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Ask Slashdot: Life After N900?
Rydia writes "Since it first released, I have been in love with my Nokia N900, and it has satisfied all my needs for a mobile with a high degree of control and utility. Sadly, the little guy is showing his age, both in battery life (even with the powersaving kernel options enabled), and performing in general has been left far, far in the dust by phones that are now considered quite old. The time has come to find its successor, but after a thorough search of smartphone options, I can't find any handset that offers everything for the power user that the N900 did (much less a hardware keyboard). I'd like to avoid supporting Google/Android, but there don't seem to be many options. Have any other techies found a replacement for their N900?"
You can replace the standard Google Android software with a completely Google-free custom ROM, if you like. You can also get Ubuntu Touch.
Buying an andriod phone doesn't really mean supporting google.
I'd like to avoid supporting Google/Android, but there don't seem to be many options.
Why against Google and Android?
It's a niche project, but looks like getting a good techie phone is niche these days. Uses N900 displays and casing, so resolution is not getting any better, but has lots more processing power.
Jolla might be an option once they get the QWERTY "other half" available.
Oh god yes please. Sometimes I have to do some amount of scripting on my phone, and a hardware keyboard is a complete necessity. On the Android side, I've gone from a Samsung Epic to a Motorola Photon, but I can't find a good next upgrade path. At this point I don't care about Android or iPhone or anything as long as I can get a slide-out keyboard with brackets on the keys.
Obviously. Check out market-ticker.org, where among other political/economic rantings, the author frequently delves into in-depth discussions on Blackberry and it's technical characteristics.
You might even learn a thing or two about the real reasons health care is so expensive in the US (if you are in the US and care about that.)
I got one from preordering and I really like it a lot. If the thing you like in n900 is the community and the hackability, you will like Jolla too. Most importantly, I'm able to use it as my work phone already, so it's not just a plaything. So far there has been a steady stream of updates and apps. If you are in US, getting one is probably not very easy, but maybe you can get one from ebay or something? (Check the frequencies etc. first.)
http://jolla.com/
Samsung's joke on Nokia :) Reasonably happy, but not 'in control' as with Maemo. And no HW keyboard of course.
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
There's a Neo900 project attempting to make a modernized version of the N900, software and hardware. I don't know if they'll succeed and be able to do it at a price one can afford, but you might check it out if interested. If you don't visit maemo.org forums you might wish to.
I like my N9, but not the way I loved my N900. I especially miss the h/w keyboard.
There's also the Jolla phone, but its availability and network compatibility is limited now (e.g. current version might work in the US but as 2G only, the only modem offered in it is designed for European market, or part thereof, no idea what rest of the world situation would be like). And again, no h/w keyboard.
I am not a crackpot.
Once upon time there was a company, struggling but still profitable. Then one day M$ Sauron came.
Destroyed and sunk the company, flying off using golden parachute.
Fascist western regimes reward incompetence.
Another chapter closed.
Have any other techies found a replacement for their N900?"
A sledgehammer, but it really is a poor substitute. They aren't as strong as the N900 was. As I understand it, the replacement program for the Space Shuttle suffered a major setback after they were discontinued; they're having to rely on conventional heat shielding now to re-enter the atmosphere.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Just get a phone with decent specs which works well with an alternative OS like Cyanogen. Yes, it's still Google-created to some extent, but it's also sort of giving Google the middle finger in some ways.
Hats off to you, sir, for holding out longer than I could with my Palm T|X.
Currently I'm rather happy with CyanogenMOD on my HTC myTouch Slide 4G (and the slide 3G before that). Too bad they haven't updated the myTouch Slide line for a while, since they'd carve out a nice little niche for themselves being one of the only major Android manufacturers that did physical keyboards.
I'm about to break down and just get a Nexus something, and pair it with an external portable keyboard (there are various cases that help make this more portable).
Also, I think you'd enjoy running full ARM linux on an Android device, but look at the forums for :/
https://play.google.com/store/...
and check which ROMs support the loopback module (or make sure you can build one for yourself). Not all of my third-party ROMs bothered to do this, so I only have a full chroot Debian distro behind one or two of my Android devices
But let us know how you turn out! My musings were plopped down here:
http://trumblings.blogspot.com...
and maybe a few more relevant posts here:
http://trumblings.blogspot.com...
I was like you back when the N900 first came out. I thought it was great! Total customization, full Linux Kernel, CLI, etc. Trust me dude, once you switch to a modern platform, the N900 won't even be a distant memory. It's a horrible device in reality. It was a hobby-shop idea by Nokia that went nowhere. It had some plusses, but they were far outweighed by it's minuses. Dump it. Get a Nexus 4 or 5 and flash it with an open ROM if you're dead set against Google.
https://www.google.com/search?...
Dude, how do you think I feel, I still have my Treo 755p, the homo erectus of smart phones. The email stopped working a couple of years ago but I can still browse many websites, text and make calls.
It was shit. I didn't really realise quite how shit it was until I upgraded to an iPhone. Never looked back since.
It's not a phone for the general population. The N900 was a phone for hackers, developers, etc.: people who needed a pocket computer with phone functionality. Sort of the "anti-iPhone" in its philosophy. You were clearly not in the (tiny) target demographic, and whoever sold you yours was not your friend, didn't know you very well, or didn't as the right questions. (I just described a salesman, didn't I?)
I am not a crackpot.
Maybe because he doesn't like the idea of his private life being a product that is sold to the highest bidder? Just a guess.
Ironically a quick glance through your private posts, shows your continued subterfuge about Google *selling* your data. Google business model is to *NEVER* sell your data. Advertising is the product. If they sold your data they wouldn't have a product.
Almost everyone here understands the model, yet you persist in this transparent lie. Interestingly search Microsoft's and Apple EULA using the search for what they do with trusted *cough* third partys.
>I'd like to avoid supporting Google/Android
>handset that offers everything for the power user
There's your problem, submitter.
is itself a major problem these days. I'm using a Droid 4 because it's one of the few with any kind of keyboard available. You may or may not like Android, but you can always put CyanogenMod on it, if you want to move further away from the carrier's grasping tentacles.
A thousand pounds of wood moving at 300 feet per minute. Don't get in the way.
I've been using my 2010 htc incredible, it has no scratches, all hardware still functions, no problems running the latest app. I haven't rooted mine, you can root it easily and eliminate the bloat and prolong the battery even further though.
Touchscreen and display are still fine, i started turning the display down recently to resist screen fatigue. It has an optical joystick/button on the bottom, you can move your thumb over it to simulate moving the cursor/using arrow keys and the button acts as a touch, I really enjoy this feature but it has been eliminated from current phones.
I use it mainly for writing notes in google docs, accessing google drive, email, instant messaging, web browsing ... I can see myself using the same phone for at least 2 more years.
buy another one
Congratulations, you made it far longer than I did. My N900 started to show hardware problems about a year ago, and radio problems/disconnects were the last straw. I loved the versatility and control, but ultimately I needed the damn thing to make calls and browse. I nabbed a Nexus 4 when they got cheap, and have adjusted reasonably well. I had a fair look at the iDevices, but wanted something faster and with a bigger screen. I coveted the Galaxy Note series, and might have been happier that way, but I wanted something closer to the N900 size. Recently got my kid a Moto G -- and currently it seems to be the best deal reminiscent of the size/screen of the N900. But still there is the lack of a hardware keyboard... there's just no substitute for input-intensive apps. Maybe Jolla will solve that.
