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An N800 is maybe better for people who can afford to have other full sized computers.

http://www.nokiausa.com/N800/1,9008,feat:1,00.html

According to Nokia's website http://www.nokiausa.com/N800/1,9008,feat:1,00.html , it runs Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition, a modified version of Debian/GNU Linux. From http://www.starryhope.com/tech/apple/2007/10-ways- the-nokia-n800-is-better-than-apples-iphone/ "Nokia created the open source Maemo development platform for the 770 and N800. They've worked hard to encourage developers to port applications to this platform. You can find more info at http://maemo.org/."

I agree, this ain't gonna fly. People are just too (stubborn, lazy, unwilling) to try something like this. It's too different.

I had a Nokia 3650 (with its weird circular button layout). I've only seen one other person with one, and I am in New York City.

Why isn't the Nokia N800?

Good for you. Nokia 1100 maybe?

I want a computer that fits in my pocket, and I don't want to be carrying a phone as well.

When you said 'flip-up' I thought you were talking about the E70. A hybrid of that and the N800 should be a decent shape for a gaming phone.

Now the problem is that these people aren't asking if they can have a phone without a camera. And they know it. They want a phone that has WiFi, stereo bluetooth, a big high quality color screen, 3G, can play back every media file under the sun and better yet they can put custom software on and isn't locked to any provider... but not a camera. And that is where you do end up getting into "good luck, mate" territory.

I got a Nokia 3120 free with a Cingular 1-year plan. Basically the same thing with a different power button (which failed after a year, but looks like the 1600 is better since it isn't a rubber-covered hard-to-push button on top!). It did phone/text excellently and even had a usable WAP browser and I think e-mail functionality included. If you dig down into the menus, those small Nokias are a bit more functional than they are given credit for!

-b.

Just find the US equivalent of this phone http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/1600/ It's cheap ( 1 week) if you turn off the screensaver It even has a colour screen Just dont expect any features besides phone/text

> 2) why am I carrying a phone, MP3 player, camera, etc, at the same time?

Because a phone must be small, if I go to a Bar or a Party, I want a small phone that fits into my little jean's pocket. So, a small phone is not going to have a big screen, forget big space to store mp3 or a great camera.
I usually use my Nokia 8801 with my Nokia 770 (or check the new Nokia 880 with webcam). When I go out to a party for example, i leave my 770 in my house and just use my little 8801.

this for $399 http://www.nokiausa.com/N800

--Lets see: $299 for a Dell Axim (520MHz model), $249 for an 8GB iPod, and $80 (after rebate and with 2-yr contract) for a RAZR. That comes to $628. $599 for all that in one device sounds great.--

or... this for $399 http://www.nokiausa.com/N800

I work at Nokia. The charger formats have been something I constantly complain about whenever I do user-level phone testing. I would really like to see a standard format, too. For the most part, I like the fact that our phones usually have one of three fairly standard connections (DC large, DC mini, USB). And before you get too touchy -- not all Nokia-branded phones are made by us, and the OEM phones don't use our standard connectors.

However, not too long ago we designed a low-end phone. It's shipping to many carriers around the world (under different names and plastics), and it was originally designed with the DC mini charger. The version of this phone that is being sold to Verizon was MANDATED to have the DC mini socket removed. Why? Well, I never got a sufficient answer when I asked that question, and believe me, I complained. I was told by someone (although I can't prove this) that Verizon is worried people would stick paper clips or something like them in the charger socket and short the phone, but I call b.s. on that. So instead of having a "standard" socket (by our standards at least), the phone uses the pop-port (Nokia proprietary) connector to charge.

So even if we have recommendations from industry or government, the carriers might end up sticking it to you anyways... I guarantee you they make a HUGE profit on accessories.. because I know how much everything is at cost.

Same phone, but different features:
http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/2366i/
http://mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=2235

Yeah, that really pissed me off when I bought a 6280! Apparently some new phones come with a convertor but my 6280 didn't and now I have 5 obsolete chargers lying around.

I was in the same boat as you, just wanting too much out of a mobile phone. I just picked up the Nokia 770 and it does just about everything you mentioned in your dream device - except that it can't make phone calls. The idea is that you tether a small cheap mobile phone to it via bluetooth and connect to the net that way (or wifi). It runs Debian, and X, with maemo as the UI.

