Gadgets

ThoughtFix once again delights us - this time with a thorough review of the N800 Internet Tablet. I agree with most of what he says. His conclusion matches my feelings, exactly: “The Nokia N800 delivers the best Internet experience available in a pocketable form without breaking the bank.” Seriously.

I do wish he spent some time extolling the virtues of the built in media player and the soon to be released Canola media player (which is awesome on the 770). I imagine that’s coming in a later post!!

I disagree with his assessment that Google Reader works fine. With a small number of feeds, it’s apparently not bad, but the more you have the slower it is. If you want to use Google Reader on the Internet Tablets, you can use ReaderMini.com, but I wish Google had optimized their code, instead, so we wouldn’t need workarounds like that.

Update: Two more great reviews (via RingNokia): InternetTabletTalk has a multi-video review. Mobile Burn forums has a lengthy review, too.

Who says Google Reader doesn’t work on the Nokia 770 and n800 Internet Tablets? Check out the latest version of my unofficial Google Reader front end, ReaderMini.com.

Changes in Release .9.1 - 1/14/07

• Text in feed list now lines up better.
• Brand new theme!
• Button locations have changed.
• No more (0) if a feed is stale.
• Bold text has been removed from the feed list.
• Fix: Hide/Show stale feeds now works again.
• Added rudimentary AJAX progress indicator to several buttons.
• Changed the icons for a few buttons - checkboxes everywhere!
• Fixed: Links from posts in category river views now work.
• FAQs, Credits added.
• Added a “Get Next Page” button. Works sometimes (normal feeds), but not others (starred items, shared items feeds, category feeds).

ThoughtFix has 2 new n800 posts. The video is a great tour of the device itself, with some commentary on the differences between the n800 and the 770. The video also shows how the interface of the n800 changes automatically when you use your finger instead of the stylus. His First Look post is a great introduction to some of the device’s new features and is a must read if you plan to buy one.

With the introduction of the N800 Internet Tablet, Nokia originally planned to not release the N800’s software improvements to the original tablet, the Nokia 770. After seeing the incredible amount of negative customer feedback that decision caused, Nokia is rethinking their decision and, in an open way, is researching how they can release Internet Tablet OS 2007 for the 770.

At first, I wondered why people were complaining. When a new Palm device comes out, I never expect the OS changes to be made available for older devices. However, per the most popular argument, these customers feel that they purchased a COMPUTER, not a PDA. COMPUTERs generally get new versions of their OS even after an updated model is released.

So, like Nokia, I’m slowly starting to understand where these customers are coming from. Also, like Nokia, my mind is racing with the negatives of a move like this. Backwards compatibility often has a price. Just ask Microsoft. Effort that is spent on maintenance can’t be spent on new features. For a device as early in its development as the Nokia Internet Tablet, I think I’d prefer innovation over backwards compatibility. Note - the two aren’t ALWAYS mutually exclusive and in those cases you should always lean towards back compat.

I own both devices and I would certainly upgrade the 770 to the newer OS if given the choice, but I can understand both sides of the argument and I don’t plan to complain in either case.

I’d like to see a list of blogs that write about the Nokia 770 and n800 (even those that don’t write about the exclusively). If you know of a blog that falls into that category, leave a note in the comments section. I’ll update this post every few days with the complete list.

Thanks to ThoughtFix, we have more great information about the N800.

Some highlights for me:

• The primary use case is the Internet.
• This (and the 770) is the first device built from the ground up for the Internet experience.
• Leaving out the keyboard makes the device smaller, more durable and cheaper. Makes sense, but I’d like to see a keyboard that optionally attaches as a slide-out device.
• Adding proprietary software (Skype, Rhapsody) is not a departure from open source. The 770 and the n800 were only possible because of Open Source and they are maintaining a commitment to open source.
• Development and support for the 770 will not end. I actually think this is true, but not necessarily because of Nokia. Developers are not going to stop supporting the 770, because they’ll most likely be keeping them. Ari does make the point, too, that the 770 currently beats the pants off the n800 for in car navigation.

And some lowlights:

• No ETA set for getting Youtube to run well on the N800. Could a more n800 optimized version of Flash solve the problem? This is a HUGE oversight.
• I was hoping to hear about upcoming accessories for the N800. Navigation kit?!

Also, Ari repeated that the SD slots can handle 2GB cards. As mentioned previously, at least one user on ITT forums says 4GB cards work.

ReaderMini is coming along nicely. It’s a Feed Reading front end for Google Reader, using the Google Reader API. It’s built primariy for use on small internet tablets (like the Nokia 770 and n800). Here are the changes that went live tonight:

Changes in Release .9 - 1/9/07

• ReaderMini is now secure (HTTPS / SSL) on the production url (readermini.com). Also, the app will force you to use HTTPS. alpha.readermini.com is not HTTPS.
• Categories of feeds can be collapsed/expanded.
• Expand all, Collapse all
• Titlebar now contains current feed name.
• Fixed: links now open in a new window.
• Fixed: Apostrophes no longer block feed loading.
• Click a category’s river (right most) button to see all posts for feeds in that category.
• Changed the ‘open connections’ Ajax indicator from images to text.