If you do head in the direction of Android, these might make it easier:
- Have a look at Cyanogenmod, and see if you can find a sweet spot with hardware you like and a recent version.
- Read up on App Ops, the utility that allows one to have granular permissions for applications, and restore a modicum of privacy control.
- Don't be afraid to disable all the default apps/Google+/hangouts/crap. Android works just fine with the processes disabled.
- Have a look at bare android/Samsung's overlays/cyanogenmod before you commit to them, there are significant differences.
- Try getting an older phone and experimenting with it before you jump. I obtained a Galaxy S1/Vibrant, learned all about the boot loaders, firmware, and OS installation, and tried out various roms before settling back on Cyanogenmod. (Then I taught the kids how to do it, and gave the phone to my 10yo -- never too early for mobile hacking.) All of the features aside, the process restored some of the sense of control that I had with the N900. Some of it real, some of it not, but at least I knew were I stood wrt the device I was using most frequently.
I think not...(*poof*)
My Nokia E5 was similarly out of date. Since I use my phone generally for texting, email, twitter I didn't need a big screen but do need a keyboard to be happy. I was not enthused about committing to the BlackBerry platform due to the perceived financial issues, but BBRY has already released a few updates and app support is good enough for me. BlackBerry has taken care of me so far.
And the keyboard is incredible - not just passable, but enjoyable to type on.
If you're really bent on having a hardware keyboard, the Blackberry Q10 is pretty decent. There's zero apps for it, but I guess you didn't mind if you held on to your N900 for so long.
Otherwise, get a ridiculously overpowered/underpriced android phone like a Wiko. They got for like $200 without a plan and run a recent Android on very decent hardware. This way you can try it out without sinking too much money into a samsung or htc phone if it turns out you can't stand Android.
Currently, they seem to be the best option If you want to avoid supporting google. Personally, I'm sticking with my N900. I wouldn't mind something newer but don't see a need to spend a lot of money when my N900 still works fine.
agreed to an extent. it was first gen phone, that needed a couple more generations to get it all right. However, the basic idea of the n900 was awesome, and still exceeds what I see on the market today.
I'm genpop in that perspective and i liked N900 as a phone. It was a great phone.
I bought a second-hand Samsung i927 a few days ago. I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail. On paper, it has everything to be a good phone, including a real keyboard. It's comparable to a Galaxy S2 and it is cheap to get these days.
Easy enough. Get any recent phone that's supported by Cyanogenmod. Install Cyanogenmod. Then install Debian (or similar). This can be accomplished as a dual boot or as a chroot inside Android. I have Debian installed on my phone; it's kind of fun to dabble with and show people.
Still ok for me...
Nexus 4 is N9000 today - you can check Ubuntu Touch or Sailfish OS
There are a few android phones like motorola droid or the lg enact with slideout keyboards like the one in the N900 (not sure if as comfortable too). They aren't too powerful, nor with a big resolution screen, but probably would be an improvement. With a bit of luck you can install cyanogenmod on them, or even ubuntu touch or others built from android base like firefox os for extra hackability.
If you want another kind of phone, Blackberry Q10 have a keyboard and a good screen resolution for that format. And there are cases for other phones that provides a keyboard, like this one for the S4.
You can change a bit the focus of your search too.The N900 wasn't so great as a phone, but was great as a pocket computer, maybe searching for something that fits in that role and having something else as phone (and maybe 3g hotspot) could have better alternatives.
I loved my Amiga, too. That doesn't mean I want to go back to those days.
Life has moved on. Time for you to do the same.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Or how about because Google are a few steps shy of becoming Weyland Yutani? I understand a corporation has to diversify, eggs and baskets and all that, but it doesn't mean I have to support them in that effort.
Your only other choice then is supporting Apple/iOS, and that is by far worse an outcome.
We have no idea of what you want to do with your phone. What does a "power user" use their phone for? Are all "power users" the same? If you post something more meaningful, perhaps you can get more meaningful answers.
I have my phone. It does everything I want very well. I have no idea if it'd be useful to you.
If you are ready to live on the edge (you must be since you brought the first mass-produced Maemo phone), buy a Nexus phone and try Ubuntu for Android.
Since Google makes no money on sale of Android phones, not using the Android part would mean you are not supporting Google/Android (whatever reasons you have for it).
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
With Nexus 4 you can try Ubuntu Touch and Sailfish OS, maybe more
Neo900 OpenMoko GTA04-based platform in N900 slider-case. Support many Linux distros, may be interest OpenSource SW & HW hackers.
Monoblock Jolla Phone with a SailFish OS -- more user-oriented platform designed by former NOKIA Maemo/MeeGo developers.
Its got (or will have once it goes on sale) all the good things about a N900 plus a faster CPU (not as fast as the latest iPhone or Android device though), better cellular radios and more.
On thing to consider is getting a Bluetooth keyboard. You can also use a regular USB keyboard with most any smart phone with a USB OTG cable. Of course, carrying around a separate keyboard may not be convenient depending on how you use the device. I would think someone probably makes a small Bluetooth keyboard designed to be carried with a phone.
Hmmm. Maybe I should Google that? Hey, what do you know? You can get a Bluetooth keyboard that is designed to attach to your smart phone, sliding out just like a built-in keyboard would.
I haven't used one, but with a number of options available, this is likely the best route to go. You might want a small one that you carry with you, and a full-sized one that you keep at home or work for more extensive use.
It's got a hardware keyboard, Linux underneath, homebrew scene going strong and a bunch of apps that you might find useful, ymmv. Battery life is 3 days with powersaver and data switching on/off on demand. Really everything you could ask for if you want a decent specced/priced smartphone which is a bit newer than your n900, sports a great capacitive touchscreen and since obsolete ecosystems seem to be your thing, welcome on board: www.http://webosnation.com
https://developer.mozilla.org/...
i would try pda db.net. decide what you actualy need /want from a device and then try their device finder.
Just like the writer I had also been in love with my Nokia N900.
I replaced it with a super model. Whilst no one can reach me anymore, I see this as a bonus. The features on my super model are superb. Apart from the occasional problem with her throwing phones at assistants, I have no complaints.
I strongly recommend any of you who are looking for a replacement of their old phone to consider doing the same.
Ugh. Androids drivers are a mess and cyanogen just makes that more apparent. My n900 has a specialized kernel, injection and monitor mode, overclocking, and they even made better camera drivers. With cyanogen mod the opposite happens...things break. Some hardware just completely is unusable. Android is nothing at all like the n900 was, and google will never let that happen anyway. Nor do the manufacturers want it.
As for Debian on an android? Yo dawg, i heard you like Linux, but since you can't have Linux we put some virtualized Linux in your virtualized Linux.
Sorry, but there simply is not a "good" smartphone on the market, you're basically stuck with two similar, but not great environments
Android: which is a pain in the ass, second tier support, and if you're lucky, sometimes affordable.
iOS: Which is safe and functional, just about everything works out of the box without needing to tinker, first tier support.
