N800 pairs Bluetooth headsets

I searched settings and could not find any place to enable sending sound to the headset, but it paired properly and recognized the device as a bluetooth audio device. Is this an indication of things to come?

Nokia Internet Tablet owners: Be glad!

I just wrote a huge blog post in my ultramobile PC blog on how screwed UMPC owners are with Vista. What I did not mention was how application developers will switch gears into Vista mode and how XP apps and interest will dwindle.

In much the same way that Nokia 770/IT2006 owners are upset that gears are being switched to focus on the N800/IT2007, UMPC owners are going to get pie in the face over Vista and the upcoming generation of Vista capable UMPCs. The striking differences between the two:

• The Nokia 770 was under $400 when released. UMPCs were around $1,000.
• The Nokia 770 was announced in May of 2005. UMPCs were announced in Feb. 2006

So you see...

Nokia N800 dissection and reassembly pics and video

N800 opening

I intended to save this post until next week to avoid overshadowing my last post, but it's too fun to keep to myself that long. If you love me, you will Digg This!

These pictures are the internals of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. There is really nothing to see inside - it's well engineered and comes apart relatively easy, but there is no undocumented hardware like the Nokia 770's microphone when it was released. All the chips are covered by soldered-on RF shielding so they cannot be read. The back of the PCB is all "antenna space" so even the circuit traces cannot be followed. The only thing that struck me as odd is that the headphone jack appeared to have one extra contact on it, but that could just be the mounting solder point or the RF shield. The pictures are in the album linked off the above image.

I did it so you all don't have to. I did it twice, actually: Once for the photos and once for the videos. So yes: DO NOT TAKE APART YOUR INTERNET TABLET. It will void your warranty and there's nothing interesting to see inside.

Here's the video:

By the way: Those who guessed "RDesktop" for my last video got it right. It WAS a hoax, but a fun one. I had to re-flash all the way back to IT2005 since RDesktop was never ported beyond that. The "magic USB cable" was connected to nothing. See? Told you it wasn't VNC!

The Future of the Nokia 770

As I reported in my last post on the subject, Dr. Jaaksi did respond to my Email about the future of the 770. I did not post that right away, but instead let discretion be the better part of valor and let him put it in his own words on his blog.

Excerpt:

770 is a fully supported Nokia product. As an example, we released a new official OS2006 version for the Nokia 770 only yesterday. So it is also getting better. Also, a new OS2006 SDK was released yesterday. And as I said in my previous post, we follow the situation as we go on and keep on supporting the product.

Nokia's Responsibility: Unless Nokia hires an entire second development team, the development on the IT2006 simply HAS to be slower to make room for IT2007. IT2006 and the Nokia 770 may not necessarily have additional features added, but Nokia is obligated to continue to watch for bugs as they appear and then act on the most critical of them.

Our Responsibility: Most consumers don't know what it's like to be part of the Linux and open-source community. The simple fact is that there are far more consumers than there are developers and the developers rely upon the end-users to submit bug reports. When submitting a bug report, first search the outstanding bugs to see if yours already exists. Here's a good example of a bug. Go ahead and comment on outstanding bugs to let the developers know that you're experiencing the same problem and, if possible, add more details like what steps you took to replicate the bug.

For example: A user can report that their Internet Tablet crashes about every 20 minutes while connected to a WPA/PSK network. Another user can find the bug and say "Yes, that happens to me too. I noticed it's after exactly 24 megabytes have been transferred." and a third can say "I have the same problem, but only when connected at home. I use a Belkin 802.11n router at home with WPA/PSK enabled." The fourth report can chime in verifying that they, too, have the same router and can experience the same crash, but it works fine when using WEP instead of WPA/PSK. Now it's much easier for developers to replicate the bug scenario and develop a fix for it. With all this information, it's also easier to prioritize it on how common it is and how it effects the user experience.

What do you mean "I have responsibilities?" I paid for my Nokia 770! Isn't that enough? Short answer: No. The manufacturer is required to "due diligence" in providing a product that functions as advertised. In the vast majority of situations, the Nokia 770 DOES work as advertised. However, the manufacturer is not obligated to know about all potential points of failure upon release nor are they obligated to continue to enhance the user experience AFTER release. In regards to their legal responsibility, Nokia has gone above and beyond the call of duty to respond to user requests by offering Google Talk, an on-screen keyboard, swap memory, and many more enhancements since OS2005. As demonstrated by the recent OS2006 update, they also are continuing to respond to bug reports based on frequency and priority. Our responsibility as Nokia 770 owners is to let them know that there ARE problems and to be as specific as possible. They give us Bugzilla to help us do this.

