Linux Tablet to be Released in Two Days

Rambo writes "Nokia has finally set a November 17th US shipping date for the $359 770 Internet Tablet. It features a Debian-based distribution called Maemo, which includes kernel 2.6, X.org/Scratchbox WM, and GTK for easy porting of applications. Hardware specs are: 800x480 ) screen, 220 MHz TI OMAP ARM processor (with DSP), 64M of RAM, 128M of flash, USB slave port, 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth, IR, and a RS-MMC slot. Even more details at LinuxDevices and Internet Tablet Talk. It sports a battery life of 3 hours for continous Wi-Fi usage, and accepts common Nokia phone batteries. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Nokia, and am anxiously awaiting my own pre-order!"

Comments

Sure it can play flash movies

[suso]

but can it run a bash shell.

Re:Sure it can play flash movies

[diegocgteleline.es]

Just for completeness... http://repository.maemo.org/pool/maemo1.1rc6/free/ b/bash/

I've got one!

[Dynamoo]

I've had one for a week now. It's great.. except it doesn't reliably connect to my Netgear router at home, and everything else does including a Nokia 9500 Communicator.

Sure, there's a lot of other traffic going on in the same frequency band with thing like the neighbour's wireless access points, DECT phones and the like but NOTHING seems to make this connect reliably.

At work, with less interference I can connect just fine to a bog standard access point. Also, no problem with any Bluetooth phones (I use a Sharp).

Despire the wireless connectivity issues - the 770 ROCKS. The 800 pixel wide screen is actually smaller than you'd think though, it's just very high resolution. The screen clarity is excellent. The web browser is excellent, plus there's a so-so RSS reader and an email client which I haven't used yet.

The interface is quite simple and easy to learn, although a few minutes studying the slim manuals that come with it is a good idea. Windows users shouldn't have much trouble adapting.

When I ordered mine I got a letter explaining that I was one of the first people to get a 770, and Nokia would like to have an interview with me to find out what I think, so I'll mention the wireless connectivity problems then. Other than that, it's great. Good quality web access no matter where you go, and it does a (limited) range of multimedia too.

One thing I can't figure out.. how can they make something this sophisticated for that much money? They can't be making a profit on it!

Re:I've got one!

[sydney094]

I got mine Friday too (dev program)... The first thing I did was install xterm and get ssh running. After that, I spent most of my time squinting at the screen trying to read websites. I've had no problems connecting to my cheap Fry's access point with WPA/PSK.

The device itself is pretty interesting. It doesn't actually turn off (unless you explictly tell it to). It doesn't even sleep in the traditional laptop way... it just turns off the screen and wireless (and sends the CPU into a type of sleep mode). That makes turning it back "on" instantaneous... and I like that.

However, I have a few gripes with it. The screen (beautiful as it is), I think is actually too small. The screen is too small to hold the device at a comfortable distance away and actually read a website. You have to zoom the browser just to be able to read the text (at a comfortable distance). (Disclaimer: I am under 30 and wear glasses, so my vision isn't the problem). Also, there is no scroll wheel. This means that in order to scroll in Opera, you have to take the stylus (which is uncomfortable in and of itself) and click and drag the screen. With only a limited screen height, reading slashdot can be painful... more so than usual. The main buttons are also a little small, and force your hand into an awkward angle to use them. The directional pad is also blocked by the screen cover, so that makes clicking the left arrow a little difficult to use.

Also, there is not enough RAM on the device. Reading a website like ESPN (lots of flash and graphics) will cause the device to slow down and display "Low memory" warnings. However, GMail works like a charm...

I would have also liked to have seen a CF slot. My digital camera uses CF cards, and this would have made a great platform for viewing pictures. But this also goes back to the size... they went small and didn't have room for anything more than an RS-MMC.

Final gripe: wireless is great for one location, but there is no easy way to configure the device to work in multiple locations. You can define wireless networks and wep/wsa-psk codes for each network, but there is no way to easy switch between them. For example, I have it configured to auto-connect to my home network. When I go to work, it has to try to connect to my home network, fail, and then I can select which access point I'd like to try to connect to. Also, there isn't support for VPN connections, which makes my campus wireless access (PPTP) impossible.