First tier support, means that the company that manufactures it, takes responsibility for all problems with it. Second tier support means that the manufacturer only warrants the hardware and doesn't care if the software works properly, or at all. So if you feel that the Android device doesn't do what you want it to do, you're free to install your own OS on it, but you're still SOL if there are are poor driver support for what you want to do with it. I wish Google would just drop the Java crap already.
For the most part, software designed for the iPhone, works, on all devices, in every country, regardless of the carrier. Not so of Android. This entire "making google play optional" bit that some manufacturers have been doing (and not just on smartphones, smarttv's too) is just serving to fragment it further. Sure you may buy an Android device, but you are not guaranteed to have any third party software function on it. Nokia's software wasn't even this bad and Nokia's software was all C++
But you said N900, and the closest thing you'll get to an n900 now is an Android device... you can even boot Android on the n900, not that it will improve it any. But in all honestly I'm firmly in the Apple iOS camp because the fragmentation on Android is just so stupid that that you have no guarantee that you will ever be able to install anything made after the date of purchase.
Agreed. A rooted Android phone with a decent mod on it is as close as you can get to a Unix box in your pocket. The lack of a physical keyboard is a drag, but with a decent stock keyboard replacement like SwiftKey, it is not the end of the world.
I recently put Cyanogenmod on my droid razr and actually got geeked out on my phone again. Everything just works like it should. The ROMs that come from the phone companies are bloated and inefficient. Do not make the mistake of judging the Android ecosystem by what you see in the stores.
There are even some useful utilities for Android. (http://ultimatepeter.com/freakin-cool-hacking-apps-for-android/)
No need to virtualise, one can run it in a chroot.
"To any truly impartial person, it would be obvious that I am right."
I can run basic unix utilities and vim very well by using ssh and logging in locally on my jailbroken iphone, it has a unix base after all. I believe there are phones you can hack and install linux on. Add a bluetooth keyboard. An ipad mini with slim keyboard cover fits in my coat pocket, i use voip for my phone.
Does your N900 cast Fire or summon Odin?
Agreed. A rooted Android phone with a decent mod on it is as close as you can get to a Unix box in your pocket. The lack of a physical keyboard is a drag, but with a decent stock keyboard replacement like SwiftKey, it is not the end of the world.
What about the OpenPandora? That's an actual linux box in your pocket, keyboard included.
10 PRINT "SCUNTHORPE"(2 TO 5): GO TO 10
You want great hardware with a LOT of software options and a high degree of hackability?
Buy an iPhone (or iPad mini) and jailbreak it.
You aren't feeding your personal information to advertisers or Google. You have great customization of privacy per-app, built in - which you can further customize with jailbreak utilities.
Furthermore NO device is as hackable in the correct sense of the word as the iPhone is, because most apps are written in ObjectiveC if you want to modify some small aspect of an existing app you can do so.
If you really need a hardware keyboard, key a good Bluetooth keyboard (just as you would with any Android device as pretty much all of them are touchscreen only now).
You also get a lot of great VNC and terminal options on iOS that you can simply buy.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
This. I have CyanogenMod 10 on mine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
I bought it on ebay about a year ago and I love it. Why do you need to replace your N900 if it works? And if it doesn't work, why not buy another one? I'm sure you can find one online.
Jolla is made by ex. Nokia engineers and runs Sailfish, a Linux based OS.
It is however missing 4G/LTE and some other details (some are in software and will be fixed soon).
It is available in EU, Switzerland and Norway thru Jolla's webshop.
that the developers are still almost as closed off and unresponsive as the maemo and meego team at Nokia.
Technically, the developers *are* the maemo/meego team at Nokia. Or were formelly, before splitting away.
but I still have hope that the Jolla will actually develop into something even nicer, eventually, maybe.
Unlike most other open project (like openmoko, for exemple), Jolla, because of this background, have probably much more know how and experience putting actual phone on the market. So I'm also expecting that in the long run they are going to do quite well.
They already managed to sell a phone which after all is more or less decent.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I'm currently giving a try at leaving my beloved n900 behind with an S3. The hack-ability of the n900 was fun to have but it wasn't something I relied on. I actually like the n900 as a good phone. The real motivation was to move to more modern hardware ( better radio, better battery life, some extra CPU , etc.) but the biggest reason was to be on a supported platform. Any apps or such that come out are either Apple or Android. Things like work apps and latest apps of any type were off-limits on the n900. But, so far the S3 doesn't quite hit the same buttons as the n900 on just plain smartphone usability. The s3 was a compromise for price vs functionality, given I was going to loose features no matter what I paid (why pay for the top-of-the-line when it's still not as good as I have now?).
Things I liked in the n900 that are missing: Landscape mode as default (I prefer this, Android has it as a late add-on so not supported everywhere). Hardware keyboard (just no getting past how useful that is). Cover for the camera lens (protects it form scratches in a pocket or pouch). Instant access to camera (tied to the above cover, flip it open and camera starts automatically. great convenience). The plugin nature of the contacts app (you can download additions to it to increase the kinds of contacts details it can handle without jumping to another app) Sound worked better (android seems to get confused when jumping between earphones, speaker, Bluetooth when routing sounds. Alerts can go to speakers even when earphone plugged in, system sounds don't always go through Bluetooth when it's connected, can't reliably make it silent since some things will override that), and mostly just being able to change something if I didn't like it. I guess that's a vote on the hack-ability of the n900 but I did the minimum just tweaking things that I didn't like. Another more "fuzzy" thing is just better interface: seems like I'm having to do more clicks to get anywhere in Android. The N900 seemed well thought out and very consistent across the whole phone. Oh, and what is the issue with not including text notes by default? As a PDA veteran, taking text notes is a must for a portable device, yet seems like it's been forgotten except for add-on in most modern devices. And I like the X based interface...can't count how many times I forwarded an app to the phone in a pinch to get to something on my PC. I'll miss that
Things I have now: better connection to towers. seemed like the n900 was having more trouble talking to towers as time went on with more drops, less bars on average, etc. Supported platform: can buy accessories and find software more easily. I am supported with work and other apps. Much better battery life, although I had no issues plugging the n900 in each night, but it's still nice to get 2 days on a charge. One of the nicer things is support for MMS built in: the n900 had an app for it but it maintained separate menus and interface from regular messaging. That was another work related convenience that pushed me.
So, I'm making myself do without some things just to get the few important (mostly work related) features I consider critical for future.
AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM
Best phone I've ever owned, best camera on any phone period.
Why all the uncertainty? Nokia still makes good phones.
Their initial funding goal was met .
http://neo900.org/news-0003-we-ve-reached-our-goal
Lot of mainstream android phone can have a physical keyboard casing, I got one for me s3 on dx.com very usefull to have a full keyboard with a small package.
I have a Nokia N9 running a linux distro and it is smaller and great. Found all the apps I need. Great battery life, camera, reception. No keyboard but I have adjusted.
What's the point? They are all wiretapped at the CO with PEN registers. They all have phantom firmwares that completely wiretap Your life, as per the Communications Act of 1996.
Look out for a https://sailfishos.org/ phone that I beleive will be coming onto the market some time later this year (if all goes well). It will the spiritual successor to the N900 as a lot of the people working on it are from the Nokia crew that worked on the N900 and Meego OS.
Easy enough. Get any recent phone that's supported by Cyanogenmod. Install Cyanogenmod. Then install Debian (or similar). This can be accomplished as a dual boot or as a chroot inside Android.
