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this has always been a valid point. If only the ipad wasn't so helpless without another computer to ... be a base to it. Netbooks were desktop replacements in that they really could do what ever you wanted if you asked them to. Even the Mac Book Air is a netbook. If I could get a netbook running android or a decent tablet OS. Ubuntu and KDE netbook remixes are quite nice. This Nokia netbook could have been running Maemo or MeeGo or KDE if they were smart.

Well as long as you let the carriers run the show, you're pretty much screwed. Here's a nice example from Finland, where there is a lot of competition between carriers.

For years the 3G plan prices remained the same between all players: 384 kbs plan for 10€ ($14) / month and higher speeds running up to I think 40€ ($55) / month. Suddenly the competition heated up again, and within weeks the prices dropped to 1 Mbps for 10€ / month and unlimited plan for - wait for it - 14€ ($19.50) / month. The amount of data transferred monthly is not limited.

I would suggest checking out Nokia if you haven't already. They are actually advocating unlocked phones. Nokia should be releasing a new phone running Linux later this year, and it is slated to top the N8 on hardware and especially software. It will also let you get root privileges without hacking, just like the N900 and the Internet Tablet line before that. I'm sure it will be slated in the press as The Nokia iPhone Killer, which it might be, but at least it will be a fairly open Linux running powerhouse of a phone that you can buy unlocked.

Toast!

Nokia has removed all reference (except a few straggling pages) for the N900 from http://www.nokiausa.com/ already. The N900 is no longer for sale from Nokia USA.

This is sad, and I am sure you will be seeing Windows Mobile on Nokia phones in the future. You don't just leave Microsoft any more than you leave the Mafia.

Truly a sad day.

Nokia sell over 20 different models in the USA with built in FM - http://www.nokiausa.com/find-products/phones

I'm interested in the sensors of the iPhone See where it has bullet points for * Accelerometer * Proximity sensor * Ambient light sensor Details, Apple. You do not have them.

Uh-hum. Let's compare to others:

• Nokia (after wading through Flash) N 900: the only sensor is a "CMOS sensor" under "Camera" - so either none of those the iPhone has, or even less detail.

• RIM: (again, lots of Flash) BlackBerry® Bold: "Light sensing screen", no other sensors.

• HTC (again needs Flash to access) Hero: again, no sensors mentioned.

So Apple actually has better details then Nokia, RIM and HTC, and I doubt the most smartphone or computer makers will actually fare any better. But I'm sure you will try to claim victory by pointing to some obscure maker or some info available via secret handshake.

He is just an Apple hater but frankly a dumb one.
There are reasons to not like the closed nature of the iPad but just using a netbook as a replacement will not work in this case.
So for all the Apple haters and Linux fans "I do like and use Linux" here are what you can use as a replacemnt.
http://www.archos.com/products/imt/archos_5it/index.html?country=us&lang=en Runs Android
And
http://www.nokiausa.com/find-products/phones/nokia-n800-r6 runs Linux.
There you go. Something for everybody.

Oh wait, they do.

Last I checked the N900 was fairly worthless for connecting to Exchange, which, sad though it may well be, is kind of a critical must-have for a "smart" phone.

Incorrect sir. N810 lacked an exchange client. The N900 has full support for Exchange just like every other Nokia Smartphone: link

Are you kidding? Not only does trusting client side security always end up in disaster, but European cell phone networks seem to be doing just fine.

Stop buying into the carriers' propaganda already and start buying your phones directly from the manufacturers. You'd never be in this mess if the average American had done so from the start. The world's largest cell phone manufacturer would prefer to not sell you crippled devices, and look how much US market share it's been rewarded with.

...except at least they were attemping to make a useful device from day one, while Nokia has totally let that ship sail into Apple's hands.

Is that Kool-Aid good?

Nokia sells 4x more smartphones than Apple does, with over 40% of the worldwide market. Nokia has won more design awards for phones than Apple, by a long shot. They even have smartphones (n97) that handily beat the iPhone. The problem is, Nokia caters to users NOT phone companies and thus the North American carriers don't sell their smartphones. All you can really get in the U.S. is their standard phones.

