Odin | # 91 | 2007-04-29, 00:15 | Report

This is the only option that Nokia has (in my opinion) to both save face and at the same time appease the existing 770 user base. We do have some clout and anyone asking me gets: "Go ahead fool, buy a Nokia."

Once the OS becomes open source just imagine the possibilities. The hardware is underpowered, but has extensive capability in terms of I/O and expansion. Just trimming out all the crap and building an efficient and dynamically upgradable browser would be a great leap forward.

Odin | # 92 | 2007-04-29, 00:17 | Report

Your friend? I think you have a duty to at least point him here. Keep mum about it around your enemies.

iball | # 93 | 2007-04-29, 05:13 | Report

I bought an N800 because it does EXACTLY what I want and a little "more".
VoIP (Gizmo), reading ebooks, quick-check of email, and limited web browsing while on the move.
On a recent trip I took I went sans Macbook Pro and just used the N800. It was fine, even letting me call both home and work while on layover in Frankfurt (via Gizmo).
And they probably will never release the full-on sources for the N770 because I bet they re-used a lot of it for the N800.
What it looks like to me is a ton of buyer's remorse in here. How many cell phones from Nokia last as long in production as the N770 did? I have an "old" 6620 that was pretty much obsolete the day I bought it new. There's still a ton of software out there for that phone and there's still a ton of software that can be ported over to the N770 as well.
Seriously folks, stop whining already.
This is like amateur drag racing, a "hobby" where you have to pay to play.
If you can't fork out the dough to "upgrade" then be content with what you have because out of everything else out there for this niche market, this is one of the better products. Think of it more this way: if you have to ask how much it costs then you can't afford it. Move on to something that's cheaper.
A year from now if Nokia decides to announce/release the "new N900" or whatever I won't care since the N800 does what I need it to do right now. I'm not trying to force my N800 to be a jack-of-all-trades device because those types of devices tend to never do any one thing really well.
Deal with it. Life goes on.

fpp | # 94 | 2007-04-29, 09:30 | Report

Thanks for the philosophy lecture :-)
But this isn't about money, it's about open source, and what you say vs. what you do.
Nokia never claimed any of their phones was 'open', and we don't blame them for that. Maemo is a totally different matter.

mrp | # 95 | 2007-04-29, 09:30 | Report

whining and whining. This is not whining. This is about getting what you are supposed to get. You buy something that is faulty it should be fixed. It really is strange that there is no obligations concerning buggy software. It is really stupid to accept lack of support with no complaining at all. And they even, at least in Finland, keep on selling 770 in their web shop!
On my part it is not about the 400 Euros. It is about what is right or wrong and once people accept this kind of practise, how can we ever expect anything better

=DC= | # 96 | 2007-04-29, 14:12 | Report

Yeah, one of my channels stopped working as well, but I never really used it much with headphones anyways. Much luck to you getting it fixed. I might try my hand at it if you get it working again and share your repair experience.

I don't think I'll stop using the 770 until it becomes "completely" useless to me. The wireless would have to go out, MMC reader stop reading, face buttons stop working, touch screen stop responding, and not turn on at all before I look at replacing it with another. But maybe I'm just the type of person that doesn't like to give up so easily on this type of stuff, and sometimes that can be a bad thing.

dtrask | # 97 | 2007-04-29, 15:04 | Report

Well, to whatever newbies are reading this.. I love my n800! It does exactly what I need. Easy web browsing...easy email & communication...ability to control & manage servers via ssh or VNC...and so forth. Remember...it's an internet tablet...not a laptop replacement. It allows me to travel lighter when all I need is online connectivity and resources.

=DC= | # 98 | 2007-04-29, 18:35 | Report

...and that's all that truly matters to most of us. I think it's going to take a handful of developers to ensure that 770, N800, and future Internet Tablets owners get to enjoy a lot of the great software and services without discriminating between the devices too much.

ArnimS | # 99 | 2007-04-29, 22:28 | Report

It's fine to be in love with the 770 / 800 tablets - as products, they deserve it. My overall subjective impression is that they are quite solid, and I think the Nokia software people deserve high praise for the end result.

I also think it is justifiable for Nokia to reserve OS and app enhancements for the N800's it2007 and later tablets.

I can't, however, be silent on Nokia dropping bugfix support on a device that's still being sold. I've only encountered one bug that hurts my efforts in porting games/emus (which is pretty good!) - but - this bug really hurts.

This frustration is tempered by the awareness that nothing comes close to the features provided by the 770/800 at this price point, and that i will, in time, find workarounds for my porting/development issues.

=DC= | # 100 | 2007-04-30, 01:09 | Report

I'm with you there ArnimS. Good, solid devices and fairly stable software (considering today's complexity in all aspects of OS and software development), and aside from this being a more open ended mobile platform than any I've seen before, especially as this is still a fairly new genre of mobile devices. And all this at a really decent price, from a reputable mobile manufacturer is like living a very cool dream.

I also share your pain with the killing of 770 support, as it was most certainly a despicable move on Nokia's part, and I still believe that it has done more harm than good for those that are early adopters of the 770 as well as the second wave of customers purchasing or considering the purchase of the N800. And I firmly believe most new Internet Tablet customers take the plunge because of the community here and other great sites heavily promoting the coolness of the experience of owning these gadgets.

As far as development is concerned, I learned that depending on many elements to ensure future software compatibility is quite daunting when you intend to support two (or more) branches of an operating system, and that each has had it's fair share of issues to have to work around. I personally no longer trust my work to the horrors of an Application Manager either. Ironically, the option that might work for some of my projects will be by using Flash and the Opera browser to power them. Two of some of the major assets of these devices, yet the least involved when it comes to what the devices are capable of. I hope to change that a little, but we'll just have to see how Nokia decides for the devices to progress from here, as the ball is still in their court with the "not quite fully open source" issue. Time will tell, there's still a long ways for the concept to grow.