Or as neither. /Removable/Foo for both Android and Debian apps, as well as the ability to use Debian programs (e.g. text editor) in the Android hierarchy. You can get the same functionality with enough bind mounts, but debian-kit makes it a lot simpler IMO.
I like Sven-Ola's debian kit which takes advantage of the (mostly) disjoint directory structure of Android and Debian (or rather LSB) to run Debian and Android in the same root. The benefit over chroot is that you can plug in a USB drive, SD card, etc. and instantly have access in
I'd also recommend zshaolin for those looking for a friendly *n*x environment without installing a whole distribution, or if they don't have and can't/won't get root access.
Ugh. Androids drivers are a mess and cyanogen just makes that more apparent. My n900 has a specialized kernel, injection and monitor mode, overclocking, and they even made better camera drivers. With cyanogen mod the opposite happens...things break. Some hardware just completely is unusable. Android is nothing at all like the n900 was, and google will never let that happen anyway. Nor do the manufacturers want it.
As for Debian on an android? Yo dawg, i heard you like Linux, but since you can't have Linux we put some virtualized Linux in your virtualized Linux.
I'm reasonably certain Google does not give a hoot what you do with your android phone. Manufacturers and more commonly, carriers, are the ones that do not want you messing about. See Google Nexus. Your carrier is going to want you messing about with a maemo phone just as much as they want you messing about with android or iOS devices.
I run cyanogen. Sometimes things break. How often depends on ow well supported your device is. It's not the end of the world, or hasn't been for me so far. Much like Linux on a non mainstream device, stability depends on the combined efforts of the development community and the manufacturer. For someone capable of and interested in modifying an OS kernel, I find it hard to believe this would be a roadblock.
Agreed. A rooted Android phone with a decent mod on it is as close as you can get to a Unix box in your pocket. The lack of a physical keyboard is a drag, but with a decent stock keyboard replacement like SwiftKey, it is not the end of the world.
I recently put Cyanogenmod on my droid razr and actually got geeked out on my phone again. Everything just works like it should. The ROMs that come from the phone companies are bloated and inefficient. Do not make the mistake of judging the Android ecosystem by what you see in the stores.
There are even some useful utilities for Android. (http://ultimatepeter.com/freakin-cool-hacking-apps-for-android/)
Bluetooth Keyboard. http://www.logitech.com/en-us/... is what I use
Or you could get something much cheaper like this: http://www.amazon.com/Bluetoot...
There are also cell phone cases with integrated Bluetooth keyboards to turn many phones into "sliders".
get one of those lumias.
The os sucks a little bit, but I still really like that hardware, and the fact that my gps actually works without internet.
Chroot's still aren't as good. My N900 could run some games I made using PyGAME (all I had to do was something like sudo apt-get install python-pygame) and it was good to go - ran the game just as well as my laptop did, with acceleration. Beautiful.
Unfortunately my N900 screen broke for a second time last year, and I threaded one of the screws trying to replace it, so I too found myself looking for a replacement phone. Even with overclocking the N900 was painfully slow on complex websites, so I wanted something modern but with a hardware keyboard. I couldn't find anything except possibly the Neo900 (which didn't have an ETA at the time - and I wouldn't have been able to wait for anyway), so I decided that I would get the biggest screen I could find - the logic being that if I have to use a virtual keyboard I want it to provide an experience as close to a hardware keyboard as possible.
Hence, I now run a Sony Xperia Z Ultra with the Hacker's Keyboard. Obviously not as good as a hardware keyboard, but the screen size means the virtual keyboard can fit all keys I had on the N900 (and then some) and still have plenty of room to see the text-box I'm typing into.
The Xperial Z Ultra also has expandable storage so a chroot is feasible, and I admit I've used this phone much more than my N900 due to it being more practical for games, e-mail, taking pictures, etc. Sony also provide instructions on unlocking the bootloader. However, lacking a true GNU userland environment for the primary OS, along with lacking the ease of gaining root and lacking a replaceable battery) are things I really miss. I also hate how much of the bloatware cannot be removed, although it can be disabled. It is waterproof though, so it's got that going for it.
I nuked or disabled almost everything related to Sony and Google Play and installed F-Droid instead, and then proceeded to install Firefox Mobile, K-9 and APG, Xabber, TTRSS-Reader, VLC, Open Explorer, Barcode Scanner, Terminal Emulator, Cool Reader, Document Viewer, Aard, OsmAnd~, ScummVM, AnkiDroid, World Clock, VX ConnectBot, a few ownCloud-related sync apps... and of course Frozen Bubble, and now Android can do most of the things I would have used my N900 for.
It's GNU/Linux dammit!
Even for non-hackers, it had substantial advantages over the iPhone 3GS at the time. This was the days of IOS3, when copy&paste was considered a cutting-edge feature, and multi-tasking was only allowed for Apple's own built-in apps.
Only later when the iphone4 with retina display, and IOS4 came out, did the n900 start looking old.
Of course there was a price in thickness and weight for all the extra hardware features of the n900.
I think it's important to establish what makes the N900 great. Can't speak for the OP, but this is what I'm hoping for in a phone once my N900 finally gives up the ghost. "Hoping," notice I said, but I'm not holding my breath.
1. Scriptability. First and foremost. *I* want to be the one in control of the phone, not some app developer vetted by The Place That Decides What You Can Do With Our --I Mean Your-- Phone (or "AppStore" for short). I want to write a bash script, or a python script, and tell me when my beloved has sent me a SMS containing the word "URGENT".
2. Freedom. Yes, I mean openness as in open source. Yes, I do know not everything in the N900 was open-sourced, but a heck of a lot of it was. That let a lot of people hack it, for the benefit of the community. And it didn't void the warranty. There's something to be said for a phone that does not need you to join the Apple club with a credit card, or sign up with Big Brother Google before using the phone -- you really are independent.
3. Portability of software. It's awesome that I can run Gnumeric on this thing, but even more important that I run Vim.
4. Three things you can change: the cell phone provider, the battery, and the memory storage card. Mainly a criticism compared to the early iPhones; not sure if they still apply. I understand that there are unlocked iPhones now (which still cost more than the N900 did) but you can't change the battery. Android phones will take microSD now, I think?
In fact, to lower my chances of being forced to make do without a good alternative, I bought a second N900, and regularly synchronize the spare so I can have it up and running in case it's needed quickly. I wasn't seeing anything on the horizon, and figured I'd probably have to hang on to my pair of N900's for at least another 3 years. This Slashdot discussion is very useful.
There are, of course, lots to hate about the N900. Most of it deals with the slow swapping caused by the relatively small RAM, versus the large RAM that would be needed by a truly multitasking computer/smartphone. (Compare this with the iPhone that was out at the time, which did not multitask. Do iPhones multitask yet?) The user interface is also unintuitive and poorly thought out. Wish it had been given a chance, but once Elop came on board, there was zero chance of that.
As I've said before, the N900 is a piece of crap --but it's the BEST piece of crap in the world!
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
Buy another one?
I fell in love with my Motorola Q9c. Then its screen cracked a few years later just sitting on at able. Turns out a Canadian telecom still sold them (Telus I think it was?) Then that one got broke in an accident just last year. Guess what? Still new ones available, picked my current one up for $80 NIB.