I'm more than pleased with this thing so far, and when I get my next phone in a month, the only thing that it needs to do is have a decent data connection with bluetooth DUN. I think that the really nice thing about this is that it detaches your data needs from your cell needs. Smartphones are nice in that they are a nice all-in-one device, except that the small ones have tiny screens that are useless for images/web, and the big ones you have to lug around a big, bulky phone with you everywhere. With a separate device, you can have a small phone, that does that job really well, and a separate web-browsing device, with a nice big screen, that you can leave at home when you don't need it.

Geez, I hate to sound like an advertisement for this device, but it's pretty sweet. (I have no affiliation with Nokia or maemo.org.)

1. Bluetooth is used a lot more outside the US. Most US operators cripple bluetooth on the phones they sell. Try buying direct.
2. Despite this, it is already the preferred method for phone sync, phone management, wireless keyboards and some mice, headsets, sending business cards and photos mobile to mobile and for using your phone as a modem to your laptop.

1. Every bluetooth device sold requires payment of a license fee to Ericsson.
2. It is all point to point. PC implementations end up layered over com ports. IP ends up layered over PPP. Many devices end up only being able to talk to a single partner device at one time. Pairing is painful, and other trust models could usefully be used. 802.11 WLAN is much easier to code for. Any bluetooth successor should start with IP on a broadcast WLAN, rather than IP being an afterthought. Bluetooth suffers from lots of stupid non-IP protocols being developed from scratch that noone can agree on for things that would be trivial over IP like filesharing, management, messaging and so on.
3. Per the article, battery usable could usefully be lower.
4. Per the article - the bluetooth PC, Mac and Linux software experiences areare substandard in one way or another

Then I've got a gaming platform for you!
The BEST snake based game of all time!

Linux has already won over the iPod generation, in a sense, because iPod runs on Linux. Google also runs on Linux, and anyone in the know uses Google. TiVo also has Linux under the hood.

That leaves the desktop. Why all the fuss over it? If ESR is talking about productivity apps, let businesses decide where to spend their money--they may very well come around to Mac or GNU/Linux. But it appears he cares more about the following:

Well, as I said in the panel, whenever I try to pitch Linux to somebody who is under 30 and has grown up with the Internet, the questions I get are things like, Will it work with my iPod? Will it work with iTunes? Will I be able to stream with this media format video? Will I be able, in other words, to use the content that's out there that's already published?

To that I say: Linux has already won! The Internet runs on Linux (and BSD). Moreover, these folks who have "grown up with the Internet" will find in greater numbers that their only constraint in computers is the web browser. YouTube, the "content that's out there", runs on Linux web browsers. And it would be a safe bet that we will be seeing YouTube and MySpace on TV set-top boxes, powered by Linux, in the coming months. Don't count out the linux-powered web appliance, either.

Here's a few:

Nokia 9500
Nokia 9300
Nokia 9300i

The E-Series might have something like that coming up, too.

Here's a few:

Nokia 9500
Nokia 9300
Nokia 9300i

The E-Series might have something like that coming up, too.

There was only one release this year. That was it (unless they made a release in the last month). I honestly don't know where you are getting this number of releases from. Here is the website:

http://www.nokiausa.com/support/phones/softwareupd ate/1,8461,770,00.html

See, only one release from June.

The Nokia 770 is, from what I can tell, just short of incredible -- runs Linux, nice big screen, and they've just released a new firmware. Only trouble is, for some mysterious reason, despite advertising the 770 on CNN, Nokia has strangled the supply of them. I'm absolutely baffled why they'd do this, but check Froogle -- the only place in the US that has them in stock for a non-inflated price is TigerDirect (the AdminPal link on Froogle is misleading), and for a price of $380+shipping, a bit steep for a tablet that's more than a year old now. I've looked in vain for a B&M store carrying them. CompUSA had them listed previously for $350 with free shipping, but they were never ever in stock for either delivery or in-store pickup anywhere in the country.

Even Nokia's USA page has listed them as being out of stock for at least the past few weeks. I'm a bit baffled why Nokia would do this to a product that has such huge geek appeal and a lot of grassroots FOSS software ported to it. My only hypothesis is that the US cellular companies that Nokia's in bed with are trying to push their bullshit data plans, and aren't happy about the emergence of tablets with WiFi that cuts them out of $50/month subscriptions.

