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Nokia Fears Carriers May Try To Undermine N900

Posted by Soulskill on from the but-the-carriers-are-usually-so-helpful dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Nokia is worried that networks may reject selling the N900 because it won't allow them to mess with the operating system. Nokia has previously showed the N900 running a root shell and it appears to use the same interface for IM and phone functions. Meanwhile, Verizon is claiming that 'exclusivity arrangements promote competition and innovation.' Is it too late to explain to people why $99+$60/month is not better than $600+$20/month?"

9 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. Another one for Nokia by Jurily · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know where my next phone is coming from.

  2. If true, this is now the phone to beat. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Finally a company gets it! We want a phone we can hack LEGALLY, that doesn't have Steve Jobs giant head staring at us 24x7 telling us what we can and cannot do with it. If they can really keep the carriers from imposing idiotic restrictions of their own, this will be the phone to beat.

    1. Re:If true, this is now the phone to beat. by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The N900 is -far- superior to the HTC Dream. Lets see here, the HTC Dream ships with 192 MB of RAM, the N900 ships with 256 MB of RAM. The HTC Dream ships with 256 MB of Flash and a MicroSD expansion, the N900 ships with 32 GB of Flash and a MicroSD expansion, The HTC Dream has a screen resolution of 480×320, the N900 has a resolution of 800×480. The HTC Dream uses a 3.2 megapixel camera while the N900 uses a 5.0 megapixel camera. The HTC Dream is without a doubt inferior to the N900.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  3. Not a 12 month contract by confused+one · · Score: 5, Insightful

    except some carriers require a TWO year contract; so, that becomes:

    60*24 + 100 = 1540
    20*24 + 600 = 1080

    Definitely better off buying the phone outright

  4. Verizon Says: by Nautical+Insanity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "exclusivity arrangements promote competition and innovation."

    The foul stench creeping through your nose right now is the smell of total bare-faced bullshit.

  5. Re:My next phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Only an american (no offense) can think something like that.
    In Europe carriers subscribe to a common standard for telephony that dates back to when the GSM was invented.
    There is *no* concept of "carrying" a phone in Europe, either the phone conforms to the network standard or it doesn't (and if it doesn't nobody sells it).
    *all* you need is a SIM card for the basic service, and a data plan if you want 3G stuff.
    Of course you can't do 3G if your phone does not support the frequencies and standards, but they are *standards* meaning the only limiting factor is whether your phone is built to use them.

    Welcome to a freer and more honest (though not as it could be) telecom industry.

  6. Let them know they don't need to worry by gpuk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you're considering getting one of these (and I certainly am), why not go to the N900 mini-site and submit your email address to get an alert when the phone goes on general sale. If nothing else it will show Nokia that there is legitimate, widespread interest in this phone and hopefully help them keep their resolve against the evil telcos!

    N900 site is here: http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/ (scroll all the way to the bottom for the form that lets you submit your email addy).

    Also, to whet your appetite of what's likely to come, check out this forum post over on the maemo boards: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=24272

  7. Re:Great pitch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bullshit.

    They released two more versions as "hacker editions" -- backports of the new, N8x0-only software to the 770s dated CPU. No, not everything works perfectly, and they weren't exactly pushed out quickly, but second-class support != no support.

    Moreover, with the N8x0/N9x0 transition, they're making obvious good-faith efforts to allow community maintenance of the old OS (although this is limited due to IP issues, they're actually working to resolve these), as well as providing significant support to a community-run backport of the new OS to the old hardware (which is going quite well). The latter is especially auspicious, as a community-run backport means you never have to worry about some corporation arbitrarily ending support, whether after 1 year or 10 years.

  8. Re:Only patented formats by Eunuchswear · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here it says that it won't support OGG,

    What is this "support" shit? It's running Linux, If you want OGG just apt-get install it.

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