I know N900's are worshiped to a stupid degree, but you can get new and refurbished ones all over the place. FGS use Google!
Once rooted/jailbroken: You won't be sorry w a 64-bit LTE phone + camera is excellent. It's a favorable window right now, where you can exist on the current OS and still restore and jailbreak. It's been http://ultimatepeter.com/how-t...
Im also lookign to replace my N900 (which i like), previously had an OpenMoko Neo (which was a great talking piece, bad phone).
Im currently keeping an eye on the fairphone, they are just finishing there first batch of 25,000 phones and looking at a new order soon. Second release is usually a good one to get in one as they have had a chance to find and fix hardware bugs.
The replicant project has done a review of the fairphone, there biggest criticim of it is that it doest have good hardware isolation to prevent NSA type spying. It isnt supported by replicant yet, but say it should be possible.
http://www.replicant.us/2013/1...
It looks like the project is more driven ideology rather than profit, but that ideology is very much focused on the phone. I hope they do well.
http://www.fairphone.com/
The biggest thing I noticed when moving from the N900 to the N950 (and, therefore, also N9) was the improvement in audio quality. The n950 made the n900 sound distinctly bland and wooly.
So, I now wonder if the Neo900 upgrade replaces the audio bits so that the audio improves too. Do you know?
Max.
I had a similar issue with my phone (top of the line back in 2005), battery lasting less than fourteen hours some days (more roaming searching) and bulging. Got a brand new battery on eBay for a few dollars with free shipping, hopefully good for another decade or so.
Rydia must be Ron Amadeo. It perfectly explains the need for a new phone that avoids Google / Android at all costs and is too ignorant to look into iOS or WP 8 offerings.
really go to any radio shack or mall and fucking look for a phone that suits your wants and meets your budget, why is this a question on slashdot
OpenPandora ... what a great name
I sent a friend's N900 off for repair last year and an unused one came back along with the faulty one which they hadn't bothered to repair.
I'll probably use the faulty one (which I have now) as a GPS or something since the fault does not completely disable it.
I got a Jolla as a christmas present for myself when my N900 broke down. I must say, now it feels like I have a modern smartphone. It still has some rough patches, but they seem active in updating it.
Of course, the lack of HW keyboard has its pros/cons. The phone is much slimmer than N900, but text input is a bit slow. Maybe there will be an Other Half keyboard as others have hoped. I myself would be happy with some faster input methods like swype.
True, but inconvenient which is why I still use mine despite much faster hardware being available. :)
Also I've used my computer keyboard and mouse on my N900 with X2X and a wireless connection so a separate bluetooth keyboard especially for the phone does not impress
Backlit LCD screens suck immensely in bright sunlight, so here's an alternative I hope will catch on:
http://onyx-boox.com/coming-so...
Pocketbook and Yotta has similar concepts but lack of touch on the Pocketbook addon for the Galaxy S3 looks like a huge drawback to me.
overstock.com has android phones, and even cool bar phones for bitcoin. many of them dual sim. just saying.
The Neo900 is our only chance. FirefoxOS is open source but has Android roots. Also the dev community is difficult and unresponsive.
Not trying to flamebait here, but genuinely puzzled - what is possibly so great about the N900 versus something like a rooted Nexus 5? I see comments about cyanogenmod, etc. being a bit unstable - but comparing it to the N900, where very few people actually cared about building the OS ? The next version of the VM - ART - is nothing to sneeze at as well.
I'm not sure if you know, but when you install cyanogenmod (or one of the hundred different ROMS that people are actively developing on xda-developers), you get a Google free operating system. There is NO integration with Google. It is only if you install the "gapps" package, that you get the whole google shebang - play store, services, etc.
As a hacker friendly phone, I can develop on the N5 using Python, Golang, Scala, C#/Mono, QT, etc. - is there a usecase at which the N900 blows this out of the water ?
The only valid point I can think about is the keyboard - yes, it is a paradigm shift. But for daily use, smart keyboards like Swiftkey, Touchpal (pure open source) will serve you very well. For your developer needs, connect a monitor through HDMI/MHL and use a microusb adapter .
You have a first grade terminal emulator, IRC, low power bluetooth, built-in VPN + tethering - I would argue much more suitable for the developer than the venerable N900. Did I mention quad core processor, GPU and 2 GB of RAM with a brilliant display ?
If you want, you can install other OSes on the phone.
I was facing the same problem as you are, and I would have gotten myself an N9 if Nokia hadn't announced that they would ditch Meego completely. That day I decided I was done with Nokia for good and I was forced to find a viable alternative.
To me it was Android on a Galaxy S2, but - and this is important - one built entirely from source. Granted - there are still things I miss from my N900 (the keyboard mostly), but a rooted Android device comes close these days.
Personally I would look for any Android device that is well supported by Cyanogenmod (Nexus for example), ditch the stock firmware immediately and go straight for a Cyanogenmod 11. There are things you will be missing from the N900, but there are also a lot of stuff that was never possible on the N900 which will now work fine.
Choose an android phone on this list http://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki
Install replicant, which is a 100% open source android fork. Get your software from f-droid, or compile it yourself.
No. I can't speak for the GP but I was definitely in the target demographic and the n900 was shit.
I've been a programmer for about 30 years, my normal environment is vim and a shell. The keyboard and screen size on the n900 were too compromised to make it an effective or productive environment. During the couple of years that I had it I took in on holiday once and spent two weeks on a beach trying to write code on it. After I got back I rewrote the two weeks of coding in about an hour. Trying to code on a hunt and peck thumb board that required escapes for most punctuation symbols was a waste of time.
Since then I've been very happy with an iPhone 4 as the touchscreen keyboard is equally effective / ineffective as the hardware keyboard. My next foray into a portable coding environment will be a glass competitor with better specs, a unix environment and some kind of twiddled interface although I am hoping the myo armband pans out.
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
Scriptability. First and foremost. *I* want to be the one in control of the phone [maemo.org], not some app developer vetted by The Place That Decides What You Can Do With Our --I Mean Your-- Phone (or "AppStore" for short). I want to write a bash script, or a python script, and tell me when my beloved has sent me a SMS containing the word "URGENT".
You may want to check out Tasker, it does this sort of stuff.
Freedom. Yes, I mean openness as in open source. Yes, I do know not everything in the N900 was open-sourced,
Then whats the problem with Android?
http://neo900.org/
Seems like the best alternative for a hacker right now.
Only lack of water-proofness made me stop using my N900. In a very concrete fashion, alas. I actually miss the software, too. What you could find in the repos (some 10,000:s of packages?) was imho way better than the 500,000+ packages availible for Android. For example the "mappero" map app beat what you could find on android (which probably would be orux), at least back in the days. And most of it was free-as-in-speech software. No ads, no spying, much less risk trusting the software. And quite well inviting you to participate hacking too ...
Actually I suspect the Nokia Communicator was the 1st Gen and the N900 was more second or third Gen
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
Microsoft wanted its own ad empire (aQuantive) and its own social media empire (so dot cl). Both failed, so it portrays itself as a champion of privacy.
Those who learn from history over the past few decades should know better than to trust Microsoft. Microsoft can never ever be trusted. No compromises, no exceptions, no gray areas.
