This guest article was submitted by Chris King.
It's hard to believe it's been nearly four years, but back in 2005 something was introduced into the market that was revolutionary. At a time when the iPhone was just a pipedream and the mention of an iPod conjured up an image of a click wheel, Nokia set out to develop a small, touchscreen device called the 770 Internet Tablet. It was a strange move for the company, considering that this new device would not have any cell phone capabilities, and yet Nokia was then the largest phone manufacturer in the world.
Based on an open-source version of Linux called Maemo, the 770 was released in 2005 and suddenly became a favorite among Linux fans and those who had tired of their Windows Mobile PDAs. Its main draw was the landscape-oriented, 800×480-pixel touchscreen that came in at just below five inches, which was unheard of at the time, and it made using the Opera-based web browser via WiFi or Bluetooth a complete mobile joy.
But even with a few new models and upgrades to the OS over the next three years, Nokia has been struggling to keep up with the many new competitors over the past few years, including the rather large one from Cupertino. As we inch closer to the new Maemo 5 and hopefully a new hardware device this year, Nokia needs to get moving quick before the window that they flung open back in 2005 shuts completely on the Internet Tablet.
For those not real familiar with the history of the Nokia Internet Tablets, here is a quick and dirty rundown of the way I remember it to get you up to speed.
And this is what inspired me to write this article. I am a die-hard Nokia Internet Tablet fan, having owned all variations and currently still using my N800 almost daily.
Even though Maemo is open-source, there are a few commercial apps such as Skype and Rhapsody, and these are the ones I probably use the most on mine. The size of the N800 is perfect for me, not too large but not too small, and it is obvious that Nokia hit a sweet spot with the dimensions because devices such as the Aigo P8860 and even the new Viliv S5 have tried to keep similar proportions. Oh, and did I mention battery life? Usually a huge limiting factor in the true usefulness of many mobile devices, that is not the case here. The N800 and N810 can run for about 6-8 hours on average and standby for nearly a week.
But again, Nokia must hurry and address the hardware limitations of this device because not only are they now competing with the huge iPhone/iPod touch ecosystem, but with smaller devices that run full versions of Windows as well. And all of the aforementioned devices generally have more powerful processors and specs. Even though I can simultaneously run multiple apps on my N800 with maybe a stutter or two, the hardware is quickly becoming outdated. Flash 9 support was added a while back, but it may as well not even be there since sites such as YouTube and Hulu run slowly, if at all. In today's world, multimedia apps are king and not being able to use them will drive users to find alternative devices.
So are there any other Nokia Internet Tablet fans out there? Chime in with your thoughts and suggestions on these devices.
Chris King (orbitalcomp) is a long-time handheld tech user, dating back to the original Newton MessagePad and then moving on to dozens of different devices over the years. Currently, he finds himself surrounded by a multitude of touchscreen devices, including a pair of Fujitsu U-series, a Nokia N800, and an iPhone 3G.