Final Note: This is not an invitation to flood Bugzilla with complaints. It will make it useless to both other users and developers. Good developer time would be wasted with identifying and closing all duplicate or erroneous bugs. Nokia wants us to have the best possible experience with our tablets: Let's not make it harder for them to provide it.

Roger at InternetTabletTalk reviews the N800

Roger finished some play time and work time with the tablet and posted his review. I'll add it to my growing list of reviews.

My favorite excerpt:

People who say, “I don’t need to pay $400 to buy a tablet just to surf a little more conveniently” are possibly the same people who said there’s always a payphone around so no one has a reason to buy a cellphone. Or who insisted that picture quality was so significant that cellphones and cameras were just stupid to combine. Eventually these folk will see the light, I guess.

Mobile Linux embraced: LiMo

This is probably in no small way related to how well the Nokia Internet Tablets are received: News from LinuxDevices.com indicates that a new non-profit organization has been launched by a joint effort by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone.

The LiMo Foundation says it aims to create the "world's first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices."

Add that to the upcoming OpenMoko open smartphone project (I saw one of these phones at CES - currently in communication with the founders) it looks like Mobile Linux is finally here to stay.

Kicked by Readers

Okay - now I am getting some flack for defending Nokia in my last post regarding IT2006. I do not have the time at this sitting to address these concerns (specifically the accusation of loss of objectivity) but will shortly.

Yes, it is obvious that IT2007 development is higher priority than IT2006 development. Yes, that's annoying to Nokia 770 owners who do not wish to upgrade to the Nokia N800. In the meantime: can some agitated Nokia 770 owners PLEASE respond to this post with your reports of what is still "broken" on the 770/IT2006? I am researching the development of a community driven project specifically for the Nokia 770/IT2006. I could read through the bugzilla, but to be honest: I'm not a developer and it wouldn't make as much sense to me.

Making Waves with two issues

I keep hearing two things lately that annoy me to no end.

ISSUE ONE: The Fate of the Nokia 770
People are calling this post by Dr. Ari Jaaksi and the link to Carlos's blog an indication that Nokia is washing their hands of the 770 Internet Tablet and IT2006. In the second link, it describes OS 2007/770 Hacker Edition as follows:

It’s not a end-user ready release. It’s a tool to allow developers to continue working on the 770, moving on to the OS 2007 / Bora software platform, bridging the gap between 770 and N800. It’s less than alpha. No Q.A. was done on it and who knows what it might do. It should not brick your device but then again, we can’t be totally sure of that either.

This is being interpreted as an abandonment of IT2006 and, subsequently, the Nokia 770. From what I've seen, that is an incorrect interpretation. It is, to me, a commitment from Nokia to provide a test platform for developers who do not yet have Nokia N800 tablets to continue their development for both the Nokia 770/IT2006 and the Nokia N800/IT2007.

When I interviewed Dr. Jaaksi, he told me that the Nokia 770 has not been discontinued and will continue to be sold and supported. This is emphasized by the advertising blitz in the late months of 2006 and the fact that both products are still available through Nokia and CompUSA. There has already been improvement work for the Nokia 770 in that the new application catalog under development is searchable for IT2005, IT2006 and IT2007. I asked Dr. Jaaksi directly over email today to comment on the status of outstanding IT2006 bugs in the Bugzilla. I'll report back when I get a reply or if he blogs a comment. *edit* Feedback received. I need to prepare for the blog post that will follow. *edit 2* see this post.

ISSUE TWO: iPhone comparisons
People keep making comparisons between the Nokia N800 and the iPhone, probably because they're the two most impressive devices to come out of the early January product announcement time. Other than that, they have very little in common.

There are dozens of details I could go point-to-point on (which I started doing, but deleted,) but simply put: the N800 is not an iPod and it's not a phone, though it can play audio and video media and make internet voice and video calls. The iPhone is not an Internet tablet, though it has a web browser on it's tiny screen and may possibly have an instant messaging client. It's like comparing an Aston Martin to a Ferarri. Both cars will get you to work and back - it's just a matter of how you want the ride to feel.

