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March 22, 2007 at 10:27 am

The Nokia N800: My thoughts...

It’s been almost two weeks since my Nokia N800 Internet Tablet arrived. So far, I have really enjoyed having it (and, being that enjoying it means that my nose is always pointed towards it, my wife…? Not so much).

Anyway, my thoughts persist henceforth…

First, let me direct you to Sean Luke‘s thoughts about the N800’s GUI (graphical user interface). Pretty much everything he says is true and I hope the N800 development team has been turned on to his site. Sean and I talked a little before I bought the N800. He’s a pretty cool, open guy, who’s very smart… Nokia should listen up.

A lot of Sean’s GUI issues are fairly easily solved via the many open source applications that are freely available at Maemo.org (the Nokia Internet Tablet open source community website). Likewise, if something you need doesn’t exist there, you can probably find it with a quick Google search or by searching for N770 (the predessecor to the N800), N800, or Internet Tablet over at Sourceforge.net. What this all means is that the community of people developing software for the Internet Tablets is vast and enthusiastic.

This brings me to the Internet Tablet community in general. From my limited experience, I already think of them as good people. First, there’s InternetTabletTalk.com, a user forum and announcement website for all things Internet Tablet. Second, is Maemo.org (mentioned above). Moments after sending my first question to the Maemo mailing list, I got over ten responses — all from people who eagerly wanted to help me out. In fact, on fellow, a Dr. Nick Shaw sent me his IM information as well as his phone number! I called him and he was more than happy to take time out of his day to help me out.

But, what about the N800 itself? Well, as you might be able to tell by my lengthy introduction, which included a link to read about some of its shortcomings, as well as links to the various user communities, the N800 is not for the slight of heart. What I mean is, a pension for the technical is somehwhat required to get the fullest out of this amazing handheld device.

But, that’s not to say that anyone who’s not technical can’t use this thing… No, the N800 comes stock full of cool and useful applications that will keep even the most uninitiated luddite happily browsing the internet, instant messenging (or making video calls) listening to music, watching videos, looking at photos or playing games. The N800 is truly a palm top computer for the hardcore media enthusiast.

Taking the N800 to the next level (i.e., turning it into a PDA, or a drawing pad, or a 3D gaming system, or a GPS unit), well that’s where having some technical know-how comes into play. You see, the N800 is built on top of a completely open Linux operating system. That pretty much means you can make it do anything. And people have.

But, if developing applications is difficult, sometimes installing them is only moderately less so. Most applications are dependent on a variety of code-bases that a programmer might use at the time of making the application. So, these code-bases are needed in order to install the applications. If you don’t have the specific code-base? The application won’t install. Thankfully, most Internet Tablet application developers supply installs of their applications as a “single-click” install that resides in a software repository. A repository is basically a directory that contains all of the files needed in order to install and run an application. So, if installing an application (from Maemo.org, let’s say) proves difficult, do some searching and see if you can find the original programmer’s repository for the application. Once you enter the repository into the Internet Tablet’s Application Manager, you’re (usually) good to go… And, a “single-click” is really all it takes.

When I first began investigating third-party applications two weeks ago, I was literally at my wits’ end… Which is why I ended up calling Dr. Shaw. But, now, only a few days later, I can honestly say that I am no longer intimidated by the installation of any application.

In conclusion, I will say that I am indeed a Nokia N0Series convert. Nokia seems to really have it together as far as features and end-user research goes. But, I wouldn’t recommend the N800 to just anyone. If all you want to do is play music and videos, definitely get yourself an iPod. But, if you want an handheld device that pushes the threshold of current technology — one that will do virtually anything you want (from playing FM radio to remotely controlling your satellite dish), then the N800 is for you. And, if you get an N800 and immediately feel overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of what it can do, just give yourself a few days… You’ll get it.

As an aside, you can search for and find all sorts of negative reviews about the N800’s ability to play media (audio and video). Yes, some of them are true. But, the cool thing about the N800 is that everytime a software update comes out from Nokia, many of those issues are solved… This is not a closed and non-upgradable device, people!

I’ll leave you with some screen shots from my N800…

The main desktop is completely configurable. I have a summary of my PIM on the left and Google/Wikipedia search, an FM radio, and media player on the right:

This is my blog in the Opera web browser (yes, all of the AJAXy stuff works here too!):

How about a game?

Playing a video:

Looking at myself in an Internet Call window:

MaemoMapper (Google Maps and more!):

xTerm (for you technical people out there):

Gaim:

I’d love to hear if you pick an N800 up for yourself… And, please don’t hesitate to ask me questions. If I can’t answer something, I know someone in the Maemo community will be able too!

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