They're trying to get a bigger presence in the U.S. market, and are examining how to leverage QT, Symbian and Linux in doing that. At least they aren't sitting on their collective asses (like Motorola) and getting crushed.

Don't write them off.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/12/technology/hempel_nokia.fortune/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10245339-37.html
http://www.nokiausa.com/find-products/phones/nokia-n97/specifications

Call me cynical, but when they claim two MONTHS of standby time and 18 hours of talk time, all on a 1850 mAh battery -- it makes me a bit leery. After all, no matter how efficient its electronics are, it still has to burn power transmitting packets. For example the Nokia 6205 on its 1020mAh BL-5C battery only gets up to 4 hours talk, up to 11 day standby. Spec for Nokia: http://www.nokiausa.com/find-products/phones/nokia-6205/specifications Spec for the phone, I think: http://www.sonimtech.com/pdf/xp3quest_ds.pdf

You can buy an unlocked phone from most of the manufactures now. Just get a SIM card for the network you want to use and pop it in.

For example, the N85 is $399 unlocked on the Nokia store.

You could just ditch the old iPhone and upgrade to a Nokia N97. The Nokia store called me today, and I will be there at 8:00AM tomorrow. The new N97 replaces my N95 8GB which has been wonderful.

Oh, and these are un-locked phones.

I have AT&T as my carrier, and my contract ran out long ago. Even if it did'nt buying a Nokia means upgrading is just switching SIM cards, then downloading a bunch of stuff.

As far as things you can get for the Nokia, remember that Nokia holds a substantial lead in 'smartphone' units over the iPhone, Blackberry, or G1. Last time I checked all of those combined didn't reach the Nokia numbers.

Go look http://www.nokiausa.com/

Flash has been on Linux for ages now.

On ARM, or only on x86?

Both
On ARM (for Flash 9 at least) and here for x86/x86-64 hardware.

And as another poster said, this article is about Windows 7 which doesn't work on ARM yet.

Easy. Nokia N810.

Trade it in with a Nokia E71.

No, I've done my research. I ended up with an ungimped phone, but what I'd really rather have is the Nokia N810 ( http://www.nokiausa.com/link?cid=PLAIN_TEXT_607318 ), but I've got to do some research on what networks I could possibly use it on, then determine whether I can countenance giving said network my money. AT&T has been on my "avoid at all costs including matters concerning life or death or dismemberment" list for a while. It's up there with cannibals, actually. Verizon is rushing closer and closer to that list every day, however. Which leaves me... sprint.

Joy.

Isn't that just an old version of what is now called E90 Communicator?

Here's the link: Nokia E90

The ACP-12U appears to be a Travel Charger, meaning that it charges a phone much faster than a regular charger by supplying a higher current (perhaps at the cost of battery life).

This charger's maximum output rating is not a reasonable measure of the phone's usage.

I think Nokia might sell you one.

I guess your idea of success is being, at best, a niche player. Apple hasn't even managed to outsell Nokia's single most expensive model... the N95 ($750). So when they decide to stop spitting in their customers' faces with app signing requirements and they stop raping developers with that 30% revenue cut, you give us a call on that iPhone, 'kay sport?

There's an alternative to the iPod Touch, anyway: the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet. It's about the same size as the Touch but has a slide-out mini keyboard. It runs a pared-down Linux called Maemo. I just got one of these instead of a Touch because I wanted the keyboard, and I wanted a truly open platform (and I didn't want it to be a phone; it isn't).

Capsule review: the hardware design is brilliant. The software, though, is still rather rough. I'd love it if some of these people who are so eager to write code for the Touch, but are turned off by the SDK licensing (and the fact that Apple wants to control app distribution) would come over to the N810 instead. The N810 has real potential, much of which remains unrealized as yet.