The 770, the future, and the forbidden hack

As was announced yesterday (and commented upon moments ago Dr. Jaaksi's blog) there is effort being made to take as many features as possible from OS2007 and make them available on the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. This is going to be called "OS2007/770 Hacker Edition" and mostly be targeted toward developers to bridge the gap between OS2006 and OS2007. He also mentions a test version of a new application catalog.

I know there is a lot of complaining going on with how many improvements from OS2007 will not be available on the 770. In my research, it seems that OS2007 is just too optimized for the N800's hardware that it is silly to try to run it all on the Nokia 770. Even seeing all the improvements in OS2007, I still think OS2006 makes the Nokia 770 work exactly as it's supposed to.

I mean come on! Would anyone expect to run Windows XP on their Nokia 770 or Nokia N800 Internet Tablet? No?

Well then: Watch this video.

So you see, people. Just because an operating system is newer or more advanced doesn't mean it's the right fit for the hardware.

So you want to be a Nokia Internet Tablet Developer...

Developing for embedded devices is a bit different than simply compiling your favorite Linux app from source. The best way to do this would be to set up an environment wherein the developer can code, compile, and execute on a desktop PC to see how they'd look on the handheld. Thankfully, the developer community both in and out of Nokia has made this easy.

Things you need to know:

• What is Maemo? From the white paper: Maemo is an open development platform for applications and technology innovation for handheld devices. It was developed by Nokia as part of its development process for the Nokia Internet Tablets devices and subsequently opensourced and offered to the community. It brings to developers an easy to use development environment and a new optimized end user interface customized for handheld screen size and usage.
• What is Hildon? Hildon is the application framework, UI, and widgets. "Hildonizing" an application makes it consistent with the standard Internet Tablet interface.
  
• What is Scratchbox? From Wikipedia: Scratchbox is a cross compilation toolkit designed to make embedded Linux application development easier. It also provides a full set of tools to integrate and cross compile an entire Linux distribution.
  

What do you need to develop for Maemo?

1. A Development Environment: A Linux box with at least 256M RAM and 2GB hard drive space. I don't have a Linux box with a console on it (it's serving files in the closet) at home. so I used a Virtual Machine. Read on for that.
   
2. Scratchbox
3. The Maemo SDK rootstraps

Thankfully these are all provided in a nice little Virtual Machine. At the request of RingNokia, I am going to hammer out this little write-up on how to get a Maemo VM working. Virtual Machines (created with VMware and usable on the free VMWare Player) are virtual whole computers with their own RAM, hard drive space, sound and video interfaces and VMWare allows them to run in a window on your existng machine.

To get in on this fun, first verify you have at least 6 gigs of "playing around space" before anything as well as the minimum system requirements for VMWare.

1. Install your favorite torrent catcher. I use BitTorrent still.
2. Download the maemo-torrent.torrent from http://linuxtracker.org/torrents-details.php?id=3468
3. While that's running (it may take a while: I will seed for as long as I can,) download and install VMWare Player from the link above.
   
4. The torrent arrives as 54 7zip files plus a text file. You need to have the free 7zip installed to open them. Open MaemoAppliance-1.0-6.10.7z.001 in 7zip and extract the contents to your hard drive.
5. Read the README.TXT - Just do it.
6. The file of great happiness is Ubuntu.vdx. Fire that up in VMWare Player. Now, I don't have VMWare Player so I don't know if Player users will have this error, but I got an error that said "ubuntu" is not a valid guest operating system. I fixed this by clicking VM > Settings > Options and setting the Guest Operating System to Linux
7. Boot the virtual workstation.
8. Log in with the information in the README.TXT - You did read it, right? RIGHT?
   

You now have a development environment! The best part of virtual machines is that you can back them up in their entirety so you can always revert back to a previous system state if you foul things up . Now that you have your toys, read the Maemo 3.0 Tutorial as well as the other Maemo HOWTOs and start writing programs.

Meet the Blogger. Also, Nokia Newt800?

To those who read me through a RSS feed: There are pictures of me juggling and breathing fire in here, so click on in!

