http://www.osnews.com/story/16881/New_Nokia_N800_Internet_Tablet_Available_Now Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:49:48 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread?199099 http://osnews.com/thread?199099 And it's awesome. I guess that's why CompUSA gave me a $100 rebate on it.

This thing has literally saved my commute (about 2 hours a day). Using 770encode I can watch movies on it, I can play MP3s on it, using pdfcrop (from pdflatex utilities) I can comfortably read PDF ebooks on it, and using FBReader I can read plain text/HTML/plucker e-books on it.

My office is next door to a library with public wifi, so I can also get online quite leisurely. Browsing the web is a joy.

The complaints of the device being slow/underpowered are I guess justified, but it's fast enough for these limited tasks. I think too many people compare these devices with PDAs (like Palm V or Blackberry) when they should really be comparing them with laptops. It may be slower than my laptop, but it's also about one tenth its size, still has a high resolution screen, a full Linux operating system, and a powerful web browser. Hey, that seems good to me. So what if it takes 10 seconds to load up a PDF, rather than half a second? At least I _can_ load a PDF up in a device the size of my palm. Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (morganth) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199101 http://osnews.com/thread?199101 lots of hush hush about this device....something fishy here... Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mini-me) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199112 http://osnews.com/thread?199112 http://thoughtfix.blogspot.com/2007/01/critical-question-answered-y...

ARM6 and 128K ram

It is hush hush because it hasn't been announced yet. I believe the official announcement is on Monday.Edited 2007-01-06 23:13 Sat, 06 Jan 2007 23:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jonsmirl) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199115 http://osnews.com/thread?199115 You may want to change that to 128MB RAM. Unfortunately, Bill Gates was wrong about 640K of RAM Sat, 06 Jan 2007 23:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Constantine XVI) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199160 http://osnews.com/thread?199160 This seems consistent with an OMAP 2420 or 2430 chip, the difference between the two being the presence of an embedded DSP. This implies that the new handheld has a 330 MHz CPU, and a 2D/3D graphics and video accelerator (and maybe a DSP). The presence of the video accelerator should alleviate many complaints about the 770 not being able to push video at the native 800x480 resolution of the screen. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 01:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rayiner) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199166 http://osnews.com/thread?199166 I just got mine too, it is possible to replace it? Sun, 07 Jan 2007 01:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (netdur) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199177 http://osnews.com/thread?199177 What's the text input situation like on the 770? I've been thinking about getting something similar that I could stuff in my book-bag without the heft of my laptop. There is the PepperPad with the "real" keyboard, but costs $200 more. And there is the Samsung Q1, which is out of the question due to price and no keyboard. If the input on the 770/N800 was fast enough to take notes at university, I might consider it. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 02:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Constantine XVI) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199180 http://osnews.com/thread?199180 only 128Mb RAM? I know that's double the 64Mb in the 770, but still, why so little. RAM is inexpensive these days, even most PDAs have at least 256MB, so why not at least that much with this device? Would solve a lot of the sluggishness. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 02:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (zerohalo) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199185 http://osnews.com/thread?199185 because its SUPER efficient!!!

good question. They need to make 512mb of ram standardn PERIOD. I mean, you can buy 512mb sticks of pc133/2100 etc for less than 55 usd. I would take a 100usd price hike in a unit to have 512mb of ram. heck, 200usd. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (helf) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199194 http://osnews.com/thread?199194 The 770 had only 64MB of ram and performed reasonbly although a little slow if you ran more than approx 5 programs at once. With the 800 128MB of ram means you can probably open about 15-20 programs, also use the extra memory to cache data on the SD cards and built in flash.

I think anymore than 128MB of ram is just plain excessive. It's a hand held device, and the software has been optimized... Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (siti) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199196 http://osnews.com/thread?199196 Guys, don't confuse RAM with internal storage. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199202 http://osnews.com/thread?199202 It can swap onto the flash drive so 128MB is plenty. You can put a 2GB RS-MMC card into the 770, the N800 is supposed to have two normal slots at 2GB each. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jonsmirl) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199203 http://osnews.com/thread?199203 The on-screen keyboard works fine with a stylus. I'm getting quite fast at using it. You can also use Bluetooth keyboards with it if you want to carry one.

I have seen suggestions that a great add-on for the device would be to replace the slip-on cover with one that has a Bluetooth bubble keyboard built into it.

I'm also hoping for recharging through USB instead of needing an adapter. Another plus would be a low band IR transmitter so that it could be used as a remote control. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jonsmirl) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199204 http://osnews.com/thread?199204 Price is not the only factor in deciding how much RAM. RAM chews battery power, more RAM equals less lifetime. Better to swap to flash. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jonsmirl) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199207 http://osnews.com/thread?199207 Well, there are basically three options:

* a one-third screen, on-screen keyboard (most versatile, usable option)
* handwriting recognition (completely unusable, even with training -- one of the disappointments of the device -- they should adopt Palm Graffitti, which used to work beautifully for me)
* A full-screen "thumb" keyboard. I find this keyboard to be not really useful as a "thumb" keyboard (don't like to smudge my screen), but it's a nice alternative to the smaller keyboard when you're say, on a train and you can't keep the device as steady for the small buttons.