Nokia, if you're listening, I'd been dying to snatch up a 770 for a reasonable price for the past few weeks, but due to your incompetence I'm settling for an Axim which is cheaper, faster, smaller.. but with Windows Mobile bullshit that offsets those advantages.

This is perfect for my needs (and it runs Linux natively): http://www.nokiausa.com/770

I don't get it. Why does everyone go on about there not being a simple phone available?

The Nokia 1100

The Motorola C139

The Samsung
SGH-N625

Happy now?

It's not Adobe Photoshop, but it does have some useful picture editing functions.

Go to the Nokia web site and download the user manual for the N9x series - not sure about N7x's - and look at the range of options for editing pictures and video. :)

Here's the N90 page - http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/N90/ - and here's the link to the N90 user manual (PDF) - http://nds2.nokia.com/files/support/nam/phones/gui des/N90_US_en.PDF

Me too. That's why I use a Nokia 1100. It's very small, makes and receives calls and text messages, and has fantastic battery life. I have never been happier with a phone. Pick one up if you can, I think it's just what you need.

I bought a Nokia NS-26W bluetooth headset about a month ago. It clips around the back of the ear rather than over the top. It's reasonably comforable when I'm wearing my sunglasses.

I paid $69 Australian from Organiser World. If you're in the US, you can get it from Amazon.com.

As I said earlier, the original premise here was that these devices would be cheap. Of course the main determinant of cheap is volume so you don't get cheap by stripping out features.

I think that is is possible to have either a small disk or no DVD support, both is a disaster. What I would want to do with the device is to fill it up with films ripped from the home media vault before going on a trip. I don't want to have to take DVDs on the road with me.

20Gb is tight for a PC these days. It is pretty easy to eat up 5Gb with the O/S and basic applications (Firefox, Google Earth, Office, &ct). I have 6Gb of ripped CDs. that leaves less than 10Gb for video, thats only 2 DVDs.

I agree that no USB2.0 or Firewire really cripples the device as a mobile media vault. I can't download my video camera in the field.

This looks to me to be something that a manufacturer botched together as quickly as they could for the sole purpose of announcing the device before the big manufacturers put their Origami devices on sale. The size of the device makes it clear that it has a laptop motherboard inside. So the only development specific to this model is the case.

Incidentally, I am a little suspicious of just how available the device is. The few sites that have the device all show the same drawing, I could find only two actual photographs and its not possible to see whether the display is real or simulated in either. The Internet Tablet 770 Nokia was selling at the IETF is certainly genuine, smaller, neater and more capable.

I recently had raised the same questions when getting a new cell phone.

My previous phone was a Nokia 6230 (link) and at the time I purchased it, was at the bleeding edge of cell phone technology. Bluetooth, GPRS Modem, Camera, Video, SD Card, you name it. So the decision to upgrade FROM this phone was a tough one. Which phones on the market today made the $$ I'd have to spend WORTH the upgrade?

After spending a lot of time researching, I finally settled upon the Nokia 6682 (link). It had the same features as my previous phone, but also a few key others:

- The 6682 is the only 3G Phone offered by Cingular (my carrier), thus future proofing me for a while
- It supports GPRS/EDGE over USB (cable included with phone) or Bluetooth
- Supports syncing with PC (My Powerbook uses iSync, which installed automatically on my phone and worked flawlessly)
- !ACTUAL! Web Browser Support. Phone comes installed with Opera 7.2.x. I updated it to the latest version of Opera by downloading it from Operas website.
- Next-Gen Data features such as MobiTV (Mobile TV, 35 channels including Weather Channel, CNBC, MSNBC, Cartoons, Music Videos) and MobiRadio
- PLENTY of Open Source applications (ie: Putty) are available for this phone because it runs Symbian Series 60 (S60)

I think this phone is right up your ally, especially because all of it's Bluetooth functionality is also available through the USB data cable, which is included with the phone.

Hope this helped! Cheers!

