There has been talk about the N900, the Linux based Nokia phone, for quite a few months now but with not much official word from Nokia itself. It had been thought that Nokia were likely to make an announcement in the next few weeks but they have gone and surprised many be doing so earlier than expected. Many had been speculating that Nokia would be making a foray into the world of Linux due to the outdated status of its Symbian platform.
Nokia however have said this is not a permanent switchover and is being implemented on the N900 to cater for different market needs. By the looks of the new Debian based Maemo OS however, it could prove so popular with consumers that Nokia will think about using it more on future devices instead of Symbian.
The Maemo 5 OS looks to be quite innovative and could take its place as one of the best mobile phone OS’ on the market today. Operating on a desktop style system users can easily switch between screens and apps either by a simple finger stroke or the touch of a single button. The Maemo has been praised for its multitasking abilities which see it being capable of running dozens of apps at once, unlike the OS found on main competitors like the Apple iPhone.
Regardless of the OS which will be attracting a lot of attention on its own, the N900 is also feature rich in just about every other area. There is a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens that also supports highly detailed video recording, as well as a very functional media player. Being a cross between phone and internet tablet the N900 is full of web-oriented features. It is designed to be ‘always connected’ which you would think would drain its battery but Nokia state it can go for 2-4 days in this manner. There is also a Mozilla based browser with support for Flash, and the email client supports Microsoft Exchange.
The N900 should be released in October although no exact date is known, and it will cost around €500, which works out at about £430.
Tags: Nokia-N900