Overall, the 770 is a good little device. In fact, I have to steal it back from my wife at times (it includes a Mahjong game)... It has a good interface (modified gnome/gtk), and connectivity is good. However, it is too small to be useful as a good internet tablet at home. The size is a bonus in that it is easily portable, but the difficulty in switching between networks makes travelling (and using 802.11 connectivity) harder than it should be. I also like the fact that you can attach the 770 to your main computer and it appear as a usb flash drive... this definitely makes getting files onto the device easy.

There is a lot to like, and a lot to not like. If you get one, just know the limitations and you'll be happy. After playing with mine for a few days, I'm not sure I would not have bought one at retail price... to tell you the truth, I'm not sure I would have paid the developer's price either... This is a good first effort by Nokia, and their software deisgn is actually very good. They just need to work on the hardware design... I hope that the 2006 software update fixes the problems with configuration, but that isn't going to change the hardware issues.

I'd give it a 6/10.

Re:this sucks,

[wpiman]

The gp2x doesn't have the wifi support nor does it have Bluetooth. I would consider this for a wireless browser to control my home automation system.

Re:this sucks,

[hibiki_r]

Sure, redundant if you think that a directional pad and 8 buttons is a better input device than a touchscreen. The problem is that, outside of some games, it just isn't. You might as well claim that you don't want a modern computer because you can do the same things with an Atari 2600.

LiveCD for compiling, yes, it runs bash

[ubiquitin]

There is a bootable Linux live CD that has a development environment for the ARM chip in this thing: maemo.org/maemowiki/LiveCD


I got a development unit on Friday last week. It took me about a half an hour to get ssh, vi, and nmap running on it. Shell tools are a variant of busybox. The ssh client and server that are the easiest to get running are from dropbear project. I'm working to compile gdb for this thing.

Other comments: wifi is INCREDIBLY sensitive. Will make a great stumbling platform and 1G MMC cards are only like $75. Bluetooth works, and requires that you sync with a 4 digit code every time. The big question is whether it will work with bluetooth GPS.

As a side note, hats off to Nokia for sending units to developers before sending them the press. Don't get me wrong, CmdrTaco, I hope you get the free unit that you feel entitled to in a few months from now, but the fact that Nokia wants these in the hands of developers before the press speaks volumes about how successful this platform will be.

It's all about the software.

By the way, if you want, I can paste a dmesg from this thing. It feels pretty quick, especially running X. Native RAM/storage is 128MB and it comes with a 64MB storage card. MP3 playing slows it down a bit. It can play movie files, but pretty much if that's the only app you're running. Chess, Mahjong, and a Marbles puzzle game are all very nicely built out. The RSS feed reader in this Nokia770 is AWESOME and puts the PalmOS equivalents to shame. The web browser feels like Firefox in your hand and already has Flash support in it. Blah blah blah; I'm rambling, if you have questions, post them here and I'll do my best to answer.

Good In Hospitals

[blueZhift]

This might actually be of some good use in hospital settings as a replacement for PDAs (which are too small) or Tablet PCs, which are needlessly complex. I've been pushing web based forms for clinical research data entry for which a device like this would be perfect because it doesn't require making the forms microscopic and this internet tablet is much cheaper than a Tablet PC. I also found that Tablet PCs tend to run hot and are still a bit too heavy for the typical nurse to lug around for too long. Unfortunately, hospitals tend to be very Windows-centric, so this will still be a hard sell.

Operating System

[hungrygrue]

It sounds like a neat gadget, its a shame that most people will never realize that it is a Linux device based on the information that Nokia puts online:

Operating system
        Internet Tablet 2005 Software Edition

Re:I can't be the target market

[bfree]

I don't get it. What would I use it for? Is it for people that can't afford laptops but want the web on the move?
How many people is that exactly?

How about people who won't lug about a laptop (weight) but need access to web/email. As others have mentioned, many business applications look viable where browser based clients do the work.