While I am waiting for the Maemo virtual machine to download so that I may write a HOWTO, I sat and read a great article from a former Newton developer's perspective. He proposes quite a few changes to the Maemo GUI, Hildon, etc. While I disagree with some statements of his, I will say that he has some damn fine ideas. I wonder if Nokia developers are up to a little criticism.

It occurs to me that my readers don't know anthing about my own background. Currently, I am an engineer of sorts for a web hosting and internet services firm in Arizona. I've been in the tech biz for quite some time. My first real professional tech position was for US Robotics in Skokie, IL supporting my first handheld device: the Pilot (later PalmPilot) before 3Com purchased the company.

I've used many handhelds over many years. I've owned at least...

1. Casio Cassiopeia A-10
   
2. Pilot 5000
3. PalmPilot Professional
4. PalmPilot IIIc
5. Handspring Visor
6. Handspring Visor Prism
7. Palm m505
   
8. Sharp Zaurus SL-5500

And probably a couple more. Besides that, I am a former performance artist. When the dot-com era went bust, I actually worked as a juggler, fire eater, fire breather, and more. Dave Attell caught me street performing on Insomniac (YouTube link.) That was good until the bottom dropped out after the Rhode Island and Chicago nightclub fires. There's a video of me eating and breathing fire on the news (YouTube link) right after those events.

I had to focus my career back on technology and started writing at that time. Most of it was documentation and training for Linux systems administrators at my "day job" at first. I've only been doing public blogs like this for just over a year. That's me!

Here are some pictures.



Looks like that download is going to take all night, so I am going to go to bed. I'll write more on the virtual machine goodness later.

p.s. By request: I am now offering full content feeds instead of short feeds. These ARE ad-supported, but if I get a lot of complaints I'll take them down and try to hunt down "real" sponsors to help recuperate some of the expenses involved in blogging the bleeding edge of technology.
*edit*
There will be no ads in the feeds. AdSense for Feeds is not accepting new sign-ups at this time and I don't feel like trying all that hard to make a few more cents. I write to help people understand, enjoy, and embrace this form factor and if enough money comes to support that then so much the better!

4GB SD card confirmed functional on the Nokia N800

I saw this ad and marched my happy self down to Fry's to pick it up. What can I say? It works? I have a half gig of MP3s on there now and will be loading up more shortly. If only I could preserve my playlists from iTunes and use the N800 to replace my 4GB iPod nano...
It reports 3.8 GB available. I am going to do more testing over the next couple days to see if I have any issues. Note that this is NOT an SDHC card. The nice people at SanDisk at CES loaned me a tested and functional 4GB SDHC card and it was not recognized by the N800. Reader (and kernel patcher) Philip Langdale reports that SDHC support is only a kernel patch away, so we can hope Nokia tests, verifies, and implements this for the next firmware upgrade.

Nokia N800 Review Roundup

I'd never had such an honor before, but somehow managed to score the top Google result for Nokia N800 Review for, well, my Nokia N800 review. I don't know how long that will last because a good handful of respected journalists have also published theirs. Here's a list. If I missed any, let me know:

• Bonnie Cha of CNET gives it an in-depth review and grants it 7.7 out of 10.
• Oliver at MobileCrunch had it for a month under NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) and says "All in all, I love this device."
• Jose_R.A.M in MobileBurn forums has a HUGE review, including "Pictures cannot do it justice. You really must get your hands on it; feel the quality behind the design and experience the rich, full ready-to-go anywhere internet.
  
• Ed Hardy at Brighthand says "From a software standpoint, I don't think the N800 is a huge step-up from the Nokia 770. However, its hardware is noticeably better" *edit* - link fixed. Thanks for the tip, Roger!
  
• Ivan Berger of the New York Times seems pleased in his brief write-up.
• OSNews.com added Jan 24, 2007
• Hanno's blog added Jan 24, 2007
• ComputerWorld, added Jan 25, 2007
• PC Pro, added Jan 25, 2007 compares it to an iPhone. (Apples and Penguins)
• InternetTabletTalk added Jan 26, 2007.
  

I will add more as readers submit review links in comments.

Orb fixes YouTube on the N800

I go on and on about how cool Orb is on the Nokia Internet Tablets and Ultra-Mobile PCs. With the latest releases, you can not only get all your videos for your Wii browser, but you can also use Orb to fix YouTube's low frames-per-second problem on your Nokia Internet Tablet.