I've heard much better things about the kinds of phones one can get from Cingular on that point

If you don't have a "data plan" with Cingular, you get charged by the kilobyte (which is nice compared to Verizon who won't let you do anything but 14.4k without adding "data" to your cell plan) Cingular doesn't support computer configurations that don't use their software (which you can't download if you can't get a connection, but you can't get a connection without downloading the software...is what they told me while I was on vacation trying to check my email)

The dataplans vary widely, I think they are 2MB/month, 5MB and 10MB, and "unlimited". I signed up for the unlimited for a month and the speed was stupidly slow for a simple ssh session.

I have a Nokia 6230 (and their free software) but the BT [modem] is a pain to get working right on a win32 laptop (had it working once or twice, but not since then - and no clue how to get something like that working in linux). The helpdesk person at cingular actually had a really good suggestion that worked like a charm - IR. I used the IR so often I had it disabled in the system bios. Slow as hell, but it worked for pine. Downside, phone and laptop have to pretty much be stationary for line-of-sight IR comms to work. Maybe there is a way to make it go faster, I dunno.

Then if they're talking a 1:1 ratio between image sensors & pixels then that would give a 20" screen 1.76MP, a 23" screen 2.3MP, and a 30" screen 4.1MP. That's a huge improvement over iSight which is .3MP. I don't think anyone except people on a dedicated LAN could really teleconfrence at those resolutions though, so I don't really see much benefit. Maybe there are enough vain Mac users' that would buy the screen just to take pictures of themselves.

I love the idea for PDAs/mobilephones. I haven't seen a camera phone or PDA that wasn't a horrible monstrosity. Though you'd need a much better sensor ratio than 1:1 in a PDA screen to get a good picture.

Unless you want to just take pictures of yourself, the design would have to look like a window, with one side of the screen capturing light and the other side acting as a view finder. Sounds sexy eh ... we can only hope Apple will release an iPhone or iPDA that does something like this.

Simply not true.

I have a Nokia 6230b with a 2GB memory card and serveral hundred songs in mp3 format, a few music videos (3gp), and dozens of pictures. It also outputs true stereo sound to my car head unit via a modified cable -- It even doubles as a hands-free kit that automatically pauses the music when I receive a call. It works flawlessly!

It also supports OBEX file transfer via Bluetooth so i can easily add/remove music on it. Now I just need to write a program to sync up podcasts to it when in range.

I haven't tried out the 770 but I've been a long time fan of Nokia and their products. However I currently have the Nokia 9300 (usa version here), and it suffers the *exact* problem which TFA describes with regards to Opera crashing. Granted my nokia does not run Linux (it's series 80 symbian software), but I find it interesting that Opera crashes on both systems with moderatly complex website or if you have multiple windows open for a long time. I thought it was because of the flaky EDGE signal I am getting (and it still could be that), but I think Opera is partially to blame for the lackluster internet browsing experience.

Nokia N90 with Carl Zeiss optics and autofocus. A bit big, but takes very good pictures (for a phone).

What is this? Here's a phone article, so I'm going to whine about how you can't get a basic phone any more?

Go get yourself a Nokia 1100 (http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/1100/).

You can then stop polluting stories about phones with this phone of straw.

The Nokia 770 has a screen resolution of something like 225 dpi. I find reading text on my 770 really, really comfortable, and I was surprised to find that I was happy to read even PDFs (which aren't normally formatted for a small screen) on it. With FBReader on it, I have access to a reasonable amount of content, and it's smaller in all dimensions than a paperback book. (Well, it's only thinner than most paperback books.)

I think Nokia has hit the form-factor and screen-size sweet spot for this particular market niche (mainly surfing the web), in the way the Palm's (originally Pilot's) creators did for an electronic organizer. It's a little bigger than a typical PDA (at least in the widest dimension), but that way it has an 800-pixel-wide (landscape) screen, which means you can read most content on the web without any trouble. (And FBReader lets me rotate the screen, so I can hold it in a more typical book orientation.)

> I don't get it.

I do. Everything you say is true; devices like this are certainly niche, and Micro$oft will probably lose money on this. M$ created this because it would rather lose money than let Linux own this admittedly niche market. Check out this website: http://www.nokiausa.com/770

Origami is basically a clone of the Nokia 770, except that Origami runs inferior software (Windows XP with IE vs. Linux with Opera Mobile), will cost more (>$500 for Origami vs. $360 for the 770), and is significantly heavier (2 lb for Origami vs. 8.1 ounces for the 770). Also, the Origami may have a slightly larger screen (=3 hours for 770). The two devices have the same screen resolution (800x480) and the same wireless connectivity capabilities (WiFi and Bluetooth: neither is a phone).