And its not like you can just use it anywhere. You're either using it on your home network, where it would be a toy not a tool (why wouldn't you use your real computer?) or your using it in an expensive access point, or do they expect you to steal other people's connection?

First, I could see myself using one of these at home, the alternative is to lug around the laptop, or cover the house in a bluetooth netork for pdas (unpleasent to surf on anyway) or put a computer in every room! Use it as a remote for mythtv, read email or /. while you eat breakfast and check imdb to settle a bet on what films the actor you are watching is in.

As for where else to use it ... Work. Many free/cheap hotspots abound (e.g. some MacDonalds here would let you online for buying anything). Your friends/business partners may let you onto networks. It has it's own storage so it doesn't need to be online to be useful and finally you could just use your mobile when you have to get online and have no other choice.

3 hours battery life?

3 hours of surfing on 802.11 wireless sounds fine to me! I'd rather not carry around too much weight, and if I had to have longer battery life I suspect I could carry extra batteries. The entire unit probably weighs less then the two batteries I have in my laptop, in fact it's probably about the weight of one.

$400?

Yes, $400. Look at the prices of mobile phones (not subsidised ones), pda's and laptops. The 800x480 touchscreen alone is worth $100 in my book, any general computer (as opposed to a locked device) another $100, another $100 for low weight, power and small form factor and you can choose to argue the last $100's worth (is the software, or even just supporting the idea of it, worth it or perhaps the 802.11/bluetooth).

Whenever a form factor like this starts to become popular you can expect a rapid price drop as I'm sure the main part of the costs are the attempts to recover the fixed costs and the marginal price is low. At present screen options were probably few and far between for nokia, but if 10cm 800x480 touchscreens (or any size/format/resolution) take hold another manufacturer (of both the screens and devices) will likely appear quickly. Right now there's still a bit of "early adopter" to the price.

I guess this might appeal to PDA people, but don't they have everything that this offers for less, in a smaller package with the same or better battery life?

Show me a PDA with a comparable screen? It's as simple as that, what size/resolution screen do you want to surf the web with. 800 pixels wide should mean you are using something more akin to a laptop web browser then a pda one and make things much more pleasant.

Re:Those specs...

[Big Jojo]

...are weak. A low end Pocket PC device will cost you about $110 these days. And those specs are on the low end of Pocket PC devices these days. The only advantage is a bigger screen and the notion of running a free OS. The flash memory that thing takes is uncommon and not larger than 512MB. Why not an SD/MMC slot? Or better yet, Compact Flash?

Those low end devices don't come with 802.11 support though. And if they support CF, they suck battery power up the wazoo. I far prefer having this longish battery life.

The SIZE -- physical dimensions, weight, etc -- of N770 are actually quite nice. Much bigger and I'd feel uncomfortable putting it in my pocket. Much smaller and I'd not be able to use it in the can ... ;)

One of the interesting things about OMAP is the integrated DSP. I've been lax, and haven't checked out how my N770 uses it (or if it does) ... but I'm certain that the VOIP codecs will be using it, even if some of the current audio/video stuff might not yet use it.

Why would you want SD, anyway? Espcially on hardware where you're shaving every ounce of weight? Nokia doesn't use SD, so far as I can tell, just MMC. It's unrealistic to expect them to change corporate policy just for this product.

As for adding software ... just download the packages from the web, over the wireless link. No need for SD.

Admittedly a 220-odd MHz ARM isn't blazingly fast. But it's not like it's used for number crunching (that's what DSPs are for!), and this is certainly fine for web browsing at my local coffee shop. Or even at home.

here's the dmesg and uname -a

[ubiquitin]