How's that? Well, the Flash player on the N800 gives the user a low frame-per-second count that makes the videos hard to enjoy. The Nokia 770 doesn't even have the ability to watch these videos at all. Orb, installed on a PC at home, will tune in the Flash videos from YouTube and re-code and stream them out in RealVideo format which plays quite well on the Nokia Internet Tablets.

In preparation for the video below, I searched for one of my favorite YouTube videos (John Hodgman on the Daily Show explaining net neutrality.) from both the YouTube site and from my my MyCast site on Orb. In the Videos section of Orb on the Internet Tablet, you'll find an "Online Videos" section that allows you to search YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video and Daily Motion. This section does not exist on the PC interface because Orb "knows" if you're using a full PC to browse and just assumes you'll go directly to the site above to watch the videos.

Below is a YouTube video (Sorry, direct-from-tablet readers: you'll have to watch on your PC) showing off how much nicer the frame rate and stability of the YouTube content is through Orb as compared to the YouTube page.

Guest reporting for CarryPad: Pepper Computer

Pink PepperPad side-by-side with the Nokia N800

Steve of CarryPad.com could not make it to CES 2007 but has, to this point, provided the most in-depth coverage of the PepperPad and Pepper products. I had the honor of meeting several Pepper People and got some interview time with Len Kawell. Since Steve made contact with them for me and is more qualified to write about the interview, I sent it over to him with some pictures.

Here's the article with the MP3 interview.

My take: While the N800 is more "living room friendly" than the Nokia 770, I would rather enjoy a shiny black Pepper Pad on my coffee table. I'd still go everywhere with my N800, but would use the PepperPad more at home. I would love to get my hands on one, but my discretionary/blogging income is rather pinched for several months from CES.

Nokia N800 Hacking Volume 1

Sometimes a Dremel is the best way to hack. Not this time.

The preliminaries for hacking a Nokia Internet Tablet are the following:
Root Access and USB Host Mode

At maemo.org in the Tools section, find the new flasher-3.0 application and install it on your Linux box. What's this? Don't have a Linux box? Well then get VMWare Player and install a Ubuntu VM. I won't provide tech support on these because I assume Linux hackers can get this far.

The old steps work:

1. Turn off the N800 tablet.
2. Plug it in to the USB port on your PC.
3. Turn on the N800 while holding down the HOME key until you the USB icon in the top right.
4. Fire up VMWare Player and load a Ubuntu Virtual Machine, log in, download the flasher, fire up a console.
5. In the VM window, choose Removable Devices and then Nokia Mobile Phone Device.

VMWare Console with commands

In a console window AS ROOT on your Ubuntu machine:

# ./flasher-3.0 --enable-rd-mode
# ./flasher-3.0 --enable-usb-host-mode

Hey look! R&D Mode!

At least, those are supposed to work. I was UNABLE to get X Terminal working. I think the package is broken since it hasn't worked since my last update.

I was also unable to get USB Host working. The keyboard did not send any input to the device even with my old USB Power Injector. I will work more on this, but need a new 9V battery for the Injector.

USB Icon when keyboard is attached.

There is much work left ahead in this series of articles. I will get root access, USB host mode, and more to work. I promise. Discuss this in this InternetTabletTalk thread.

Nokia N800 Guts!

Remember those FCC documents that caused so much speculation? Well the full versions of them are now online, out of confidentiality, and uncensored. By uncensored, I mean you can see the Nokia N800 totally naked! For those who want to know the N800 in medical detail:

1. Go to the FCC Generic Documents Search
2. Enter LJP as the Grantee Code
3. Enter RX-34 as the Product Code
4. Search!

Nokia N800 Storage Benchmarks

These results are of limited scientific use since I have no comparisons. I invite users to replicate my commands here and report their results either in comments here or in this InternetTabletTalk thread. Please try those "super" or "ultra" SD cards so we can see if they are any faster.

First are the results using my 1GB SanDisk RS-MMC card in the "removable" slot using the RS-MMC to SD adapter. I am including screenshots so users can see the commands used, including how to generate a file exactly 64M.

