Techies have been going crazy over the pending release of Nokia's N900 cellular phone, which incorporates a newly revised touch-screen operating system. Reiter's got one. Is the craziness justified?
Depending on what I do and how many real-time widgets are running AP News, etc.), I get about a day without recharging. But if I use it heavily, such as lots of Web browsing -- and I sometimes do -- it gives out in less than a day.
However -- The N900 hardware is final, but the software is "pre-release." It's quite possible the battery life will improve with OS updates.
So until I (and others) are able to download the release version of the OS, battery life predictions should be put on hold.
By the way, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 battery life is excellent. (My video about the 9700 will be posted, I think, tomorrow.)
Hey Alan, It seems no matter what phone is reviewed one of the the biggest bones of contention has been battery life, what can you offer in your review concerning this subject matter.
As I wrote below to Nicole, Nokia USA is charging (pre-order) $649. Amazon is charging $582.99. Both unlocked and no contract.
Overseas cellular operators certainly will offer and subsidize it.
There are rumors T-Mobile U.S. will subsidize it. No official announcement and no pricing. As I said to Nicole, at $199 it could do okay (if there are sufficient apps and sufficient advertising) for high end users.
At a higher price, though, I wouldn't bet on success in the U.S.
Unlocked, Nokia USA is selling it (pre-order) for $649. Amazon is selling it for $582.99 without a contract.
Of course -- it's too expensive. Unlocked phones in the U.S., especially Nokia phones, are expensive.
However, there are strong rumors that T-Mobile U.S. will sell/subsidize it. If it's sold, with a contract, at $199, it could be a good seller. If it's more than that -- and doesn't have a vibrant app store -- it will have problems competing against other high end phones.
As I said in the video, the N900 wasn't likely to win any design awards. Also, I've written in one Internet Evolution weblog that I haven't been impressed with Nokia Nseries designs.
No, it doesn't have as many apps as the iPhone (what mobile OS does?), but the iPhone has been out for more than a year, and the N900 isn't even commercially available. Nokia has given the pre-release version of the phone to hundreds of developers.
The reason I like Maemo is out of the box it's very capable and slick. The browser is Adobe Flash 9.4, the multiple windows are useful and Nokia probably is pinning a lot of its hopes on its success.
Also, I didn't mention that it looks like a great phone to hack because of its Linux guts. That means developers might find it fun/easy to develop for. (Yes, I know, they need to find it profitable to develop for.)
It comes with Skype, SIP, Google Voice and Jabber, among other apps, and I wouldn't be surprised if VoIP would be a major feature.
Maemo will be Nokia's high end OS, and OS 6 is on target to be available next year. I see Maemo handsets as becoming Nokia's true flagship phones (unlike the mediocre Symbian touch screen OS on the N97) -- if the promise of Maemo is turned into a reality.
It could put Nokia back in the running with the newer mobile operating systems, whereas Symbian's power is overshadowed by its ease of use problems.
Nokia has a huge presence around the world and is considered in many (certainly not all, though) countries to be the premier, quality handset.
As I said, it's "promising," but the reality will depend on whether developers offer lots of useful and fun applications. If developers gravitate more to mobile OS and Android in 2010, Maemo will be in big trouble.
Concur on it being ugly. I liked some of the displays though and the ability to operate more than one widge at one time. Is there a price for this yet?
While Google introduces its new Chrome OS (which I'm hearing will be widely available in one year? Did I mishear that?), IBM announced 10 new products today to help companies using IBM System z mainframe technology.
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When Reiter gets incensed over incompetent Verizon FiOS order-taking and support, he broadcasts it via Twitter. Did it do any good? How should your company offer Twitter support? Watch this for all the answers.
The successor to the BlackBerry Bold 9000 – the Bold 9700 – will be available soon in the US. Is it worth upgrading? Reiter's got one, and offers advice.
Mobile TV is everywhere, and yet, nowhere. Nobody uses it – because the handsets aren't good, the pricing is too high, and the coverage is not good enough. But Qualcomm's FloTV Personal TV aims to change all of that.
Meatballs aren't an obvious source of monetization for the Internet, but Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs may well be just that, and might also represent a new dynamic in the complex world of Internet content delivery.
In order for banks to grow, they'll first have to start by retaining their standing client bases. To do this will require better customer service and more transparency. Banks are meeting these needs through more automated commodity services and mobile banking applications.
A digital content market is emerging. Only two things are known about it: the first is that at some point the Internet will primarily become a paid network. The second known factor is that there are innumerable variables in the digital content market that have yet to be worked out. It’s not known, for example, exactly how users will pay for content (micropayments, subscriptions, bartering of farm animals, other).
Routesy is an iPhone application that uses the phone’s GPS to let the user know where and when the next train or bus is coming. The application’s developer, Steven Peterson, talks about why a mobile application makes sense, especially given that this transportation information is already available on the Web.
Bad news! By eliminating the world’s digital divide we’re likely to create a new divide: the information divide, where we end up creating a two-tier Internet where access to 'quality' content is controlled and charged for by mega-corporations, and the gulf between information haves and have-nots is entirely dependent on how much money they have. This is, of course, an almost exact inversion of the current situation on the Internet – where access is expensive and content is free.
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