It is best to click on that image to see what I did there. I took the Engadget post of the rumored N800 successor and added my own thoughts. If I was wrong in the last post and the prototype IS the next generation internet tablet, I decided I'd throw in my own thoughts while it's theoretically still in development. Here goes:
- Keep the front design. It's simply beautiful and elegant.
- Keep the stereo speakers. They're quite nice.
- Keep the stand. VERY handy.
- Keep the camera internal, retractable, and rotating.
- Raise it to 2 megapixels or more.
- Add video capture like other Nseries devices
- Add direct YouTube upload.
- Keep connectivity but do not add a phone.
- Boost CPU power, as always.
- Boost RAM to 256M.
- Increase internal storage to at least 10 GB either by flash or tiny hard drive.
- Add a fingerprint reader to the right side. This will do two things:
- Operate as a security device.
- Operate as a scroll wheel. Fingerprint scanners often do this on tablet PCs
- Keep it in the N8xx series. Maybe call it the N850
27 comments:
Greetings:
The main reason that I bought the N800 is because of its price.
Nokia was smart to bring out an internet tablet at under $500.00.
This is why for now nobody has challenged Nokia.
So, I like very much your features on the new N850, especially when you say a higher CPU, for me a 600MHz would be just right
But keep the Price under $500.00 and it will sell like hotcakes.
Regards Robert
I agree with everything you say and display. I think, though, a D-Pad on the front is needed. I find this makes link clicking and scrolling very easy.
Keep that, add the keyboard, but keep it slim and I might just have to buy a 3rd Nokia tablet.
+ a 5-way joystick (not a d-pad!) where the n800's dpad is
+ lose the charger port and charge via usb
+ move the headphone jack lower, where the charger port currently is
+ a jog dial at the right top corner at the side
+ maybe move the stylus just little to a lower position to make room for the jog dial
the jog dial at the top right corner would be especially nice.
Good ideas, though for internal flash I think the N800 setup would be fine if the supplied card was a decent starter size, say 4Gb, rather than the laughable 128Mb.
With an iPhone-esque multi-touch screen, and appropriate controls, I think external buttons would be superfluous (except probably the keyboard). Simple gestures for scrolling, panning etc., are easy to learn and intuitive. If the speakers can be managed, then the screen could be enlarged or the whole unit shrunk.
It has to be cheap to sell at all... still around $400-$500 ideally.
Build in GPS. If you can buy a receiver for $30, then they can build one in for very little. I suppose they want to make extra money on the Navkit though.
I would have thought if the N800 made financial sense when it came out, all these things could be done with minimal increase in price.
I wouldn't like to have to extend the keyboard just to use the D-pad, it would be very inconvenient from the couch, in fact it would be more hassle all the time. In any case, such a retractable keyboard would only be a slight improvement (and then only some of the time) for the on-screen keyboard -- I've used such things before, they're cr*p t use because of the size and there's _always_ some national- or other key missing. The on-screen keyboard at least have the menu accessible by the stylus. So, when the on-screen kbd isn't sufficient I always look for a full-size BT kbd. It's only when using apps. that are not good w.r.t screen estate that I would switch from the on-screen to a retractable one like in the picture.
(Commenting on another comment)
IMHO it makes sense to have a proper charge port, for several reasons. One is that it's compatible with any new Nokia (or compatible) charger out there, something I've profited from many times (I usually leave the N800-provided charger in the office).
o Keep it mostly as it is, but increase the CPU/Memory <--> screen bandwidth. As I understand it this is the major bottleneck (more than the CPU) to get the display really flying, not to mention 3D display. IIRC the N800 bandwidth to the display is actually lower than in the 770.
o I wouldn't increase cost by increasing the internal flash too much (not to mention a hard drive..), it would soon be outdated and considered small anyway. I think the smart thing to do is the current design: 2 slots, the internal one lets the user dedicate one to 'internal storage', and can be upgraded (cheaper and cheaper) at will.
It depends on what this device is supposed to be.
