Not one week - according to the MacRumors transcript, it's available only in June in the US, Q4 in Europe and 2008 (!!) in Asia.
How much does a carrier subsidize a phone with a 2-year contract? If it's $100 per year then the cheapest phone is actually $699. Nokia probably could have done a lot more with the N800 given that price target..
What annoys me the most is the UI patents Apple has filed. We still can't use spring-loaded folders in our non-Finder file managers (hover a dragged file on top of a folder's icon and that folder springs open in a new window, so you can dig down into subfolders) because Apple patented it..
I generally like Apple products but being mostly a Linux user, another plus of buying the N800 (apart from it being available now) is that any improvement made by Nokia or the Linux community will be interchanged. Bluetooth audio, for example (whenever it's ready) .. and now that Maemo comes with evolution-data-server, the obvious next step is to integrate opensync so you can keep the same address book on your desktop, tablet *and* phone.
Does look impressive. Ok, so what are the down sides compared to N800:
1) Price!
2) You are tied to Cingular for 2 years (although someone on M-R.com forum claimed the contract free prices are $694/$749)
3) No webcam (maybe able to "show" with the cam on the back)
4) Less ability to install 3rd party apps (not sure about this)
5) Not sure if supports BT keyboards
6) IF you are a developer, less access to developing your own apps for it, right?
To me 1 and 2 are real issues. Others (as an end consumers, much less so, and potentially benefits in the sense of better stability and tried and tested Apple apps).
Obviously, there are many things that are likely much better on the iPhone, so I am not even trying to list them here.
This IS without a doubt the BIGGEST competitor to the N800 (and previous 770).
It will probably have a wonderful user interface. So it will be a very good alternative for mobile browsing.
The UI will probably be better than the N800, Multi-touch is a BIG improvement. and it has a build-in phone.
It also has some problems: From what i've seen the phone only supports GSM and Edge. So if your carrier only has UMTS, you will only have GPRS dial in speeds.
With the N800 you can choose your own phone and data-plan.
The screen is said to be 488 x 274 (isn't that PSP resolution?)
From what I read the battery is NOT replaceable.
Is will only be available from June (that's in the US and much later in Europe and Asia).
AND it will be expensive ($500 or $600 IF buy a 2 year phone contract)
By the time it reaches Europe (fourth quarter) it will only be a few more month till Nokia releases another new tablet (undoubtedly with improvements)
If any of this info is incorrect (I just copy/pasted it from engadget reactions from users) please let me know.
BTW. the new Nokia N92, N93i and N95 are also VERY nice multifunction phones
What annoys me the most is the UI patents Apple has filed. We still can't use spring-loaded folders in our non-Finder file managers (hover a dragged file on top of a folder's icon and that folder springs open in a new window, so you can dig down into subfolders) because Apple patented it..
Right. It's becoming more and more obvious that patents such as this one shouldn't be allowed. Next they go and file a patent for blue desktop wallpapers or what?
It was actually the very first thing my eyes jumped to when I saw the pictures of the keynote on engadget: The one slide that featured all of the highlights ( "works like magic", "no stylus", "multi-finger gestures") included the line "patented!" - as if it were something positive!
Patenting is fine and needed. How you use your patents is another thing. Apple does not license (not sure if that's the right term) its patents to anyone. That sucks. Then again, message to competition: innovate more.
Nice smart phone, and if it's made to come even within a hairsbreadth of a midrange G3 in performance, it should smoke the 770/N800, but that resolution demotes it to "really keen smartphone."
Sure, there's scaling, various forms of hackery, etc., and this is about as close as Apple will ever let me get to a handheld Mac, but it still falls ever so slightly short of being the ideal Swiss Army Knife.
It has an excellent chance of replacing my Treo. It's going to have to be pretty damned impressive, however, to knock any device with an 800x480 display out of the running for the middleman between smartphone and laptop. Basically, if I don't have enough screen real estate to get an 80x25 terminal emulator running on it, I've got a problem.
What's a 80x25 terminal emulator? I.e. my point is: most people don't care about something like that. But you are right, web browsing won't be quite as good as on N800.
BTW. the new Nokia N92, N93i and N95 are also VERY nice multifunction phones
The N-serie is indeed vey impressive (in design and functionality) but should Nokia compete with Apple then....Nokia should produce Pc's (but not with windows as OS.....)..This may sound strange but in order to integrate mobile functionality with home functionality then producing mobile functionality alone is not enough (just take a look at teh MP3 players. How can one company dominate in such market: integration with a computer, not only by hardware but with software too).
I still think buying the iPhone withou using the GSM part....
hmm, on another post it says: 480 x 320 (It says 488 x 274 in another)
Still WAY less than 800x480.
The nokia 770 was (without caver) 141 x 79 x 19 mm
The iPhone is 115x61x12.
So it is smaller, just like the screen iPhone: 3.5-inch (Nokia 770 4.3-inch? or 4.13?)
So it is much more of an phone than the tablets.
It is very interesting to see that it all is starting to converge:
Phone, computer, navigation system, music player, video player, watch and game system
I.e. my point is: most people don't care about something like that. But you are right, web browsing won't be quite as good as on N800.