Check it out!!

On his blog, Ari had a lot to say about the N800 launch and what it means for the Internet Tablet line of products.

• Apps compiled for the N800 will not work on the 770, but the platforms are similar enough that many apps can and will be built for both devices.
• Nokia will continue to support the dev community on both devices.
• Internet Tablet OS 2007 will not be back ported to the 770.

The pressure is on from the dev and user community. They want Nokia to make OS 2007 available for the 770. That would be ideal, yes, but I’m not upset. I do hope Nokia sees the community reaction and keeps it in mind when they launch the next device, though. Really, I’m just glad that the platform was successful enough to launch another product.

Updating my n800 as I write this!

Release Notes (thanks to gpd and Disconnect on #maemo for the information)

Nokia Internet Call Invitation (Beta)

Nokia Internet Call Invitation (Beta) is a new feature for easy internet calling between Nokia N800 and PC users; also calls between two N800s are supported. The feature introduces a simple wizard through which N800 users can smoothly invite their friends to free-of-charge internet video or voice calls by chat or email.

Bluetooth connection on/off enabler

This Bluetooth connection on/off enabler makes it possible to switch Bluetooth connection off when it’s not needed. If a user has a compatible Bluetooth-enabled phone then after pairing the phone the Bluetooth connection is set automatically on but user can easily change the status when needed. User can maximize battery life by switching the Bluetooth connection off.

Improvements in finger usage

Improvements in dialog selection when using the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet with fingers and not the stylus pen.

ThoughtFix linked to the official specs page this morning. Engadget has coverage, too.

The N800 got a lot of coverage this weekend because of the early release. Personally, I think Nokia should be thanking CompUSA for launching on Saturday. If they had launched today as planned, I don’t think they would have gotten as much press. There are too many announcements going on with CES underway.

Here’s the N800 hands on video in case you missed it!

Now that we have a ton of information about the device and some of us have had the opportunity to use one this weekend, the Internet Tablet irc community has moved on to a new set of questions:

• 1. What portions of Internet Tablet OS 2007 (the os running on the n800) will make it back to the old 770? What does the future hold for the 770? Will herring/sardine (the next version of the Internet Tablet OS) appear on both the 770 and the n800?
• 2. What is the CPU model on the 800? ANSWER: Jarek points to the newly updated wiki for this info. “The processor is a 330-MHz, ARM11-based Texas Instruments (TI) OMAP 2420.”
• 3. Can the USB port power peripherals?
• 4. Are the SD ports SDIO compatible?
• 5. Are the SD ports HDSD compatible?

Do you have other questions for the folks at Nokia?

UPDATE: Some great answers in the comments section.

Also, Dave, in the comments, points us to updated tech specs on Nokia’s site.

• New Application browsing/installing interface! ferenc joined us in #maemo on freenode. ferenc appears to be an official developer for the Nokia Internet Tablet platform. One of the big complaints about the 770 has always been the Application Manager interface required for installing apps. Nokia seems to be resolving this for the 770 and the 800 with a web based interface with easy “click here to install” buttons for each app. The draft version of that interface is here.
• Homebrew Developers for the 770 will be getting a huge discount on n800s.
• Nokia officially announced the new dev platform for the n800, bora. Currently, 770 users can’t upgrade to this platform, but I’m guessing that’s coming soon.
• Chippy put up a revised set of specs for the n800.
• As CarryPad is reporting, Milhouse on the #maemo freenode irc channel just discovered that the n800 is available in the Nokia Germany online store.
• I posted some information about the Opera and Flash specs for the n800.
• cman74 on Internet Tablet Talk forums revealed that 4GB SD cards work in the n800. With 2 slots, that means 8GB of flash memory to work with. More if the n800 actually can handle HDSD!
• VidConvert has been tested and works for the n800. VidConvert is an online free service that transforms videos to a format compatible with the Nokia 770 and n800.
• The n800 got slashdot exposure via linux-watch.
• The video I put up last night is getting a lot of visibility!

Found this gem on the InternetTabletTalk Forums:

cman74 said:

“And as I mentioned before, the N800 is recognizing a 4 GB SD card. I might possibly pick up an 8 GB just out of curiosity to see if it works.”

The Nokia n800:
Opera Version “8.5 Internal” Build “2.0.31″
The flash version tester says 7.0.0.

The Nokia 770:
Opera Version “8.02 Internal” Build “1.1.50″
The flash version tester says 6.0.82.

The opera.ini file is largely the same between the two versions, however the n800’s cache settings are much higher.

This video addresses some questions brought up via email and irc. In this video, you’ll see every angle of the N800 Internet Tablet. You’ll also watch it boot, try to play a YouTube video and visit the control panel. At the bottom of this post I linked to the original 50MB WMV, also.

Original Video