As an "Internet Tablet"
A better web browser. I'd like Firefox so I can use Google Browser Sync, Adblock Plus and everything else that makes the Internet better
If we want to make it a mini laptop...
A calendar/contacts program that synchs with Google Calendar. After all, when I'm in my car and I can't remember where I'm supposed to be going I don't really want to wait for my mobile phone to initiate a connection and the data to slowly drip into my N800
Something that shows Word documents, etc
General stuff
Charge via USB
OGG support
A UI that can be customised - I really want to get rid of the chat icon and replace it with Maemo-Mapper instead (or Skype)
An "intelligent" stylus like the ones found on graphics tablets or real tablet PCs. I don't really like the current way of doing a right-click and they could show a mouse pointer then.
Instead of having a d-pad or digital joystick, how about an analog "nub" similar to TrackPoint on IBM Thinkpads or the analog controller on Sony PSP? It takes less space than a d-pad and could be used for more precise web page scrolling, for example.
Please post software requests to maemo bugzilla as feature enhancements at http://bugs.maemo.org
Gah! My eyes!
Comments on Thoughtfix original quote and other comments ;-):
Keep
- keep the selling price below 500 USD
- keep everything except the cpu (see improvements)
Improve
- higher CPU
- scroll wheel (jog dial ?)
- give the possibility to add some applications (like Skype) to a graphical configurable startup script
Don't do
- don't add a keyboard to the N8xx, it will increase the price, it will make the device probably less slim, less robust, ... People who really like using a keyboard are better served by buying an external bluetooth keyboard (for example used when taking notes in a meeting)
Nokia think of ...
- how to include HSPDA functionality (with or without becoming a 'phone') for people using the Nokia N8xx that don't have 'wifi' access but are willing to pay through their HSPDA card
- built in GPS (+ software)
Cheers, Jan
No sense in large internal flash - much cheaper to get a memory card. Look at iphone - 4GB extra costs 100$. For N800 extra 4GB only cost 40$.
I wish Nokia gave up internal flash completely, and make the device booted from internal SD.
RAM is much more needed on the main board than flash.
Not to forget: buttons, buttons, buttons:
A useful 8 directions pad for games, buttons on both sides of the screen, side buttons which are easy to press (like 770), scroll wheel, etc.
Return the hard cover from the 770.
I totally agree with Ta-t3 - the next device _must_ have improved video bandwidth. Nokia really cocked this up when designing the N800 and it's now a bottleneck preventing the community from delivering a number of video and 2D/3D GUI enhancements.
I think the N800 looks terribly dated and I wouldn't use it as the basis for a future design. Get rid of the raised fascia around the LCD and make it totally flat (as Apple have done). Give it a modern look.
A jog wheel would be great, or a fingerprint sensor that I could use to scroll by stroking with a thumb, but I think I'd prefer a jogwheel.
I'd like to see companies such as Nokia agreeing on a single, common standard for recharging devices, even across brands. Assuming this is going to be impossible without government intervention (I believe the Koreans are taking this route) I'd like to see companies introduce inductive charging for their devices, eg. Splashpower, so that I can charge my N8** just by placing it on a table/plate. I still manage to poke the 2mm power adapter into the speaker socket every time I got to charge it.
Stereo speakers... are they really that useful? Mono would be good enough and the device could be made a bit smaller... do people really listen to music or watch videos using the built in N800 speakers rather than headphones?
Design the device to accept an extended battery - the BP-5L doesn't have enough capacity!
Leave GPS out of the N8** - GPS is best done by a dedicated module and many of us don't want/need GPS so don't want to pay for something we won't use.
The 770 hard cover was a design classic. While the stand is useful, I'd like to see both (stand + hard cover) on the future device, reintroducing the covers automagic online/offline functionality that some of us still pine for.
Some of the sketches I present below were drawn before even the N800 was released, and long before the rumors of this new device. Here is one that has two different concepts. One is more of a "phone type" with game centric button layout, and the other is an "all screen" concept.