BusyBox v1.00 (Debian 2:20041102-11) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
~ $ dmesg
mapdsp: freeing 0x10000 bytes @ adr 0xc2060000
[69527.536682] omapdsp: mapping in ARM MMU, v=0xe0fff000, p=0x13c48000, sz=0x1000
[69527.629608] omapdsp: mapping in ARM MMU, v=0xe0100000, p=0x12700000, sz=0x100000
[69527.629852] omapdsp: mapping in ARM MMU, v=0xe0200000, p=0x12600000, sz=0x100000
[69527.630157] omapdsp: mapping in ARM MMU, v=0xe0028000, p=0x105e9000, sz=0x1000
[69527.630310] omapdsp: frame buffer export
[69527.630371] omapdsp: mapping in ARM MMU, v=0xe0300000, p=0x13d00000, sz=0x100000
[69527.630523] hwa742_notifier_cb(): event = READY
[69527.630584] hwa742_register_client(): success
[69528.026519] omapdsp: IPBUF configuration
[69528.026550] 512 words * 16 lines at 0xe0200000.
[69528.026733] omapdsp: found 4 task(s)
[69528.026885] omapdsp: task 0: name pcm0
[69528.059753] omapdsp: taskdev pcm0 enabled.
[69528.059997] omapdsp: task 1: name pcm1
[69528.092498] omapdsp: taskdev pcm1 enabled.
[69528.092742] omapdsp: task 2: name avsync
[69528.170349] omapdsp: taskdev avsync enabled.
[69528.170654] omapdsp: task 3: name audiopp
[69528.245025] omapdsp: taskdev audiopp enabled.
[69530.782836] omapdsp: mmap info: vmadr = 40000000, padr = 12530000, len = 2000
[69530.783264] omapdsp: mmap info: vmadr = 40000000, padr = 12510000, len = 2000
[69560.991363] tlv320aic23 powering down
[69570.117828] tlv320aic23 powering up
[69570.135284] tlv320aic23_init_power() done
~ $ uname -a
Linux Nokia770-40 2.6.12.3-omap1 #1 Wed Oct 5 12:54:09 EEST 2005 armv5tejl unknown

I bought one!

[Torbj�rn]

Ive had my 770 for a week now and so far I'm very happy with it!

I have seen many posts wondering why you'd want one, so here are my reasons.

* I want to have something to browse the web where a laptop is not appropriate, like in the bed or TV couch (I dont want to sit awkwardly leaning down to the coffetable or balancing the thing on my lap)

* I use it as an extra MP3 player in the kitchen, streaming music from my server. When used like this I have external speakers and the power chord plugged in. Since there are lots of wifi MP3 player I can't be alone in having a need for this functionality.

* It can act as a pretty good divx player on the road but I haven't really used it for that yet.

* It's really cool!

This might not be enough for everyone but I have wanted the websurfing part of it since the term webpad was first coined somewhere in the late 1990s. And this is the first one that really delivers on the promise at a decent price point.

I never wanted the tablet pc's becuse the ones I have seen are all laptops without keyboard which means that they are expensive, heavy and not really designed to surf the web on the go.

The fact that it runs Linux and potentially can do a lot of other things is pure bonus!

Many people have questioned the lack of a phone in the unit, but I can't really see why I would want one.
If it had a phone, lets say a 3G one, it would need it's own subscription or a dual subscription if possible, would be heavier and use more battery.

I honestly think that it is much better to use my allready existing phone and subscription through bluetooth. Right now that is a GPRS phone but may soon be uppgraded to 3G, if it had been built in I would not have had the possibility to uppgrade it either.

I guess I should include a little min review also, so here goes...

The good.
* The build quality of the thing is excelent. Since most Nokia phones are plastic little massproduced toys that feels like they will break if you look at them funny I was suprised by this. The 770 feels like it could stop bullets :-)

* The browser, so far it has handled most pages I have thrown at it with ease the pages have been shown in all their glory without having to slim them down to the screen. (Try that on a Palm!)

* The battery life, the stated 3 hours must be while stressing the unit hard, for normal use it lasts a looong time. The powermoding is excelent!

The bad.
* The 64Megs of RAM is a bit to little, the browser suck quite a lot of it and becaus of this it has problems with really large web pages.

* Memory handling in general is not the best, it takes a little to long to load programs.

* I expected that it would include a real dockingstation with power but it came a flimsy plastic stand a standard nokia charger.

Re:this sucks,

[iamhassi]

"I prefer to surf holding the device in my right hand and scrolling the web page with the thumb on the same hand."

Yes, I'm sure you do prefer to surf holding the device in your right hand because it leaves your left hand available for other activities.... ;)