Nokia N900:Nokia Replacing Symbian With Maemo 5 Operating System
Monday, July 26 2010
Nokia has broken the mould N900 as it replaces the company’s usual Symbian OS with Maemo, which is a more advanced system…
The hardware is similarly powerful, with a pull-out QWERTY, a 600Mhz ARM A8 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a touchscreen that lushly high resolution, even if it is sadly only resistive rather than capacitive.
As a result, it’s uncommonly wide and chunky, but it is excellent for viewing video and browsing the web, and Maemo is easy to use, despite a sometimes unresponsive touchscreen – and this is one of the dwindling band of phones that still comes with stylus.
Despite the open-source nature of the OS, the Maemo application portal is somewhat short of options, and while facebook is included, this phone isn’t geared for social networking. However , multiple IM clients and VoIp for cheaper calls are on offer.
The web browser is the main attraction on the N900. It seamlessly shifts between Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, offers full flash compatibility and pack the new Firefox Mobile Browser. The only problem is that the power of makes you miss the multi-touch slickness of the iPhone od Desire all the more.
The music player on the N900 is also great fun. There are widgets to for easy access on the home screen and it will sync track from your windows 7 home PC too. Storage is impressive, with 32GB on board and option to add a further 32GB through microSD, and internet radio is supported out of the box. Slick wireless home networking is also built in.
Despite a low quoted talk time, in reality the N900 has the best performing battery on test, making this phone an attractive option to anyone not put of by its ugliness and lack of slickness in other areas.
Details
- OS Maemo 5
- Processor ARM Cortex A8 600MHz
- Storage 32GB, microSD
- Screen 3.5-inch, 800×480 resistive LCD
- Connectivity 10Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi b/g, Bluethooth 2.1, A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
- Camera 5 Megapixels, Autofocus, Dual-LED flash
- Video Capture 800×480, 25fps
- Battery 270 minutes 3G talk, 24.8 hours Music, 5.6 hours Video, 5.5 hours 3G browsing, 8 hours Wi-Fi
- Price £450
Love – The power of the N900 is in its processor, and because Maemo is open source, the web is awash with easy ways to modify and upgrade it.
Hate – Most people will find it too big, in our view. the resistive touch-screen can be frustratingly inaccurate at times.
We Say – The N900 is a powerful, versatile device, but over-sized, ugly and sorely lacking the multi-touch slickness of the Desire or iPhone.
Currently on sale through this link on Amazon
