GeraldKo | # 1 | 2009-12-31, 06:42 | Report

Here is an article about how it appears that sales of the Apple iPod touch now exceed iPhone sales:

http://iphonetouch.blorge.com/2009/1...es-the-iphone/

Personally, I'm not surprised, as it's cheaper, smaller, and doesn't require $1,000/year in fees.

What amazes (and appalls and disheartens) me is that Nokia -- which created the category with the 770 and then the N8x0 -- has abandoned the category. Think about it: the Touch tablets are selling so fast that they are more popular than the iPhone, yet Nokia has zero offerings in the category.

bunanson | # 2 | 2009-12-31, 07:11 | Report

Somewhere in the forum, there is talk about N920, tablet with bigger screen and no cell? I would call it a Nokia tablet..........at least in my dream.

bun

go1dfish | # 3 | 2009-12-31, 07:42 | Report

The n900 functions perfectly fine without a SIM card I know someone using it in such a manner for everyday use.

Would a separate iPod Touch product be necessary at all were it not for Apple's carrier exclusivity deals and the fact that the iPhone will not operate at all without cellular activitation?

mikec | # 4 | 2009-12-31, 07:48 | Report

My best friends have just bought Touch's for all the kids for xmas. They have been doing download frenzy on the free apps in the apps store.

Matan | # 5 | 2009-12-31, 08:39 | Report

Except that it cannot use another phone to access the internet. That is "functions perfectly fine" in the iWorld, but we got used to a bit better with the internet tablets.

BatPenguin | # 6 | 2009-12-31, 08:45 | Report

That's pretty irrelevant. I could make up a silly car or pizza analogy for this, but yeah, let's not go there.

Whether or not one of the most expensive cell phones on the market can be crippled to almost (no applications to speak of though) match devices half its price is not a strong buying point. The N900 is a very expensive tablet if you buy it as such. So yes, it probably "works fine as a tablet" (not really, IMHO, but let's not talk about its appearance/thickness compared to Apple's toy, applications etc.) , but nobody except a die-hard Maemo fanatic would ever consider buying it for that purpose. In the mean time, the Ipod Touch is everywhere and the Android tablets are starting to come out as well.

It's a bit late now, but still, even now a separate Nokia tablet would be great in getting people into Maemo. Frankly, Nokia blew this thing themselves. The tablets should've been coming out and improving constantly N700->N800->810->N850->N860 etc.) while we waited (and continue to wait...) for a truly good Maemo phone, that would've gotten more and more people into Maemo. Now we're left with one modern Maemo device, one that leads the market in exactly one user group, the Linux enthusiast. N810 updated with newer CPU and a Diablo OS with bug fixes would be the best tablet on the market. There was no new Maemo device for 2 years (forget the Wimax, never even seen one...), why oh why?

Maemo "was there first" - there is no reason except stupidity and lack of vision for Nokia to give up on the lead they had in tablet devices. Now if they even decide to get back into the tablet devices, they'll be playing catch-up to Apple and Android there! Incredible. Not a week goes by without a new Android phone or tablet being announced, rumours of Apple tablet, etc.

I totally agree with GeraldKO. It's incredible that Nokia just gave the tablet market away. Incredible and sad. No wonder the company's stock price has gone from 60 to 9 euros with leadership and vision like this.

bunanson | # 7 | 2009-12-31, 08:47 | Report

Ummm............I am not aware that one HAVE to use a sim card with the N900. I have been using for 2 wks, no sim card, no problem, almost...........except one cannot access the phone menu without sim card. I throw in an outdated att sim card for config of the phone then I threw the sim card away....to make the phone lighter

And yes, it is a very expensive tablet by all means

bun

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Last edited by bunanson; 2009-12-31 at 08:50.

Dorisall | # 8 | 2009-12-31, 09:27 | Report

Well what is the N900 then ? I think adding a sim card slot is a great idea. If you don't need it then don't use it, but it cuts down the amount of gadgets that you have to carry around and it makes sure that you are connected wherever you are unlike 770 which would be useless in an area with no WiFi.

So if I have to pick between any other tablet and N900 then it would be the N900 hands down. As for pricing then all I could say is "this is Nokia", the Booklet 3G sells for $600 compared to $200 ~ $499 netbook range so Nokia is expensive in general.

So if I have the option to have a tablet with 3G SIM and telephony available for $100 more the so be it.

BatPenguin | # 9 | 2009-12-31, 09:46 | Report

You're kind of missing the point here: this thing is not advertised as a tablet, so even if you are able think that SIM slot is a great add-on to a tablet, to the rest of the world this is "not a tablet". Outside of this forum, the N900 is a cell phone. Sorry.

Also, the $100 (seriously, though, the price difference between the N900 and any modern tablet-like device is at least double that, in euros) is probably a bigger deal to people buying the kids or wife internet devices.

If Nokia is not interested in tablet devices, then fine, it's their call. But claiming that the N900 is something that people buying the iPod touch / Android tablets / upcoming Apple Tablet would consider is just silly. Maemo should be all over the tablet segment, in my opinion, since it's well-suited for tablets. I'm just cranky that Nokia doesn't seem to agree.

SubCore | # 10 | 2009-12-31, 10:11 | Report

i don't see how ipod touch (or the iphone for that matter) with their stripped down browsers could qualify as "internet tablets"...