for years, you might see how devices are still sold if the economy doesn't completely go boom (my assumption) provided the devices are useful. I don't know about you, but a device which gives me a lot of information about what is going on in the world and allows me to manage my communication whereever I am is a godsend. (And if it will have some kind of user-friendly PIM then I won't need to use my E71 for that anymore either.)

If the economy goes completely boom however there are a lot of other issues than Fremantle. You'd save your prayers to have a roof above your head with some -I mean any- food while your income is the same but the money worth jack and squat because of inflation. Case in point: Iceland. If that happens, Nokia and a lot of other tech corporations go bust, and the government will have its prioritoes to save corporations for example those which are important for infrastructure.

mrojas | # 74 | 2009-01-09, 17:08 | Report

I can only say that after having using a N800 for a while, with the latest Diablo release, I feel it a little fragile and slow, but still gets the job done (after some research). It is a swiss-army knife, but with some blades missing, some that I need to add on my own using complex instructions and others that doesn't seem to match the set.

I hope that Fremantle has the impressive and robust UI that the Palm Pre is showing... It has a OMAP 3430 inside, and it shows. I have been a Nokia user for many years, and I know they trade UI/usability for raw features, but improving user experience is something that is getting overdue for them.

Texrat | # 75 | 2009-01-09, 17:09 | Report

The situation appears to me that it will fall between your two bookends. At some point this year significant numbers of consumers will be seen to drastically change their spending habits, but it won't be enough to put the likes of Nokia out of business.

One problem with economic downturns is that companies overreact, and individual people underreact. That is in fact what's going on as we speak.

sachin007 | # 76 | 2009-01-09, 17:22 | Report

That brings me to the question:

Why did nokia think that touchscreen phones were not the right thing of the future? I mean the 7710 was a good phone with a great screen at that point..... why did they chose to close down the touchscreen series? I mean it was so obvious that touch was going to be the future. Apple just came in and it became the inventor of everything!

sachin007 | # 77 | 2009-01-09, 17:29 | Report

We all know that fremantle is going to be great and so on. But we are just a little frustrated for not having a new hardware since more than 2 years. I understand there is major re-structuring and am really happy.. but it is just that frustration, that is all.

Texrat | # 78 | 2009-01-09, 17:37 | Report

yeah, there really should have been an N800 follow-up IMO.

allnameswereout | # 79 | 2009-01-09, 17:52 | Report

I also have no clue about these statistics regarding decembre. Sure, people might have spend more than in a previous year, but that does not mean much. They might have saved up. Or cannot save up now anymore. I know my expenses are increasing a lot this year... (but still, like I said, a perfect or near-perfect device would be a good investment. A toy, no thanks.)

Anyway, you would rather not want to see Nokia jumping further on touchscreen bandwagon? Then what? The competition would then sell these devices as of now, and have to quit that later this year when the bubble is truelly at its bursting end? Or, you think by the time the devices are released the bubble is already bursting leaving Nokia with stock of mass produced devices which aren't selling? When one then argues Nokia was too late, that'd be accurate conclusion?

namtastic | # 80 | 2009-01-09, 18:05 | Report

Which harkens to my favorite line from NewsRadio: "Midnight was just a loose guideline. I'm dealing with a corporation here, not magical fairies."