Here is one idea that looks familiar. this was drawn by myself shortly after the N800 was released.
And here is my favorite idea showing a tablet with more buttons, multi-functional use cases, and an outline (light blue) of what a clear hard plastic case might look like.
Write nice software, instead of that shitty Hildon UI I can't stand. You know, something with drag&drop, we're in 2007, not 1997... The N800 has the nicest hardware with the shittiest software I've ever seen for a long time. They should internhip at Apple for few months..
As to stereo speakers vs. headphones.. I have this hypothesis that what you prefer depends on where you live and work. In countries with open cubicles and noisy environments (e.g. the US, at least I've seen many such workplaces) headphones seem to be extremely popular, while in places with quiet offices you don't see that many headphones. I'm one of those who happen to like the stereo speakers :-)
One more thing I would wish for in next-version hardware (in addition to the video bandwidth I mentioned before) is a transflective screen so that the unit could be used outdoors. _IF_ that could be done without sacrificing the qualities of the current screen, of course.
I agree with some things, but here is my take.
1) Up CPU speed
2) Increase ram to 256
3) Use Firefox as browser
4) Integrate GPS
5) Make the on screen keyboard TRANSPARENT and multitouch and DO NOT ADD an additional hardware keyboard.
6) Centre the camera and make it a rotatable 2mp camera with Xenon flash.
7) Keep $399 price point.
Like many other posters, I'd like to see software changes only. Ideally, I'd like to get rid of the entire Hildon/Maemo fiasco and have fully functional OpenEinstein/Relativity run on a minimal Linux kernel. The suggestion to get rid of the internal flash and replace it with RAM is also a good one; with an 8 GB internal SD card, there's nothing against having the device run entirely off card flash.
I personally don't want any hardware changes to the N800, with the possible exception of a 770-style hardcover.
Firstly, I'd like to say that I think the 770's industrial design is better than the n800's. This rumored predecessor is worse looking than the n800. Move back towards the 770, and its hardcover, please. If Nokia's design team wants to chat with me about it my email is feuervogel@gmail.com and I'd be more than happy to discuss these sort of things with them, if only they'd actually do that, lol. Aside from that, ditch the keyboard. If you must include the keyboard, move the d-pad to the front like has been said time and time again, and make the keyboard cover the entire bottom. Yes, include a scroll wheel, that'd be good. Stereo speakers seem like a waste of screen real estate to me, considering how close together and small they are, I'm not quite sure how much advantage the extra channel and speaker are going to give you, and everyone can appriciate a bigger screen. Fingerprint scanner... eh... it's cool but the majority of the people interested in picking up the tablet could probably care less, it might be a better idea to give the tablet native usb host capability so you could just bring your own scanner if it was important to you. Cpu and RAM upgrades, yes, please, please please, give this thing the power to be a full blown media player if the user sees fit, give it some balls so that it can run virtually any flash video or application smoothly. Keep the wifi, it's good. I don't see the need for any other radio, embedding a data connection radio like hdspa in it seems silly since the phone can tether to pretty much any phone these days, and why lock the device into 3g when you can just allow it to tether with any phone which in the future will support better and better data connections? The camera is good, upping the megapixels would always be a welcome move, and youtube uploading is huge these days, yes, as the above posters have said, take advantage of that. But above all, keep it about the same size and about the same price point. Don't allow it to become a umpc, too big and expensive to penetrate the market, and please dont let it wind up being just another smartphone, opensource os or not. Charging over usb would be great, but don't replace the nokia charger with it, if you include it, just include it as a nice extra, since sometimes you just cant be around a computer for a long time, and that is where I love having my tablet, for trips and such where I really dont want to deal with a laptop but it would be nice to hop online for this and that every so often. A nice beefy SSD for storage and a SD slot or two would be nice, but if the SSD will bump the price up too much, forget about it, keep it affordable, or offer the ssd as an option. Thats my 2 cents for now.
