BlogBeebe gives an overview of the Internet Tablet OS 2006 Edition Beta and concludes: “I find what Nokia is trying to do with the software intriguing. But it is definately beta software, and from my sampling it is very rough all over. If you’ve got a Bluetooth headset and services on either Google or Jabber, then you’ve got more features to explore and possibly use. The thumb keyboard is awful. It’s slow, and attempts to bring it up causes other applications (such as the web browser) to crash. And if this is what is being shipped on new 770’s, then those new owners are not going to be happy campers.”
I own a 770 (bought it in February). According to the 770 web site:
“Currently, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is delivered with the OS 2005 edition installed. Buy online now, and sign up on this page for info about when the OS 2006 edition will be available.”
3 randomly picked dumb questions/statements of the author:
a) Internet Tablet OS 2006 Edition Beta – is this shipping with new units?
Well, the clue is frankly in the title of the firmware image….
b) “When I bring up with chat or VoIP the only selections are Google and Jabber. Since my accounts are AIM and Yahoo, there’s no way for me to use either of those services.”
Yes. Yes, that’s right. Famously, Jabber servers offer *no* way to connect to other chat networks. Insightful.
c) “The chat application. The only services available right now are Google talk and Jabber.”
One of these is not the same…no, wait, it’s exactly the same. Again, *great* research.
If there are going to be blog links, I for one would prefer articles that are not written by the uninformed. Any article writer should surely be smarter then the average OSNews reader, or it is just wasting our time. If I’d have been looking for an article on this, I’d have linked to one of the gnome devs who also works on maemo – comment on the release from both a UI and underlying tech perspective. Isn’t that what OSNews should be about?
b) “When I bring up with chat or VoIP the only selections are Google and Jabber. Since my accounts are AIM and Yahoo, there’s no way for me to use either of those services.”
Yes. Yes, that’s right. Famously, Jabber servers offer *no* way to connect to other chat networks. Insightful.
Yes, Jabber can talk to other networks for regular IM, but that doesn’t help much for VoIP.
I run a business.
I do lots of e-mails, work with PDFs (including printing to PDF files from custom database software) and such.
Soon my custom database will be running on a SQL server and online.
I’ve been thinking about a TabletPC (anti-MS or not, they are nice devices), and even had hopes of the UMPC which is just too expensive.
Would I be able to use the 770 as my main device once I get my database up on the web? Will this thing handle PDFs, large volumes of e-mails, etc…
What kind of apps are available for this?
Does it have PCMCIA slots? Would it support a Verizon AirCard to connect to Verizon’s wireless broadband?
The biggest reason I wanted something like at least a UMPC instead of a PDA is because it is still a fullblown computer with fullblown Windows which I can install any application on that I may need, has Office, etc…
Disclaimer: I don’t own 770, but follow comments/blog entries/news/articles about it very closely, so I will try to provide some info here for you.
I do lots of e-mails, work with PDFs (including printing to PDF files from custom database software) and such.
Soon my custom database will be running on a SQL server and online.
I’ve been thinking about a TabletPC (anti-MS or not, they are nice devices), and even had hopes of the UMPC which is just too expensive.
Would I be able to use the 770 as my main device once I get my database up on the web? Will this thing handle PDFs, large volumes of e-mails, etc…
What kind of apps are available for this?
Does it have PCMCIA slots? Would it support a Verizon AirCard to connect to Verizon’s wireless broadband?
No, it doesn’t have PCMCIA slots, it has Wireless built-in by itself. It has USB ports, wireless b/g type, etc. It also supports MMC cards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_770
The biggest reason I wanted something like at least a UMPC instead of a PDA is because it is still a fullblown computer with fullblown Windows which I can install any application on that I may need, has Office, etc…
Afaik, Abiword has it’s version of 770, which is used and is ported very actively. For email efforts, there are ongoing work on Tinymail, which will be base for embedded system email apps (Tinymail by itself is based on Evolution technologies). Guy who is working that is very active and as I have read, Nokia guys are using it for base for it’s official email client for 770. So they aim to support POP/IMAP, Spam protection, Exchange connectivity, etc.
Evince (state-of-art PDF browser) is already ported to 770. Anyway, you should check out http://www.maemo.org for more information about apps or even look for more questions directly to developers at correct IRC channel, I would guess it could be irc.freenode.net, channel #maemo.
http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ApplicationCatalog#head-18835c50373fa4f2…
I guess my whole things is, I’d rather spend $1500 on a product that I know can do all I want and then some rather than spending $300 on a product that can’t do what I want/need.
As an owner of a ‘770, here goes:
Yes, it includes a PDF viewer. However, it can get a bit slow in graphics-intensive documents. The 2006 version is said to be better. (I won’t upgrade until it’s out of beta).
I do not use the built in email application, so I don’t know how well it copes with large volumes of email. Web-based email systems work fine. (Hotmail, GMail, Horde/IMP, Webmin/Usermin tested.)
Plenty of apps available, see http://www.maemo.org .
No PCMCIA, has built in 802.11b/g and bluetooth.
Has slot for RS-MMC, 64MB card included in the box.