I just bought a Nokia n81 for many of these reasons. World quadband eGSM and UMTS2100 (not released in the US yet, so no UTMS1900), just grab a simcard for prepaid when you get to where you're going. I went for the base rather than the 8g model as I would rather buy several 2 and 4gb microSD cards rather than be limited to the onboard flash. Put movies on a couple, music on a couple more. Newegg has 2gb microSD for $10. Also includes a 2MP camera and 802.11g. Don't know what the details are yet, but Nokia sez it'll do VoIP calling as well. Product page

http://www.phonesource-usa.com/ has the n81 with a 2gb SD card included. . . according to the site at least (haven't received it yet).

I cannot stress enough to get a quadband GSM phone you're comfortable with. You can use it in the US, and all it requires to work somewhere else is paying out the nose for roaming or purchasing a local prepaid account with a simcard and pop into your phone.

I lived in (North) Dallas a couple of years ago, and lived very close to the Dallas Galleria. Needless to say, I went there often.

Anyway, one winter holiday weekend I went to the Galleria and Nokia setup a small kiosk to display their latest electronic gadgets. Most of the devices were already on the market; only a handful were coming out "in the next month or two".

When I asked about purchasing any of these devices, they said I couldn't because this was a "display only" kiosk. When I asked about purchasing a power adapter for my existing Nokia cell phone, they said "display only" again.

Bear in mind the U.S. Nokia headquarters (in Las Colinas, TX) is only about 15-20 minute drive from the Dallas Galleria. If you wanted to recycle your old Nokia cell phone, that's where they would go.

I walked away wondering...why would anyone setup a "display only" kiosk *and* in the backyard of the HQ? They didn't hand out anything to create buzz, and they weren't helping existing customers.

I still love my Clie NX70 as an ebook reader. For software I really like iSilo. It only reads its own format (and plain vanilla Palm DOC format) on the device, but the PC-side converter software does an amazingly good job with HTML and CSS. I pull down a number of websites and RSS feeds to read when I'm offline, and I have a large collection of fiction in electronic format (mostly from Baen Books). The converter software comes in GUI flavors for Windows and Mac, and command-line flavors for Windows, Mac, FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris.

No PDF support, unfortunately, which is probably a killer for a lot of people.

I'm hoping that Santa will be good to me and put a Nokia n810 in my stocking. One of my co-workers has one and it looks like it'd make a double-plus good ebook reader. It's almost exactly the same size as my Clie (the n810 is just a hair shorter), which works well for something to carry with me all the time.

Nokia N810 The iPhone putatively requires carrier contract, has lower resolution, and isn't a full blown browser, but the N810 is. Plus the N810 is Linux and open. Whether it is Project Gutenberg, Google Books, or whatever, the N810 is perfectly positioned as a book reader and oh-by-they-way a fully functioning computer as well. No affiliation with Nokia, just been following the latest in this area.

Some of the stuff you bemoan? MMS? Check. EDGE? 3G, HSDPA, Check. Camera? 5MP glass lens. Web browser? Check. Ability to download TV shows/use integrated iTMS? Missing. Has TV out? Check, component out. Check the weather? Sure. Browse photos? Sure. Maps? Yes. 2D and 3D maps with points of interest, and, get this, actual GPS, as well as A-GPS.

As for ease of use? The iPhone is, not many will deny, easy to use. So is the N95.

Well, for once you're better off not reading the article. Hit Nokia's product page on the N810 and look at the specs yourself. It has one miniSDHC slot. That slot will also take a microSD(HC) card in an extender.

Product page: http://www.nokiausa.com/A4626059

In theory, if we could buy unlocked phones more easily, we could then choose whatever carrier we want, adn would probably be less likely to pay the cancellation fee.

Such as the Nokia 6030, which is what I carry.

UNLESS, easy readability, in which case I don't know what to tell you, probably a basic flip (I've seen larger text there).

But the phone that I carry is the 6030, and it does calls and that's about it. Of course, every phone has an address book, clock, and dayplanner capabilities (or I haven't seen one that doesn't that has been built in the past three years), so those are there, but I really only use mine for the alarm clock other than for making telephone calls.