Yes, it's also getting a bit old. Yes, the last big update broke some of the editing functionality that made the 'phone great. Yes, MS are trying to get their greasy little mitts on my 'phone (Adding MS Office file readers are not a system upgrade - stick them in the app store).
But... it's got the keyboard, the hardware's nice and the OS is still Symbian. PuTTY handles the keyboard - what more do you need?
OpenPandora's not a phone, and its hardware is stupidly weak for the price - they specced and priced it when it was designed, and then it took forever to launch. By the time it did, it was already outclassed by 2+ generations of cell phone.
Well, I can certainly agree that it's under-spec at this point in time. Problem is that there's still no competition out there that matches what it can do even with the low-power. Full keyboard, game controls and a desktop linux installation? There aren't any cell-phones that to my knowledge can do all that and still fit in your pocket without external peripherals.
10 PRINT "SCUNTHORPE"(2 TO 5): GO TO 10
1. Scriptability. First and foremost. *I* want to be the one in control of the phone
There are lots of automation/scripting apps for Android, or with root you can get a real shell and install the scripting language of your choice.
2. Freedom. Yes, I mean openness as in open source.
As far as I know the only platform that offers that is AOSP/Cyanogen, with caveats about binary drivers etc.
3. Portability of software. It's awesome that I can run Gnumeric on this thing, but even more important that I run Vim.
Looking at the N900 keyboard I don't think Vim would be very usable, but all modern devices support Bluetooth keyboards. Again, various Vi based editors, including actual Vi, are available for Android.
4. Three things you can change: the cell phone provider, the battery, and the memory storage card.
Maybe a Galaxy S4, or the older and cheaper but still extremely capable S3. I'm sure there are others that fit these requirements but those are the two that spring to mind.
About the only other option I can think of is to wait for some Firefox OS or Ubuntu phones to appear, but that might be a while.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Yes it's android, but it has a hardware keyboard.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Captivate-Glide-SGH-I927-8GB-Black-AT-T-Smartphone-82448-/331111542751?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item4d17c92fdf
For what he paid for the N900, he could have had an iPhone and a developer account, making it effectively pretty close to the N900.
But back to the post you are replying to ... the N900 was shit, it was just better than the other shit that was there at the time, until the iPhone came out, and thats why the N900 isn't made anymore.
I had an N900 myself, just like I had a bunch of WinCE devices including a SX66 blue angel phone/pda. Anyone who owned one from before the iPhone knows that when they iPhone was released, it over night made every single preceding device look like a steaming pile of shit, but not even worth its weight as fertilizer.
Nothing you can do on an N900 that you can't do on a iPhone as far as actually getting shit done. Sure, you can tweak your desktop (phonetop?) on the N900 ... big deal ... and useless. And certainly there is absolutely nothing an N900 does that you can't do on ANY android phone, regardless of how cheap it is. Hell, the original iPhone (2007) has more CPU power than the latest N900 (from 2009)!
WTF are you thinking is great about the N900?
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
It was shit. I didn't really realise quite how shit it was until I upgraded to an iPhone. Never looked back since.
It's not a phone for the general population. The N900 was a phone for hackers, developers, etc.: people who needed a pocket computer with phone functionality. Sort of the "anti-iPhone" in its philosophy. You were clearly not in the (tiny) target demographic, and whoever sold you yours was not your friend, didn't know you very well, or didn't as the right questions. (I just described a salesman, didn't I?)
Don't worry, he just read on Slashdot that the N900 was cool so he bought it. And then he read a review of the iPhone of Reddit and bought it too.
Trying to code on a hunt and peck thumb board that required escapes for most punctuation symbols was a waste of time.
Because you couldn't change the mapping, right? I agree that it's not the most comfortable keyboard ever, but I'm typing quite quickly with it, thank you.
The lack of a physical keyboard is a drag
Or just buy one with a physical keyboard?
They exist and are fantastic.
I imported the Motorola Droid 4 and am still absolutely delighted with it. I'll probably do the same for the Droid 5.
Freedom. Yes, I mean openness as in open source. Yes, I do know not everything in the N900 was open-sourced,
Then whats the problem with Android?
There was a time when Android could be considered the most open modern phone platform. With the release of KitKat, that time is passing. It is slowly becoming as closed and locked in as the other major offerings.
And for the GP, those are all the same reasons I went back to my N900 after two years of shuffling between Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone. Nothing else out there can match it for scripting and controlling the device myself, let alone the keyboard (the only modern phone with a better keyboard is the Motorola Photon 4G, and there are a million reasons to hate that phone). The only thing I would change about my N900 is better memory management and a better screen. Even with those handicaps, it's still the most capable phone in my collection, and I have devices from all corners of the past three years.
If you're going to use an acronym, use it correctly...
[FUCK BETA]
There's something to be said for a phone that does not need you to join the Apple club with a credit card, or sign up with Big Brother Google before using the phone -- you really are independent.
I have an Android phone. As far as it knows, I don't even have a Google account. I absolutely don't have a Gmail account.
There are enough FLOSS apps you can download without signing up with anybody.
Wouldn't a new battery solve it?
Can someone tell me why BlackBerry is so disregarded? I see a few posters saying that they love their Q10 (I love mine) - and people immediately jump on them saying that it's a sinking ship. Aside from their financial trouble, what exactly is wrong with the phones? The new OS is amazing, based on nerd-friendly QNX, and the keyboard is the best hardware keyboard you can get. The software keyboard on the all-touch devices is pretty damn good too. The only reason I keep hearing that people don't want a BlackBerry is because they're not doing well. Shouldn't quality of a product dictate what phone you get more than their status on the stock market?
True, but when you're looking to replace a cellphone, the utter lack of any cell phone capability does remove it from consideration. And at about 1/3 the price, it might be fun for the linux-loving gadget head (I was watching it with bated breath until I saw how much they wanted for the thing).
"A full keyboard, game controls, and desktop linux on a 600mHz processor with 256MB ram" might be the only contender in it's space, but there's really a reason for that.
And yes, grammar nazis, I got the wrong "its" in there. I'll report for knuckle slapping after work.
FWIW, Android phones have had SD/MicroSD since the inception - the G1 had a microSDHC slot. It's the *lack* of microSD in favor of purely internal flash that's the recent development. Well, that, and trying to pretend that the SD's storage is just appended to the internal. (It isn't, it's mounted on a different directory, like any other SD card on a Unix box would be.) On the downside, they also did away with USB mass storage mode in favor of the rather yucky MTP stuff.
Please read the linked post. You completely missed the point.
Blackberry Q10?
Yes, exactly. For natural language it wasn't too bad, but for code it was painful. Being able to remap all of the punctuation (preferably with a mode-switch button on the touch screen) would have solved a lot of the issues.
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
If you want an open-source phone, the Oppo N1 is now available. Comes with Cyanogenmod pre-installed. Pair it with a case/bluetoooth keyboard and it should work fine.
I guessed something like yours would be the first post and this is why.
Rooted/Rom'd Nexus 5 without the Google stuff seems like it might fit your requirements pretty well. No need for a "big brother" account, it'd be a big upgrade from your current hardware, and there's a strong dev. community around it.
I had some bash scripts to automate rsyncing pictures to my desktop from a rooted Android phone. Once BusyBox is installed you've got access to a very functional set of command line utilities on Android.