You may be surprised by its size (I was) it’s no bigger than a PDA, but is used landscape and has possibly the best screen in its class (800×480).
I’d rather not weigh in on the 770 debate. But, if you’re looking at Tablet PCs, take a peek at the Toshiba Tablets. They’re our corporate standard. Very nice machines. Great quality.
The Nokia 770 is a surprisingly flexible device for something in this price bracket that was only intended to be an internet tablet, that said, you may be better off looking at one of the clamshell zauruses or even an ipaq PDA running linux, these do have lower resolution screens but might be a little more powerful for desktop type tasks. Then there’s the pepperpad, a linux alternative to the UMPC, this looks like a great little machine http://www.pepper.com/ . Oh, let’s not forget the GP2X, no touchscreen input but very cheap and who knows what software development will happen for the platform in the near future.
It is entirely possible that the 770 could perform for you, and its price makes it an extremely attractive option especially when you consider how much better its screen is than the other options.
http://www.pdaxrom.org/screenshots.php?menuid=2
– screenshots of PDAs performing running desktop apps.
disclaimer, i don’t actually own a PDA of any sort, this is all wild conjecture.
Is this any good?
Neal Saferstein
Hi,
I own a nokia 770 and flashed it with the 2006 OS Beta image.
It’s not quite there yet stability wise but i really like the way nokia is pushing this.
For me, look and feel have improved a lot on the 2006 os and it just feels snappier. The inclusion of native swap is really nice, i never run out of memory now.
!!! BUT !!!
To my horror, i discovered that the base of my unit (the bit that has the connectors in it) is developping cracks and fissures.
I handle this thing with great care and always carry it in the pouch when not using it. It has never been dropped or subjected to any torture.
Obviously, i was annoyed so i called nokia customer care … they wouldn’t hear me out. They said i dropped it, there just isn’t any other way. Well, saying i didn’t drop it didn’t help at all. Now slightly pissed off, i called a local nokia dealer … he told me there was nothing he could do but to send it to “eurotwice” but he said that they probably won’t fix it and it will end up costing me money !!!
Figure that, i send in a faulty unit, no repair done and i have TO PAY for it ?
No way !
I checked the internet and saw that a lot of people were having the same problems so to me it seems to be a fault in the design.
I don’t care what they say about warranty, fact is am a european citizen, i bought it in europe (webstore) and european trade laws stipulate AT LEAST one year warranty regardless of what they say, they have to play by the commission’s rules, i’m taking photographs of it and sending a letter to the european trade commission. Wether they want to cover it or not, they cannot dodge european trade laws.
I’m pretty disgusted by all of this and to top it off, the girl at the other end of the line (nokia) started yelling at me.
Go nokia !
Edit: http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1862&high…
Edited 2006-06-13 12:32
I can back you up on that. Mine has developed the tell-tale crack at the bottom of the case, extending from the USB port to the audio socket. I’ve babied the thing from day 1 and there is absolutely no reason for it to occur.
I’d go as far to expect that these cracks are guaranteed to occur on all 770’s. Personally it doesn’t affect the operation of the unit so I won’t sleep over it but if anyone starts a class action against Nokia I will be 100% behind it. It’s a shame because apart from that I am totally impressed by the 770. I am running the 2006 beta and despite the little glitches etc I think the new features show tremendous promise.
On the software side, as i said earlier, i can really see this platform go places.
The basis is a well devellopped (by paid devs) operating system and as far as i can tell, a very nice SDK and of course the whole incentive and idea of open source to back it up and excite/motivate people to port/devellop apps for it.
As for the crack problem, there is a bit of the case that is threatening to come off, i don’t want crud or even worse liquids (GASP) to get in there. Liquids getting to the board will almost surely kill it.
Nokia is being very dismissive and says i dropped it.
I never did, i, like you, babied it from day one as you put it.
Bottom line is, i paid for it, i don’t have to put up with this.
This is in no means unique to nokia though. I own a triumph daytona t595 and they also have known issues which are non existent according to triumph (exploding 4th gear, disintegrating sprag clutch, incindiary electrics, etc). Still, i love it and i ride 100 km a day on it to and from work every day and it hasn’t let me down catastrophicly yet *knocks on desk*.
We’ll see, i’ll keep you posted, i hope they sort it out.
I’d be content with them sending me the little cap and let me pop off the old one and pop on the new one.
As i said, we’ll see.
– Kevin
To my horror, i discovered that the base of my unit (the bit that has the connectors in it) is developping cracks and fissures.
I hate to tell you, but I’m pretty sure it’s a design flaw. Mine is cracked as well and came that way from the factory. I’ve also seen several other pictures of cracked 770s on the web and there was a big discussion about it on ITT (I think) around the time people were first getting their hands on them.
It has not been a problem for me. It doesn’t seem to be a structurally critical component, so I ignore it and my 770 has been working fine for me since December.
And, yes I have “abused” mine. I’ve dropped it several feet onto a hard surface many times, and even dropped it into a bathtub full of water and it still works just fine.
The part you need to obtain has the P/N I004 and costs about 1 euro, you can replace it yourself, not very hard.
Of course nokia isn’t exactly endorsing this.
i’ve ordered two.