Copying 64 MB from the RS-MMC to Flash: 26 seconds.
From internal Flash to MMC: 30 seconds.
From internal Flash to internal Flash: 19 seconds.
From MMC to a different directory on the same MMC: 62 seconds.

Same tests using a standard SanDisk 1GB SD card:
Copying 64 MB from the SD to Flash: 17 seconds.
From internal Flash to SD: 19 seconds.
From SD to a different directory on the same SD: 22 seconds.

More tests:
From 2GB SanDisk SD in "internal" slot to 1GB SD in "removable" slot: 19 seconds

N800 Product Page at CompUSA

The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is now for sale at CompUSA, both direct and in stores. While this may be old news, the product page just showed up today.

Here it is!

It's in the "Gifts and Gadgets >> Net Appliance" category. While that may be harder to find from random browsing, it is accurate in that it is not a tablet PC, PDA, or MP3 player. The only other two items in that category as of this writing are the Nokia 770 and Sony Mylo, both at $349.99 US. The listed price for the N800 is $399.99 US. In checking my local stores, it's in stock at 4 out of 5 stores. Go get yours!

live blogging with the N800

II am currently at the Cruxshadows concert in Tempe, Arizona. This post is written
entirely with my N800. I took the picture above with my digital camera, put the
card in the tablet, and uploaded it directly. Live blogging is possible but a bit
slow.
Since they wouldn't let me take a picture of the band, here are people setting up. am currently at the Cruxshadows concert in Tempe, Arizona. This post is written entirely with my N800. I took the picture above with my digital camera, put the card in the tablet, and uploaded it directly. Live blogging is possible but a bit slow.

*Edit* Analysis of the post: I wrote it before I took the picture. I think the "save as draft" function combined with the N800's tendency to read the contents of a text box when tapped made the double text. You can see it was inserted after the first "I" twice. The title was lowercase because I forgot to tap "shift" and the double-enter keys were because I was using Blogger's "edit" and not "compose" feature. It's still possible to blog with the N800, but would require practice and care. To answer a question in comments: I was online using my Verizon EVDO through a Bluetooth DUN connection.

Nokia N800 Review

So far, nearly all my posts about the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet were intended for my existing audience of Nokia 770 Internet Tablet owners or interested parties. I spent too much time comparing it to it's predecessor and have yet to take the N800 as a device all by itself and review it. This is a mistake I will remedy now: This article is meant as a companion to my First Look article. All screenshots are clickable for full clarity.

The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is not a PDA, ultra-mobile PC, smartphone, or eBook reader. It is an Internet Tablet. In my interview with Dr. Ari Jaaksi of Nokia, he emphasized that the device was built from the ground up to focus on Internet functionality. How well is this accomplished?

The Home Screen with default applets.

Design and Interface
The N800 fits in your hands like a PSP is designed mostly for two-handed operation. The left hand holds it, controls menu, application, and directional keys on the front and zoom and maximize keys on the top. The right hand can be used for the stylus. In most applications, dragging the stylus over an inactive screen area (an area without a button or hyperlink) will grab and scroll the screen for you. This is quite conducive to widescreen web browsing, but an actual "scroll wheel" would have been a welcome addition. The 800x480, 4.1" widescreen display is bright and sharp, if a bit tiny for some eyes.
The Home Screen is full of applets that can be removed, changed, replaced, or resized. The icons on the top left are similar to Windows' system tray, offering both status and shortcuts. The left buttons are Bookmarks, Contacts, and Applications. The beauty of the Applications button is that it knows if you tapped it with your fat finger or the sharp stylus and gives you either large or small icons accordingly.

Finding Local Hotspots

Connectivity
The most important aspect of the Internet experience is, of course, the connection. Without bandwidth, there can be no Internet experience. The Nokia N800 is not a phone, but does offer two options for Internet connectivity: WiFi and Bluetooth. The 802.11g radio allows the user to attach to any WiFi hot spot with encryption. The range, while not scientifically measured, is comparable to my laptop.

The Phone Control Panel Applet

Bluetooth is often a mess of confusion to users, but the N800 has a simple wizard that allows users to discover and pair their phone, then choose their wireless carrier from a list and have it pre-configured for data service. Be aware that this requires a data plan that allows "tethering" - a fancy word for allowing a device other than your phone to use your mobile Internet service. Check with your wireless carrier and ask specifically for EV-DO or HSDPA (or the latest technology) mobile broadband and a phone that offers Bluetooth tethering.