Here's a Nokia link http://www.nokiausa.com/link?cid=EDITORIAL_185113

It does work on GSM/GPRS 850/1900 MHz so that should be sufficient to get you on most major networks, no?

Best of luck!

Look on eBay. Gent an an unlocked Nokia 3120b. A simple, small phone. http://www.nokiausa.com/link?cid=EDITORIAL_185052

The buttons are easy to press, even for my sausage finger. It still has a simple "Ring" named ring tone that most new phones are lacking. Great battery life. A simple calendar you can attach notes to. A countdown timer, think parking meters. Easily availble for under forty dollars on eBay. I also picked up a spare.
It is a GSM phone.

The Nokia link you gave me states that Nokia has two brick and mortar stores, and neither is within an hour's drive of my home. Even if I feel adventurous enough to buy a phone that I've never tried, why are so many models listed in Nokia - Phones - Find products marked as "Phone only: --"? (The Motorola page didn't appear to have this problem.)

Besides, most Americans are not made aware that they have that option. And do the prepaid carriers in the United States sell SIMs separately, or do I have to buy a phone to get a SIM?

In the United States, phones and SIMs aren't generally sold separately, and phones are sold locked to a network

Phones for use on Sprint and Verizon networks have no SIM slot because they're CDMA.

What more needs to be done?

More conspicuous advertising of locking and unlocking policies, for one thing.

Or you can go with an unlocked phone with all that and more. No touchscreen, no lock-in, no lack of 3G, no closed door to third party apps. Gambling for version 2 might not be a good idea.

Here you go...

What I'd like to see is an honest comparision between the nokia n800 (yes I know it's not a phone), and the iPhone.

Sofar I've loved my n800, it does support flash(i.e. youtube), and has 2 sd slots (despite not advertising this fact, I can use 4 gig sd cards in it.)
Also.. it runs linux and has a built in package manager, so you can install apps on the fly (no 'sync-ing').

I usually connect via bluetooth to my sprint phone, and can use the ssh client to tunnel into my home network and use rdesktop or vncviewer.

NOTE: I've just referenced alot of 3rd party software available from various feeds throughout the net.
Which remindes me: the nokia n800 DOES support 3rd party apps.

In every review of a new "smart phone" posted on /. there is always one person that gets modded up for

Mobiles these days jut have too much crap and not enough just plain phone.

If want a plain phone then go out and get one. Stop whining about the smart phones. Here check out Motorola or Nokia it wasn't that hard to find plain phones

The Symbian OS based Nokia series already has such features.

In fact to compete with the iPhone the Nokia N80ie at almost half the price offers more freedom and is not crippled as the iPhone is crippled and I'll bet the Fone+ is criplled as well. Read the Nokia web site for features on the phone.

I have a new Nokia 9000i you can have for free. It will work on
T-Mobile, Cingular or any GSM service. It will make you look like
Maxwell Smart with his shoe phone.

http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/9000i#phone_feature s

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

You mean something like the Nokia N800, which comes with Opera and Flash, works with a wide range of bluetooth GPS units, including Navicore and TomTom, and has a freely available Rhapsody client?

Sounds like you want a Nokia N800.

I've been looking for a useful device in this space. Each one I've seen obviously has to make tradeoffs around battery life, screen size, keyboard size, and processor speed, and it's hard to compare one device to another based on features when it's really a question of whether one device achieves a better balance of tradeoffs than another.

That said, anyone interested in this space might want to take a look at the following devices:

- Sony Vaio UX series (official site w/ too much flash)
- Nokia N800 internet tablet (official site, user forums)
- OQO 02 (official site)
- Sony Mylo (my review, official site)

Short summary: the Mylo is possibly the best handheld Skype phone on the market and comes with Google Talk as well and has great UI and case design, but is expensive and has a poor keyboard. The Nokia N800 has fantastic battery life and a great browser that can handle nearly any website except Youtube, and also has a Nokia-supported very active open source development community - the device runs Debian, but lacks a keyboard and ships with apps that are too rough for non-geek end-users. The OQO 02 is a complete laptop with the best keyboard of the bunch and a lot of nice hardware UI touches, but isn't shipping until April, is expensive, and has fairly short battery life. The Vaio UX series has the best display and most processor power of the bunch, but is a little too large for comfort and has a terrible keyboard - the worst of the lot).