$914 of Las Vegasian money latel, it solved all your aforementioned problems and procurements.
That's strange because you can change your keyboard mappings (and even cycle through them on the fly through Control-Space). I acknowledge it is not a simple procedure to set up, but once you do it you don't need to think too much about it.
There are lots of automation/scripting apps for Android, or with root you can get a real shell and install the scripting language of your choice.
The issue is with how well the scripts can hook into the OS and applications (I admit I haven't looked into this as it isn't a big deal to me, but that is the point that KWTm was getting at, and your response didn't quite address it).
Looking at the N900 keyboard I don't think Vim would be very usable, but all modern devices support Bluetooth keyboards. Again, various Vi based editors, including actual Vi, are available for Android.
I assure you Vim is very usable with the N900. Due to the open nature of the OS you can remap the keyboard how you like, personally I have escape mapped to the function key plus backspace which works for me (escape is included as a soft key in the default terminal app), and in the mapping you can combine shift with the function key to get another level of mappings, which helps deal with the limited number of keys on the N900's keyboard.
I've just had a look at a few pages of Bluetooth keyboards on Amazon and couldn't find any that actually attach to the phone (aside from ones designed specifically for the iPhone), this is actually quite important as it means you otherwise have to find somewhere to put the phone while you use the keyboard, with a keyboard built in to or attached to the phone you can use the keyboard while holding the phone.
Strictly as a phone, sure, it's a bit clunky. What I loved was that I could run pretty much *anything* on it. The default repositories had everything from bejewelled, ring-tones and productivity tools to lighttpd, openssh (client AND server), openvpn and even a bittorrent client. I remember writing a fractal generator for one of my college classes (big multiprocessing assignment with IPC and everything) in SDL. I actually got it to run on the phone (using the chroot in the repository). It had python (by default) and a ridiculous amount of tools I have never seen on any phone since. Hell I even ran GIMP and OpenOffice on it (slow, but functional).
Always find it fascinating when people state their requirements or personal preferences when asking for an opinion, then get responses such as why not this or why that and further starting to dig into those assumptions.. Anyways, I would have probably posted this exact same question some time ago. I had a pretty limited N85 that had to offer most of what I needed back in the day but decided to it's time for a refresh for various reasons. I've played around with the iPhone which wasn't really my fit, tried a few Android devices back in the day and I didn't find them too exciting either, however I decided to go ahead and get a not so expesive one and ended up with a T769. Long story short, it was a big disappointment since out of the box (yes I did play with 'ROMs' and whatnot) and lasted me just under 6months before I put it out of its misery and went back to the N85 for a while. Ended up getting a BB Z10 eventually and while some may argue certain features or apps are missing, it's been a great experience for me thus far.
I'd like to avoid supporting Google/Android, but there don't seem to be many options.
I loved my N800 when I bought it years ago. Loved using Skype and WiFi to make all my calls.
Than came the N880, the N900 and finally a Microsoft bonehead exec to Nokia that killed the toolset all those depended on. Even if Nokia were to apolgize and make amends for trashing that product line after realizing their Windows phone offerings are crapola, the same thing would probably just happen again in a year or two with the next bonehead executive that mistakenly thinks only Apple or Microsoft can make a good handheld. This was not true when I purchased my N800 in 2006/2007. So we must stop wasting time looking at anything other than a Linux root-able handheld. Even if they come with Android, if its root-able, you can put other Linux distros on it, just do your homework.
Cellular must have ~ non root-able device that will NOT run the Linux distro of your choice!
Google's Android is the ONLY root-able open source option in the cellular world. Sadly the cellular companies prefer to keep their product offerings locked down with no root access. Why they only offer Android in a restricted limited version. A non-rootable Android would most likely prevent you from adding what you want (a Linux distro other than Android) to add to your device.
Rather than focus on the software that is "Android", focus on the hardware. Is it root-able? Can you install a Linux with a very small footprint on it (there are plenty of options)? If you focus on the hardware, it will run Linux, as all other options (MS Windows or Apple primarily) will be closed to you. Closed as in you can not install Linux on them. Android would be preferrable to these non-rootable, non-admin options!
If it will run Linux, chances are it will run many small foot print distros in addition to Android. The hardware is the KEY!
Only one question to ask, "Will the hardware run Linux?
Linux + root access = a device you can install what you want on, without limitations.
To make sure the hardware does, only purchase from a Linux vendor, my favorite is ZaReason, however there is System76 and probably many others. Even if the device runs Android when you purchase it, and its rootable, it will run Linux. See what hardware others are installing Linux distros on and buy that hardware.
Small foot print Linux distros will run in either 128KB or 256KB, they will run very fast in 512KB or more of RAM. My tablet has 2GB of RAM, yea!
Your biggest headache will be if you want the device to have cellular service, then you will have to do more research as anything you purchase from the Cellular companies is going to include proprietary chipsets on the hardware to prevent you from loading any Linux on it.
Verify the cellular provider of your choice will let you run their software on your device. Most probably will not and Skype is not supporting Linux as well as it use to now that Microsoft bought it up. Shame, loved only paying $9 per month for my phone service that connected via WiFi. Saved a ton of money for way more than 7 years with Skype + WiFi
Even if they say its(hardware) rootable, find someone who has installed another Linux distro on that hardware before you purchase it. One of the biggest headaches with the N800, N880 and N900 is they did not make it easy to install and update the operating system. The last thing you want to have to do is have special hardware, cables and/or software to perform an update. You should be able to update via either WiFi and/or the microSD slot.
Most important MUST HAVE after root access is WiFi and a microSD card slot! I put a 32GB card in mine. Many websites will show you how to make a
where it was basically Linux and you chold just dump/edit some BASH, or replace core utilities with hacked ones
Replacing WHOLE UTILITIES is stupid. It takes a ton of work and is basically impossible if you don't have source.
What ObjC lets you do, without source for anything, is to inject your own code easily into nearly any method call in an application - and thanks to ObjC verbosity, you can usually tell what method you want to overload. Then you can easily add something like a small button that activates your code into the middle of ANY application, not just the ones you have source for.
THAT is hacking. The ability to modify and tweak any application from anyone, not just a small subset of OS applications.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Then whats the problem with Android?
Have you seen the source for android?
Didn't think so.
Load a rom without the spyware in it, onto something that has all the things you want. At the moment the Note 3 has the best hardware, you just need to find a way to attach a keyboard, maybe a bluetooth logitech. Then put a stripped android or some type of arm linux. Maybe mobile Ubuntu when it is ready.
According to many websites such as this and this the LG Optimus F3Q has a sliding qwerty keyboard, a 4" 800x480 display, and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
--- Often in error; never in doubt!
No Swype or virtual keyboard can ever compete with the speed and accuracy of a hardware keyboard. That's been the biggest difficulty for me in upgrading from my Droid 4 (after years with Blackberry.) Although not as nerd-cool as your N900, I much prefer it over even the newest Android phones, even when they were equipped with a bluetooth keyboard. For some reason, autocorrect and the like don't seem to play well with bluetooth keyboards in Jellybean, and that's kind of a dealbreaker for anyone who is serious about texting, e-mail or other text-heavy apps. I can literally text without looking at the phone at all, using both hands, something that no virtual keyboard could enable, and I guarantee my speed is well above the fastest Swypers. If this article ends up providing comments that will help either of us find another modern phone with a decent hardware keyboard, I'm sure it will benefit many others who are looking for the same. Touchscreen keyboards are not superior, they're just cheaper. I wish us both luck in finding replacements.
