[Ben]

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/08/12/nokia_maemo_smartphone/
Sorry Symbian-hangers-on, but this could be the best thing Nokia have done in quite some time. The OS just isn't keeping up, and Nokia seem powerless to sort it out.

Nokia smartphones may soon be shipped running the phone giant's Linux-based Maemo operating system instead of Symbian, it has been claimed.

Maemo – also known as the Internet Tablet OS – has been around since 2005 and was originally designed for Nokia’s family of handheld internet gadgets.

Now a report by the Financial Times Deutschland has hinted that Nokia is preparing to drop Symbian from its smartphones, in favour of Maemo. The paper’s source is unclear.

Nokia spent €264m (£228/$367) when it acquired Symbian in 2008, so it’s highly unlikely that the firm will simply drop Symbian from its entire range of handsets.

But Symbian’s global market share has suffered of late, according to figures from market watcher Gartner. For example, the OS’ share dropped from 62.3 per cent during Q4 2007 to 47.1 per cent during Q4 2008, a fall of 15.2 percentage points.

By contrast, Windows Mobile’s share increased by 7.8 percentage points between those two quarters, reaching 12.4 per cent in Q4 2008. RIM's Blackberry OS went from 10.9 per cent to 19.5 per cent, and the iPhone OS from 5.2 per cent to 10.7 per cent.

Pictures of a Maemo-powered Nokia N900 emerged online recently, leading many to speculate that Nokia is on the verge of launching the handset as the first of many Maemo-based smartphones.
Lets hope something becomes of it. Nokia's running a 'new' OS could help stop the rot. Yes, I'm well aware that Nokia are still market leader in global phone sales, but 5 years down the line that may no longer be the case if they don't sort out their high-end.

Nokia have always ruled from the top. It's not just about the profitability of high end, it's the whole umbrella effect.

[miffed]

That would be brilliant !!

I even commented that this would be the way to go on this very forum a while back !! - and it makes the next communicator suddenly relevant again !

Do it Nokia , DO IT !!!

[Ben]

It has to be said, Samsung have been having much better luck with Symbian recently. I've read good things about their latest touch handset, beats the N97 hands-down, apparently. But then so did everything else ;)

[miffed]

Tell you what , this news REALLY has me tempted to take Expansys up on their N810 offer in preperation !

[miffed]

This sounds promising (although slightly disturbing too ! )
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Nokia_Phones_To_Get_Microsoft_Office_Soon/551-105441-580.html

[Ben]

MS should have free and paid office clients available for as many OSs as they can muster. Seriously, if they want to retain dominance then they should be ubiquitous in the space.

[Hands0n]

This news will stick in the craw of all those Nokia Symbian fanbois who slate OS X (iPhone stylee). The move to a Linux core makes absolute sense. Symbian is, in my opinion, totally past its sell-by date.

Next, can we please have the manufacturers pop in some more useful amount of RAM for the running apps please? I cannot believe that we've not broken through the 512MB barrier yet!

[Ben]

Next, can we please have the manufacturers pop in some more useful amount of RAM for the running apps please? I cannot believe that we've not broken through the 512MB barrier yet!
Agreed. Though the 3GS seems good with 256MB... with such a competent CPU, though, I'm sure 512MB would go down well with heavy app users. I've never known much about Nokia specs, other than the processors are always too slow and there's never enough RAM :(

[hecatae]

(dw2) on Twitter


Catalyst and Futurist, Leadership Team, Symbian Foundation. EVP Research and co-founder of Symbian Ltd. Director and Software Architect at Psion Software.


his posts on this are very interesting

[Ben]

(dw2) on Twitter



his posts on this are very interesting
Following. Sounds like an interesting chap... Lol @ the article he links to, though, the case against Apple (http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#2l0Y0q/calacanis.com/2009/08/08/the-case-against-apple-in-five-parts//) - while they're a long, long way from a "do no evil" company, they do one hell of a good job at an amazing consumer experience. Openness isn't always all it's cracked up to be, and Jobs 'n' Co. are part of a very small group of people who can make being 'closed' a good thing.

[miffed]

Taken from the aforementioned article


4. Being a horrible hypocrite by banning other browsers on the iPhone
——————————————————–
Opera is a fantastic browser built by a company in Oslo, Norway. In fact, a decade ago, I had a speaking gig there and got to interview the CEO of the company for Silicon Alley Reporter. (Sidebar: Man, do I miss being a journalist. I wish I could split 50% of my time being a journalist and 50% of my time being a CEO.) For over a decade, Opera has been making lighting-fast, lightweight and quirky browsers. Long before Apple launched Safari, with the goal of designing the fastest browswer on the Web, Opera was already there.

Opera’s mobile browsers are “full of WIN,” as the kids like to say these days. If you’re a Windows Mobile or Blackberry user, you’ve probably downloaded them and enjoyed their WINness. The company started an iPhone browser project but gave up when faced with Apple’s absurd and unclear mandate to developers: Don’t create services which duplicate the functionality of Apple’s own software. In other words: “Don’t compete with us or we will not let you in the game.”

The irony of this is not lost on anyone who had a computer before they had an Internet connection. Apple was more than willing to pile on after Microsoft’s disasterous inclusion of Internet Explorer with Windows. In fact, what Apple is doing is 100x worse than what Microsoft did. You see, Microsoft simply included their browser in Windows, still allowing other browsers to be installed. In Apple’s case, they are not only bundling their browser with the iPhone, but they are BLOCKING other browsers from being installed.

Simple solution and opportunity: Don’t be a control freak and hypocrite. Allow people to pick their browser; the competition to make a better browser will increase the overall use of iPhones and mobile data services.

Now, I have heard this brought up a few times recently by those seemingly desperate to "expose" the "terrible" flaws of the iPhone , like a bitter neighbour complaining about the noise from a party they are pissed because they never got an invite to.

Where on earth does this come from ? I have Vanilla Surf on my 3GS , I had it on my 3G and 2G too , and by the looks of it there are plenty of 3rd party browsers in the Appstore ... So where did this particular piece of BS actually come from ? - are the critics THAT desperate that they have to make up flaws ?

[hecatae]

n810 is a nice, I was given a Nokia N800 which was similar.

http://www.internettablettalk.com/

the above forum lets you do lots of things with Nokia Tablets, like install KDE

[getti]

A new tablet is due to be announced at Nokia World next month. Will include a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, slide out keyboard, HSDPA built in with a SIM Slot (possible that it can also be used for calls and texts).

Photos attached

[Ben]

Not sure I like the look of the keyboard on that... I'd have said they'd have been better off keeping it thinner and having a really good touch keyboard, as I'm guessing there's plenty of screen real estate on the tablet form factor. I mean, if Apple can do it on the relatively small iPhone...

...Otherwise, looks really nice!