For my purposes, the OQO 02 has the best balance of features and tradeoffs, but I could have chosen the Nokia N800 if I wanted a maximally hackable portable computer.

--Pat

I've been looking for a useful device in this space. Each one I've seen obviously has to make tradeoffs around battery life, screen size, keyboard size, and processor speed, and it's hard to compare one device to another based on features when it's really a question of whether one device achieves a better balance of tradeoffs than another.

That said, anyone interested in this space might want to take a look at the following devices:

- Sony Vaio UX series (official site w/ too much flash)
- Nokia N800 internet tablet (official site, user forums)
- OQO 02 (official site)
- Sony Mylo (my review, official site)

Short summary: the Mylo is possibly the best handheld Skype phone on the market and comes with Google Talk as well and has great UI and case design, but is expensive and has a poor keyboard. The Nokia N800 has fantastic battery life and a great browser that can handle nearly any website except Youtube, and also has a Nokia-supported very active open source development community - the device runs Debian, but lacks a keyboard and ships with apps that are too rough for non-geek end-users. The OQO 02 is a complete laptop with the best keyboard of the bunch and a lot of nice hardware UI touches, but isn't shipping until April, is expensive, and has fairly short battery life. The Vaio UX series has the best display and most processor power of the bunch, but is a little too large for comfort and has a terrible keyboard - the worst of the lot).

For my purposes, the OQO 02 has the best balance of features and tradeoffs, but I could have chosen the Nokia N800 if I wanted a maximally hackable portable computer.

--Pat

http://www.nokiausa.com/N800

Posted by: Sascha Segan February 1, 2007 11:46 AM The phone that drove me nuts was a Nokia 6133, and I think the point that it's subsidized is bizarre; letting people use Opera Mini would increase, not decrease, T-Mobile's revenues by encouraging people to sign up for data plans. T-Mobile is shooting themselves in the foot by crippling the development of the third party software industry, lowering demand for mobile data.

The author's talking about ONE phone. Hardly indicative of a mass conspiracy to kill 3rd party apps. And the phone in question has no keyboard or stylus. While it might technically be capable of web browsing, I don't really see it working.

Do you realise that the hardware in this phone is identical to the Nokia E61?

The major difference between these two models (apart from the frequencies and those things) is that the WLAN (802.11g) support is disabled on the E62. I'll let you speculate why that is.

I have an E61. I also have an unlimited 3G data plan with my provider. I can use Fring to make Skype voice calls over the data connection, either using 3G or WLAN.

Now, ask yourself the following: Why is this impossible to do in the US, when it's possible in most of the rest of the world?

_Mediocre_ as compared to what? Show some stats and pricing. You clod, what's your story? Apple crapped out a black box overnight and picked a price from a hat? Why don't you look at the damned features and compare to similar smart phones in the same price range.

Look at a N73 MSRP $699.
Or a N80, MSRP $799

Now look back at the iPhone expected MSRP $499 & $599

MEDIOCRE?

I'm sure they're all fine phones, but FFS show some respect, the iPhone as it is now is a pretty good damned shot at the competition.

_Mediocre_ as compared to what? Show some stats and pricing. You clod, what's your story? Apple crapped out a black box overnight and picked a price from a hat? Why don't you look at the damned features and compare to similar smart phones in the same price range.

Look at a N73 MSRP $699.
Or a N80, MSRP $799

Now look back at the iPhone expected MSRP $499 & $599

MEDIOCRE?

I'm sure they're all fine phones, but FFS show some respect, the iPhone as it is now is a pretty good damned shot at the competition.