my picks:
*keep d-pad and buttons on front, add buttons to right hand side
*some easy scrolling method is needed, fingerprint reader or jog-wheel or both =]
*tabbed browsing with hardware buttons (like the shoulder buttons on the PSP - AKA the L, and R buttons)
*h.264 hardware decoding and encoding for playback of media and video conferencing
*increase camera resolution
*hard case cover <3
I think the new TI OMAP processors cover the next two:
*faster processor =]
*some hardware opengl support
I disagree with the microdrive, i don't like moving parts in my pocketable devices, and w/ 1-8 gb sd cards, the user can "upgrade" the model as he/she sees fit (as long as the pricepoint for the next model is decent =] )
oh yeah, and a press to pop out spring in the external sd slot ... -_-
the thing is... i'm sure some of these "upgrades" i mentioned can be done in software with the current hardware for example:
*the n800 has the same graphics processor as the iphone - why not the same graphics then? or at least an API for hardware accel =]
*tabbed browsing could be implemented in opera much better - i doubt anyone uses the left+right d-pad keys to really navigate
and one last thing - a useable offline mode (with PIM if possible) - if i'm dreaming, i'd say google gears integration with some google PIM stuff (and i've been dying for an offline google reader), but seriously, i can't even access tiddlywiki using file:// (in opera or minimo... sigh) so i need to write my own hack for it, and on top of that, it doesn't even handle AJAX/javascript completely correctly sometimes (i think =P it might just be by crappy programming, i apologize x.x)
Hi
Something not mentioned so far.....
improve the screen for outdoor use. It is almost unusable outdoors, or in the car in bright sunlight.
I mentioned that already, although not explicitly.. that's what a transflective screen is for: It works in direct sunlight, although in just bright lighting it's not much help. (I've seen some excellent screens on standalone GPS units though.) Of course, the screen must still be as good as it is today even if it goes transflective.. which for all I know may not be possible. The transflective screen in my Palm doesn't have the viewing angle of the N800 at all.
A scroll wheel would largely disburden the touchscreen since scrolling is the most frequent operation by far. Scrolling with the dpad is neither smooth nor intuitive.
i like your blog, but these latest "dream" specs are crazy.
1. "fingerprint scanner"
2. "mini hard drive"
3. "pull out keyboard"
1. not necessary. the os could have you authenticate by signing your name.
scrolling functionality ought to come from a scroll bar optimized for a finger or stylus. i was appalled at how poorly scrolling works for many apps.
2. that would ruin the device. you can already get 8GB of Patriot Flash (6M/s write) for under 70 bucks. Sticking a "mini hard drive" in there would suck up battery add to weight and add to cost. let the consumer buy what size suits them, and let the market set the cheapest price for us.
3. again, unecessary. software can overlay a translucent keyboard over half the screen when you start typing. no additional cost or weight. the text box with focus can have a thin red highlight band around it. tab could take you to the next one. these mechanical slide out things also have a tendency to break unless they are heavily reinforced (again adding more cost and weight.)
this platform needs scant more on the hardware side to become a success. the processor and dsp could be a bit faster. it would also be nice if the 3D processor on board could be made to fit into the architecture. even better, ditch the 3D processor and add another DSP. most of us are interested in encoding/decoding and transformations over heavy gaming. if you have noticed, the youtube drops frames when downloading. this is likely due to the decoding and wifi both sharing the DSP or a bus being saturated.
keep on blogging, this stuff will ubiquitous soon and your blog will have the squatters mind share in this space.
best of luck,
jherber
I think a fingerprint scanner would be too extravagant for the tablet.What I would love to have though would be a USB host function. Now that would be real useful.
My improvements would be just these ones:
1. Camera!!!
I think it is quite important to provide a decent camera on this device, with a minimum of 2 Mpx, a decent lens and (maybe) flash.
2. Keyboard:
It is true that typing can be achieved on screen, but you don't get the feel of the keys and hide part of the contents.
Finally, I don't think a fingerprint reader is necessary. It'd be interesting to implement (software) a ciphered partition so that nobody else can access your data.
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