The next Nokia Maemo Tablet is finally also a phone

[greggh]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/25/noki ... -unveiled/

After the spec rundown this morning of the long-rumored Maemo 5 tablet from Nokia, we've now got ourselves a potential name and image to pair with the wonderful promise of 3G and OMAP3. According to this shot obtained by Cellpassion, the next-generation Internet Tablet device is taking quite a bit of an N-series turn, with that 3.5-inch WVGA screen (instead of the 4-inch display on the N810), three-row QWERTY keyboard and other refinements making this look to be much more a smartphone than a tablet -- which is presumably exactly what Nokia is going for.

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/05/24/ ... xt-tablet/

Hardware Specs:

* Update: A few comments inquired about GPS. Our source has since verified that the N900 does indeed have GPS, along with an accelerometer.
* Dimensions: 59.7mmx111mmx18.2mm
* Weight: 180g
* 3.5″ 800×480 (WVGA) touchscreen
* OMAP3430 500/600 Mhz processor (Fun Trivia: Same CPU as the Palm Pre)
* Bands: GSM Quad-Band 850, 900, 1800, 1900. WCDMA 900, 1700/2100, 2100
* 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with dual-LED flash, autofocus, and sliding cover
* Though the renders we’ve seen show two lens-like circles near the screen, we’ve got no word on what’s behind them. However, we feel safe in assuming that its a proximity sensor and a front-facing camera.
* 1GB total virtual runtime memory (256MB physical RAM, 768MB virtual memory)
* Wi-Fi, HSPA
* 32GB internal storage, expandable up to 48GB via external memory
* Keyboard variants: English, Scandinavian, French, German, South European, Italian, Russia
* In the box: Connectivity cable, headset, charger, battery (1320 mAh), Video-out cable, microUSB adaptor, cleaning cloth

Some of the mentioned software features:

* In all of the renders we’ve seen, it appears to be running Maemo 5.
* Multitasking: “Run all of your favorite applications simultaneously”
* Live Dashboard allows all open tasks and unread messages to be displayed in one view
* Browser: Firefox 3 with support for Flash 9.4
* Built-in automatic update software
* Contacts has some sort of status sharing built in, allowing you to share your status, location, and mood. Support for Contacts on Ovi and Google Talk.
* All SMS and IMs accessible from one view
* Cellular voice or VOIP both supported
* Captures video at 800×480 in AVC/H.264
* Image tagging and geo-tagging support
* Nokia intends to have at least a dozen add-on apps available at launch, including a game called “Bounce”, a Jaiku/Twitter app called “Mauku”, and a few widgets.

Target launch dates, as of the beginning of this year:

* T-Mobile International: July 2009
* T-Mobile USA: August/September 2009
* Middle East, Asia, South-East Asian Pacific: July 2009
* Europe: October 2009

[Patrick]

Wow. So basically they added a phone and beefed up the specs a bit from the N810. Better camera, faster processor and higher resolution. Plus it will have the new Maemo OS (which is not backward compatible with the N770/N800/N810). I love my N800 but lusted after the N810's keyboard. If it follows the typical Nokia model it will sell for like $500! Now I hear rumors they plan to sell this on T-mobile with a 2 year contract for $200. I could live with that. The long time predicted flood of Linux based phones is finally coming to fruition in the next few months: Palm-Pre, Nokia N900, HTC G2, HTC G1v2, Samsung i7500 and the two Motorola Android phones (rumored to be on Verizon). I will definitely get a new Linux phone in the next 6 months. It's not a question of if but which one?

[Patrick]

Holy crap are people bitching about this:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=29151

The basic complaint is that Nokia in abandoning the internet tablet form factor and making it a phone (slightly smaller screen) to compete directly with the iPhone.

[greggh]

I don't think there's much to bitch about. So the screen is going from 4" to 3.5". It's not a huge difference. Everything else about it seems a step better than the N810.

[DaveQB]

I have been eyeing the new N97 as an upgrade from my N95, but just ran into the N900
This is looks AWESOME!!!

So now I am suddenly interested in Maemo.
It runs apt-get under the covers? How big is its repos? The N900 will needs its own repo and can't use all the packages built for previous N-series tablets?