Remember that in the mid-90's, Micro$oft used its muscle to destroy a competing OS in the almost nonexistent market for pen-computing devices. M$ just wants to make sure it doesn't lose this market to Linux, no matter how small the market may be.

The Nokia 770 fits your first criteria. However the battery life is only 3 hours.

I've seen it at CompUSA, and it is very sleek! It is horizontally oriented and sits comfortably into my hand.

The only problem is that it lacks apps. I think partly because it was designed as a web browsing device, and partly because Nokia thought it would fail, there were no apps built for it. However, since it runs the somewhat open-source Maemo platform, there is a lot of opportunity for community development.

Wow

http://www.nokiausa.com/add_nonactivated_phone_to_ cart/1,1890,p,00.html

Err. Oops. That's this.

At $800, I could just buy a laptop. Why would I want this?

Because it sells direct from Nokia for $359.99. Link, you have to click continue to view the price. For some reason a direct link wouldn't work.

T-Mobile's unlimited GPRS internet is $19.95 per month when added to a voice plan. So get a Bluespoon to handle voice, a 7280 to handle cellular connectivity, and the 770 to handle http|ftp|ssh. Then, if possessions can make someone cool, you'll be cool.

Problem: If you can't read it on the porcelein throne, it isn't perfect.

Solution: The Nokia 770 internet tablet.

Price is about right and resolution is good, hell even the OS is up there (yes, it does run Linux).

I'm just waiting to get my hands on one before final purchasing decision is made (reviews say slow, but slow is still better than none).

I happen to have one, and the mobile Gmail interface works tolerably well on it.

Main site: www.nokia.com/770

USA site: http://www.nokiausa.com/770

Buy it here(on back order in US): http://www.nokiausa.com/add_nonactivated_phone_to_ cart/1,1890,p,00.html

Main site: www.nokia.com/770

USA site: http://www.nokiausa.com/770

Buy it here(on back order in US): http://www.nokiausa.com/add_nonactivated_phone_to_ cart/1,1890,p,00.html

I've been working with the Nokia 770 (http://www.nokiausa.com/770) and it's a nice small wireless (802.11b) ARM PC running Linux. It has a 800x400 touch screen that I'm comfortable with. It has a streaming music app, email, a browser (Opera) and a couple of other apps on it as well as storage for adding more. I plan on using it for my HA interface (running http://www.misterhouse.com/) so the browser is important. So far it works rather well and beats bringing a book into the bathroom for reading. :-) This will be used to replace my my 3COM Audrey, which is hardwired. If they can get the price down I think this device has a chance.

Sure I want one of these babies, but I'm not getting a good feeling about the quality of the LCD. I'm of the mindset "no dead pixels" PERIOD. The user's guide has this to say: "Note: A small number of missing, discolored, or bright dots may appear on the screen. This is a characteristic of this type of display. Some displays may contain pixels or dots that remain on or off. This is normal, not a fault." http://www.nokiausa.com/support/phones/guides/1,78 40,770,00.html

"this type of display"? You mean sub-standard? I think that's BS! There are many LCDs that have no dead/half-dead pixels. I HATE that more companies are putting this kind of statement in warranties and userguides. Is there a 100% satisfaction guarantee?

You can run Idokorro's Mobile SSH on a Nokia 6820. Don't know how much the phone will cost you, but in my part of the world it's 140 EUR without a plan. Only drawback is the small screen resolution of a Nokia 6820.

You could always go with this tiny monstrosity. The 7280 is VERY tiny. It does have a very small display, but it doesn't even have number keys. Granted, it's not meant to be your primary cell-phone, just one for a night out on the town (and that means it does have camera functionality.) From what I'd guess, you basically transfer numbers from another phone or your computer or something like that, then select which one to call.

I personally think it's really not $500, but looking at the pictures of the people using them I really don't get the feeling that I'm the target demographic here (even though I do have the tiny iPod shuffle, which is pretty much the same size. But then again I did carry an MP3 diskman around before a cellphone... maybe Apple will come out with an iPhone shuffle that just calls random people in your phone book?)