Nokia N900 - Maemo 5-powered mobile computing

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Nokia has announced the Nokia N900, a Maemo 5-powered device. Maemo 5 is the evolution of Nokia's previous generation of Internet Tablets and aims to occupy the space created by the convergence of mobile phones, laptops and the Internet. The N900 features a horizontal slider design with a three line QWERTY keyboard, a 3.5 inch WVGA (800 x 600) touch screen, ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz processor with 256MB of RAM (and 768MB of virtual memory), 5.0 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, tri-band WCDMA and WiFi connectivity, integrated A-GPS, 3.5 mm AV jack (audio and TV-out), and 32GB of flash storage and a microSD card slot. The N900 will be available in select markets from October 2009 at a cost of €500 before taxes and subsidies. Read on for further details and comment.

N900 Closed

“With Linux software, Mozilla-based browser technology and now also with cellular connectivity, the Nokia N900 delivers a powerful mobile experience,” says Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Markets, Nokia. “The Nokia N900 shows where we are going with Maemo and we’ll continue to work with the community to push the software forward. What we have with Maemo is something that is fusing the power of the computer, the internet and the mobile phone, and it is great to see that it is evolving in exciting ways.”

In the press release, Nokia notes that Maemo is 'designed for computer-grade performance in a compact size, Maemo complements Nokia's other software platforms, such as Symbian, which powers Nokia's smartphones'. Clearly there's going to be much comment on Nokia's choice of Maemo as the platform to open up an evolving market segment. Essentially though, it is a reflection of the fact that as Nokia expands and diversifies its device portfolio, it becomes necessary to deploy multiple platforms. We'll be looking at this in more detail in the next few days.

N86 N900 N97 N810 compared

The Nokia N86, N900, N97 and N810 compared (proportional sizes)

The N900 will be demoed at Nokia World, in Stuttgart, next week, where Nokia will reveal further details about the device and the Maemo 5 platform.

N900 Video

Key features of the phone

Hardware:

  • ARM Cortex-A8 600MHz processor with up to 1GB of application memory (256MB RAM and 768MB of virtual memory).
     
  • 3.5 inch widescreen, 800 x 480 pixels resolution, resistive touch.
     
  • Dimensions of 110.9 x 59.8 x 18mm (19.5mm at camera), weight of 181g. This is shorter, but wider, thicker and heavier than the N97 (117 x 55.3 x 15.9mm at 150g). It's significantly smaller than the N810 (72 x 128 x 14mm at 226g), the previous Maemo device. 
     
  • Horziontal slider form factor with 3 line QWERTY keyboard on the lower slide and integrated (around the camera) device 'kick' stand.
     
  • WiFi (b/g) (includes UPnP support) and HSDPA connectivity (triband WCDMA 900/1700/2100 and quadband GSM). The 1700 band is for T-Mobile USA (which suggests the N900 is headed for a carrier in the US to go up against Palm Pre (Sprint) and iPhone (AT&T).

    To be clear - this is a phone, in contrast to previous Maemo devices which had no cellular telephony functions. However, in contrast to Nokia's Symbian smartphones, it might be considered a mobile computing device first, then a phone.
     
  • 5 megapixel main camera (2.8 aperture, 5.2 focal length, dual LED flash and video light), with Carl Zeiss Tessar optics, video capture at WVGA (800 x 480) at up to 25 frames per second. Camera supports geotagging, tagging with keyword and ability to share to Ovi and Flickr.
     
  • Integrated GPS with A-GPS.
     
  • Integrated FM trasnmitter.
     
  • Bluetooth 2.1, including full support for stereo headsets (A2DP and AVRCP).
     
  • Nokia 3.5mm AV connector for audio input/output and TV-Out.
     
  • microUSB for connectivity and charging.
     
  • 32GB of internal flash storage, microSD card slot.
     
  • Nokia BL-5J battery with 1320 mAh capacity.

N900 Open


Software:

  • Runs Maemo 5; Nokia say, 'Maemo brings the power of computer to mobile devices. Designed with the Internet at its core. Linux-based Maemo software takes us into a new era of mobile computing'.
     
  • Browser (Fennec) powered by Mozilla technology, supports full Flash 9.4 and AJAX.
     
  • Customisable 'panorama' desktop and multi-window task switcher.
     
  • Unified communications and address book: voice calls, internet calls, instant messages and SMS. Includes the ability to merge phonebook, Skype contacts and other contacts into a single address book.
     
  • Ability to share status, location with friends, keep multiple IM and SMS converstions going and move between them.
     
  • Nokia Messaging pre-installed, mobilise up to 10 personal email accounts. Includes quasi-push email and rich HTML support.
     
  • Video playback H.264, MPEG-4, XviD: up to WVGA (800 x 480) at 25 frames per second; WMV: VGA resolution at 30 frames persecond; Flash.
     
  • Video streaming in the browser.
     
  • Music playback formats include MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, M4A, WAV, WMA. 

 

N900 contacts

We'll add additional information and comment as this story develops.

More information is available at maemo.nokia.com.

N900 Music

N900 Video 2