In summary, 770 has two usable input options, one unusable one. You'll have to tap the keyboard.

One alternative to text input altogether is to get Xournal to take notes, which lets you just write on a notepad-like screen. I use this all the time for todo/reminders. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (morganth) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199221 http://osnews.com/thread?199221 http://blog.tokash.org/2007/01/06/my-nokia-n800-internet-tablet/

Click on the big picture and there are lots more. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 07:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jonsmirl) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199231 http://osnews.com/thread?199231 as person who has had a chance to play with the N800, I CAN tell you that it is a HGE difference between the 700 and the 800. the Ram you notice immediately, and it isnt slow at all. it has 2 memory slots so you can have plenty of internal storage (MINI SD anyone!!). But the screen looks MUCH better and with the Navicore KIT for the 770 its just plain WOW. All in all, the only thing lacking on it is skype video, as most of the people I know do not use google chat.

//vic

http://blog.2blocksaway.com Sun, 07 Jan 2007 10:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vicious1) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199251 http://osnews.com/thread?199251 Most PDAs have at least 256MB internal storage. That's not the same thing. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 11:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dagw) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199256 http://osnews.com/thread?199256 Why does every new device has to have a new flash format that is just a little smaller than the old one, so we have to buy new flash cards, and on top of that these new formats are very expensive and don't have as much capacity?

Witness the SD-card. It's small. You can get 2Gig for less than 50€ (probably less than $50 in America), and here you are, paying for some lame new card that has 128m or 256m. They aren't even compatible with themselves? You've got a 770, want to upgrade? Surprise, you have to buy a new card.

Most of my devices have either CF or SD or both. I'm refusing to buy a new device that doesn't have either one of them. Vote with your wallet too! Sun, 07 Jan 2007 12:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Knuckles) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199261 http://osnews.com/thread?199261 i use xournal on my 770 for lecture note on a physics course. text input is not much use as there are lots of diagrams and equations. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 12:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ssam) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199269 http://osnews.com/thread?199269 Yeah, I thought the SD card was small at one point too and was thinking the same thing you were. Then I looked at my micro-SD card next to the SD card. HUGE difference. Yeah, there are a bit too many formats, but they are fighting each other because they are all bringing in new benefits, being smaller, faster, etc. I'm not going to vote with my wallet to keep big, old, legacy technology around. At least tell people to choose like micro-SD rather then those gigantic SD cards. (If I haven't heard of the format and it isn't smaller then micro-SD, I probably won't get it though for risk of not being able to find it in the future) Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (aent) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199270 http://osnews.com/thread?199270 The only 'fishy' thing I have noticed is that CompUSA is apparently not supposed to be selling them yet, I expect Nokia will officially announce the N800 tomorrow.

Some specs are available at http://thoughtfix.blogspot.com/index.html.

The main differences, hardware wise, are an ~500Mhz ARM6 CPU compared to the 770's 220Mhz ARM5 and 128MB RAM compared to the 770's 64MB, plus the webcam and bluetooth 2.0 vs 1.2. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mallard) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199271 http://osnews.com/thread?199271 >This seems consistent with an OMAP 2420 or 2430 chip, the difference between the two being the presence of an embedded DSP.

It probably uses the DSP version, seeing as the 770 has a DSP, which is used by the built-in audio and video players. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mallard) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199322 http://osnews.com/thread?199322 and isn't many of these flash types backwards compatible.

as in, you can with a converter put a micro-SD into a SD socket and so on... Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (hobgoblin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199346 http://osnews.com/thread?199346 Yeah, but you can't use that big (as in capacity) SD card that you have, and I don't think "buy the smallest one you can and then adapters for it to fit on the bigger slots" works very good.

And it's not really feasible to carry the adapter along with your cellphone so that when you come up to a pc or a digital camera or a pda you can stick it in the SD slot.

And, answering to the parent too, I know miniSD and microSD are smaller -- but do we really need them? It's not like "32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm" (the typical size of a SDcard, from wikipedia) is that big a space to have inside a device. A microSD is 15 mm x 11 mm x 1 mm and miniSD is 20 mm x 21 mm x 1.4. At least in my opinion, I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of volume inside my cellphone (and it's not too much) so I can have some interoperability between my devices.