If you angled the screen right, the sunlight would actually reflect into and back out of the screen. Because it wasn't the angle the backlight goes from, it made it looks strange (metallic, and more physical than a backlit LCD screen normally looks, which I personally kindof like). I've rarely had a problem seeing my N9 in sunlight thanks to the polarized coating and the brightness of AMOLED, but there was something really cool about conscripting the sun into being your backlight, and I miss using my N900 because of that (and of course many other things like a hardware keyboard, but I digress).
I remember sigs. Oh, a simpler time!
no its still locked down google shit, unless you don't use the lattest version and don't install gapps.
That is pretty sexy. When I got my Razr I was in desperate need of a phone and just bought what they had at the Verizon store. I am about to replace the battery in the Razr, but by the time that dies in another year or two, the Droid 5 should be out and be discounted... or there might even be a Droid 6 by that time.
Thanks for the heads up!
Since the x86 architecture usually comes packaged as "IBM-PCs" which are designed to run multiple operating systems, an x86 mobile phone might allow you to run Debian.
When you say "closed and locked in", I seem to recall having downloaded a branch of the Android Open Source Project on my google sponsored, easily un-boot-lockable nexus. Not really clear how its closed and locked in.
The point was wrong. Unlike IOS, android allows you to install packages from whatever repository--online or offline-- that you desire. Im aware of several non-google appstores, including a few enterprise ones.
The linked post is even more laughably wrong, probably because its from 2009. To address his points:
Does the Galaxy S have an app for “when the battery strength is less than 30, then send me an email”? NO. End of story. Sorry. Better luck next time.
Except it does, its called tasker, and I just wrote something very similar: Battery gets under 20%, shut off bluetooth / LTE / GPS, drop screen brightness, etc. Also, if bash scripts are really your thing, its pretty darn easy to pull up a shell in cyanogenmod. You click the "terminal" app.
Okay, fine then, does the Galaxy S have an app for “turn on the FM transmitter and speak the cellular signal strength on my car hifi using Mandarin Chinese”? NO. End of story.
Except it does, its called tasker. Im sure there are a lot of others (llama?). I did something similar a while ago when the phone sensed magnetic field strength above 200 uTesla. I could also do it for any number of the sensors that the n900 surely lacks.
As to the objection that some apps cost money: then write your own apk. Its not like the SDK costs anything.
My phone is running software based on Android Open Source Project, and its not the official software.
You want source? Here.
http://source.android.com/
Not sure what you mean. I actually and currently *do* use vim on my N900. With the keyboard.
It's what I use to take notes.
And also make phone calls (a keystroke mapping makes vim read the current line, identify the phone number on it, and call that number).
And also send text messages (a keystroke mapping makes vim identify the phone number at the start of the line, and send the rest of the line to that number as a SMS).
And also read incoming text messages -- handy when I'm driving and can't squint at the screen (a keystroke mapping makes vim call a bash script that pulls the latest text message via SQLite3, and then read it aloud using espeak).
And a similar keystroke automatically sends a reply to whoever sent the SMS, telling him/her that I got the message, but I'm driving and can't respond right now.
And so on, for "silence the N900 for (specified time, default 1 hour) then re-enable sound" because I'm in a meeting, etc. etc.
In fact, I mostly control my N900 from the vim screen, and sometimes from the bash screen; much more fine-grained control than the GUI interface. The hardware keyboard is what makes it usable when driving; with an onscreen keyboard, you couldn't keep your eyes on the road. (Cue the snarky comments about "You should never use your phone when driving, because I don't, and everyone else should be like me.")
Oh, part of the reason Vim works well on my N900 keyboard is because I've redefined it. By defaut each key has a meaning when pressed by itself, or with the Shift key, or with the Fn key. But there's a fourth combination of Shift+Fn key, which by default is the same as the Fn key -- which is completely wasted potential. So, by using the Shift+Fn key combo, I've got 30 extra characters to use, including []{}`|^~% which by default you'd have to call up the virtual keyboard to type. Maybe that's why you think the keyboard is not usable with Vim.
I'd be interested in a "real" shell/scripting language. Right now I have a bash script for synchronizing various text files (such as my ToDo list) between various laptops/desktops, and I just use the same script for my N900. The script also synchronizes itself, so when I improve the script on my work laptop, for example, the versions on the other laptop and the desktop and, yes, my N900 will update themselves.
I see some really simple tools on Android -- a brief web search produces results like Tasker and AutomateIt, which are great when you want simple things like, say, changing the ringtones every Wednesday afternoon unless your phone is face-down.
I'm looking for things more like, if a SMS comes in, then make a different "SMS arrived" sound depending on who it's from; and if it's from the wife or my parents, then read the SMS out loud unless I'm at my workplace; otherwise forward the SMS contents to my email account. Here's a N900 script for "while I'm at the office, adjust my Google Voice virtual phone settings to not forward phone calls to home". Right now I'm working on something that sends a SMS to my wife telling what freeway exit I'm closest too, and my driving speed, so I don't have to manually text her while driving to let her know when I'll be home.
Tasker falls short in these abilities, to put it mildly; never mind that you can't reuse the scripts for the desktop/laptop. I don't mean to belittle your helpful info; it's just that smartphones like Android devices just aren't in the same league as computers-that-happen-to-have-
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
I hear a lot of people disparaging the resistive touch-screen of the N900, compared to the Technically Awe-Inspiring And Can't-Be-Topped (or "Apple" for short) capacitive touchscreen.
For the record, I think people just prefer the multi-touch capability of the capacitive screen. If the resistive screen could be multi-touch, then it would be okay (and much more high-res, apparently).
Well, Neo900 hardware is going to support dual-touch gestures like rotating and pinching, without replacing the original, resistive screen from N900! So you can have dual-touch on resistive. I think that addresses the complaint about resistive. Otherwise, what exactly is the advantage of a capacitive touchscreen?
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
I think that I tried that. Going from (very fuzzy) memory there was a problem with the combo to switch. It was some like not being able to reliably press both keys at once with a single thumb so needing to use both fingers in the far left. Or something like that.
My main motivation for the phone was a physical qwerty keyboard. But I would say now that when the keys are that small there is no benefit over a touch screen keyboard. There is an advantage to a touchscreen keyboard though: mode switches to alternate sets of glyphs are easier to use.
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
there were communicators back in the 90s too, N900 would be like the 5th gen or so
Pulsed Media Seedboxes
If you are referring to holding down the adjacent modifier and the shift keys, then I didn't have any problem holding down both keys at once with my thumb, and I could touch type with that keyboard, I haven't been able to touch type on any touchscreen keyboard.
Binary blobs and Google's tolerance of them.
I got the N900 went they first came out and bloody loved it, however the lack of applications for certain things, along with a random lag in performance on my N900 led me to Android. I've had 2 N900s, one that had the MicroUSB snap off the board the other being the replacement. I still have my N900 and am thinking of using it in a project. If a device similar to the N900 (being linux, etc) came out, i would certainly jump on it.