Saturday, August 22, 2009

N900 – Redemption For Nokia’s Disappointing Line Of Releases Lately?

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Let’s be honest, Nokia’s line of releases lately has been like my blog updates - a long shot from being impressive. Even the N97, Nokia’s new flagship which was mush hyped about last year turned out to be underpowered with a disappointing processor and insufficient RAM. Hardware wise the N97 even scratches it’s own lens – Come on! Any decent engineer would have tested something first before manufacturing thousands of units and shipping it worldwide right??!

Anyway, i didn’t write this article to give Nokia an ass-whooping (although they deserve one), I wanted to let you guys know about something big that Nokia’s cooking up, presumably to be announced an Nokia World 2009 this September! :D

My oldie N95-1 is a device i was, and still am proud to have because it was a milestone for Nokia, and pretty much redefined what do-it-all smartphones were capable of. I’ve been hunting for a replacement for the past year but nothing promising has surface. Fortunately, from what i understand, the N900 is going to be a game changer for Nokia, due to it’s drastically new OS. ..well, sorta.

For those of you who keep a close eye on Nokia’s releases you’ll already know that Maemo, a Linux based platform isn’t really new to Nokia. In fact Nokia has already released 3 internet tablets that run on this platform, the most recent being the N810i which supported WiMax. For most users however, “Symbian” and “S60” would sound more synonymous with Nokia, and this is where the N900 steps in.

Although sporting a similar form factor with the previous internet tablets, the N900 (codename RX-51) will in fact be a fully functional phone. Hence making it comparable to other multimedia phones from other manufacturers, and bringing it into the “do-it-all-phones” category if you will. Confirming the rumours that have been going round lately about Nokia ditching Symbian for Linux, the N900 will run on a variant of Nokia’s Maemo platform, called Fremantle (aka Marmo 5). I know this sounds totally alien to you, but if what Eldar from Mobile Review predicts is right, this is the OS-to-be for forthcoming high-end Nokia devices. As shocking as this sounds, one look at what Maemo brings and you won’t think twice about switching back to Symbian.

So, why the change after spending so much on Symbian? Well from what i understand Nokia realises that minor tweaks here and there to the Symbian platform just isn’t going to cut it to compare with the upcoming releases of fancy OS and smartphones from it’s competitors. Admittedly, though functional the S60 platform looks and feels dated when compared side by side to the likes of Android and the iPhone. Nokia’s solution: Build it’s own OS from the ground up (Maemo), while completely reconstructing Symbian as well (that’s where the new Symbian Foundation comes in). In short what this means is Nokia will probably be swtiching to Maemo for it’s high-end “multimedia computers” as they call it, while keeping Symbian for the mid-range and lower end devices.

With that out of the way, let’s have a quick look at the RX-51

  • Runs on Fremantle (variant of Linux-based Maemo)
  • Built on ARM Cortex-A8 CPU
  • Internal memory of 32GB (supports microSD of up to 32GB as well, that’s a total of 64 GB!)
  • Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
  • 800x480-pixel resistive touch screen (supposedly much more responsive than the N97’s)
  • Decent build quality comparable to the E75
  • 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and lens cover
  • Kickstand for comfortable video playback
  • Powered by a BL-5J 1320mAh battery
  • GPS, WiFi, 3.5mm jack with TV-out etc. standard stuff

Hardware

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General Interface

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Task manager

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Media

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Messaging

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Web browsing

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Maps & Navigation

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Date & Time management

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Mouth watering eye candy right!?!?! :D According to Eldar there’s plenty of cool transitions and visual effects, while maintaining a quick and responsive UI. I sure love the media player and task manager view, definitely looks more mature and computer-like compared to S60. While this looks like a promising competitor the the iPhone and Android, I sure hope Nokia won’t screw it up like the N97. They really need to make a memorable come back and right now, this seems like just the device to do it. Long live Nokia! :D

P.S. Watch this space for more updates on the upcoming device and announcements from Nokia in Nokia World 2009, it's just a few weeks a way!

For the original article as well as plenty more screenshots, visit Eldar’s site here!

3 comments:

Blue Warmth said...

Damn cool~ will it be around the price of the n97?
but seriously..
damn attractive ^^
hands itching =D

Techcrazee said...

nice... but would definitely blow my budget.

Sukee said...

cool i want!!!!!