And I never understood why nokia never went SD (even during the mmc times). Probably licensing fees, but at least during a long time they were compatible with themselves (the original nokia 9110 used mmc also).Edited 2007-01-07 19:25 Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Knuckles) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199350 http://osnews.com/thread?199350 Sorry to spoil your rant, but supposedly it does support full size SD: http://blog.tokash.org/2007/01/06/more-thoughts-on-my-new-nokia-n80... Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (keitai) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199352 http://osnews.com/thread?199352 Looks very nice.

I've loved the N770, but it didn't support USB Charging, so I would not buy it (what's the point of a portable device the needs caring chargers and proprietary cables?!). So, the big question is:

Does it support usb charging? =]
(looks like, from the photos, that it uses standard mini usb cables, I would not buy one if it doesn't! =] ) Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (JrezIN) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199373 http://osnews.com/thread?199373 do the SD card have the controller electronics (the part that decide where on the flash to put the data) on the chip itself or on the reader device.

if its on the chip itself, the only real problem will be delivering enough juice to power the chip, and how slow(or fast) the data transfer will be. iirc that is.

as for transporting the adapter alongside the phone. maybe they should come in a small bag that you could attach to your keys? or maybe to that strap attachment point that more and more asian phones have Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (hobgoblin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199379 http://osnews.com/thread?199379 Interesting news, when the new one is avaliable it may give a opportunity to get my hands on a cheap 770. It looks like a interresting device to run Opie II on. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Morty) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199462 http://osnews.com/thread?199462 I own a 770, i was an early adopter and was one of the first to get one here in europe.

I have been happy with what it can do but haven't been happy with the build quality. (bottom plastic cracked and came off)
I called nokia about it and they insisted that i dropped it and even started yelling at me over the phone and calling me a liar when i told them i didn't drop it (i baby it).

I have a few gripes with it but it has evolved considerably since the os2005 days. Despite what people say, yes it needs a faster processor and yes more ram could definately help.

Resolution is very good but the screen looks grainy (don't pretend it's not, we all know it is).

I won't make the same mistake twice, if this unit proves to be reliable and solid and not suffer from manufacturing problems the way the 770 did (and still does by the way). I will not buy.

BUT, if all QC related things prove to be in order, it DEFFINATELY looks to be a worthwhile upgrade.

The new theme looks slick as well.

I'd like to hold/try one before buying one but you can't find a 770 in Belgium even now, let alone an N800.

- Kevin Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (p13.) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199471 http://osnews.com/thread?199471 I need to control a CAM enabled machines and am looking for a small device that can do that. Does this device have a serial port? Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (linxdev) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199511 http://osnews.com/thread?199511 I wasn't referring to internal storage. The Nokia, as I understand it, runs a fairly standard Gnome install and GTK+ apps. I was questioning how those can run smoothly with only 128Mb of RAM. I have an older computer at home with only 256mb of RAM and Gnome (Ubuntu) runs okay, but slow. I can't imagine how it would be with half the RAM. Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (zerohalo) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199530 http://osnews.com/thread?199530 It doesn't run a fairly standard Gnome install. It uses the Maemo platform and the Hildon Application Framework (new widgets). It's a set of widgets, applications, and all of that designed for embedded devices. Much less RAM-heavy than Gnome (no nautilus, no gnome-panel, trimmed-down Gtk+, lighter window manager than Metacity, etc.). And it runs quite comfortably in 64 MiB, so I imagine that 128 MiB will be luxury.

Unfortunately, I love my 770 and I'm not sure if I can justify spending another $350 for a device that's (some unknown amount) faster and adds a camera that I'll probably never use.

On a side note, does anybody know exactly what the N800 uses for video conferencing? Last I checked, Google Talk didn't support video and there was no video extension for XMPP, so...?

[edit]
Also, as far as I know there is no serial port.
[/edit]Edited 2007-01-08 17:11 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Roguelazer) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199878 http://osnews.com/thread?199878 You have to realize that there is a HUGE difference in the sizes. Some devices would have to be a LOT thicker and larger overall in order to accomidate the HUGE size of SD. Remember, SD is overly DOUBLE EVERY dimension. microSD is 15x11x1mm while SD is 32x24x2.1mm. Each and every dimension is over double the newer standard. When the memory card size is cut in half in every direction, along with the other components inside the device, it allows them to make the device MUCH smaller. My camera is extremely thin. I know it would have to be a LOT thicker and larger if it had SD. There is simpily no room for an SD card in the camera, and thats what sold me on it... the fact that is was so thin and light that not even an SD card could fit in it. Eventually, the cards will get to be so small that it would be too hard for humans to handle, and they won't be able to make them any smaller, and then we'll standardize on that format. I think microSD is pretty close to that point. Its not like this is something where the different formats have absolutely no benefit over the others (like DVD-R over DVD+R and HD-DVD over Blu-ray) Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (aent) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?199882 http://osnews.com/thread?199882 According to one article I've read skype is being ported as we speak. Tue, 09 Jan 2007 12:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dagw) Comments