So what about the Internet experience?
Watching market trends, I see that the Internet is most often used for Email, instant messages and chat, news reading, entertainment, and finding information. Let's look at each function.

Email
The bundled Email reader is about as bare bones as can be and still be called an Email reader. Since most users have the option of web based Email services such as Gmail or Hotmail, that's probably a better choice. Reading Email is a breeze, but long replies are best paired with a Bluetooth keyboard or done at home.

Web Browsing/Internet Entertainment
According to Alexa, the most popular sites are search engines Yahoo, MSN, Windows Live and Google, social networking sites YouTube, MySpace, and Orkut, and at number 12 the famous WikiPedia.

Google's simple interface: Perfect for the N800

Google Maps:Works Well

Google and Windows Live Search worked wonderfully at the native resolution of the device, but Google Local worked better than Windows Live maps because the latter required horizontal scrolling that prevented me from seeing both the listing and the map at the same time. I attribute this to the fixed width of the advertising boxes above the listing. Google simply made the map smaller.

Yahoo: Horizontal Scrolling Required

Yahoo and MSN's search engines required some horizontal scrolling when the browser was not in "full screen" mode. Both are more content-heavy front pages and not likely the first choice for mobile users.

Typical MySpace page: Bad in any browser, but still readable on the N800

MySpace's default settings required the browser to be full screen to avoid horizontal scrolling, but it's worth noting that MANY MySpace users "pimp" their profiles so heavily as to cause browser lag or crash on ANY device. The same holds true on the Nokia N800. While I did not find any profiles that crashed my browser outright, I experienced some significant delays in loading profiles with heavy image and layout customization.

Wikipedia, of course, is wonderful to browse on the N800. With a broadband connection, the N800 is as close as possible to Douglas Adams' dream of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

YouTube: Almost, but not quite.

YouTube and Google Video are a different story. While the videos load and play, the frame rate is about 2-3 frames per second in the best case. Sound is more stable, but still cuts out from time to time. I do not know if this is a result of firmware or CPU power, but it is certainly not something you'd want to do at length with this device. Finally, while watching Flash videos, the screen saver doesn't know the user is watching and dims the screen automatically. When the screen goes entirely into "sleep" mode, the video and audio just stop. This is not the case with the integrated media player application, discussed briefly below.

For web browsing, the Nokia N800 offers nearly the best browsing experience of any pocketable device I've seen. The Opera 8 browser with Flash 7 support blows away PDAs and smartphones with their "mobile browsers." The only other pocketable device I have seen that offers anywhere near the richness in browsing is the OQO model 02, but the OQO is a pocket computer starting at $1,499. The N800 is an Internet Tablet retailing for $399.

Google Talk client using the on-screen keyboard

Chat and Internet Calling
The N800 Internet Tablet includes a Google Talk client, including a new Webcam ability. There is even a home screen applet for "Speed Contacts," but it only shows specific names the user chooses and not "online contacts" as it perhaps should. As a Google Talk client, it's not bad. The problem here, of course, is that all my friends are on AIM, Yahoo, or MSN. The Nokia 770 had GAIM (a multi-protocol chat client including MSN, AIM, Yahoo and more) ported to it and we can expect a similar port for the N800 any day now. (*EDIT: GAIM is availble, though not officially a "bora" package) GAIM does not offer some of the functionality of the desktop counterparts. Typing messages with the on-screen keyboard is tedious and the thumbboard hides the incoming chat window, so heavy chatters would do well to invest in Bluetooth keyboard (which is easily paired with the N800 through a control panel applet.)

Internet Calling is much better. With the top mounted microphone, sufficiently loud stereo speakers, webcam, and even the included mic-equipped stereo headset, this N800 scores. Google Talk and Gizmo Project are available now and Skype is coming later this year. *edit* fellow blogger John Tokash and I just spent 10 minutes talking on the webcam, discussing FPS, and lighting. The lights on both sides looked slightly washed yellow and the overall quality was about what is expected from a "cameraphone" quality sensor, but the experience of webcam+voice chatting in a pocket sized device was quite cool! Now if we could only get more users to adopt Internet Calling....

Google Reader

News Reading
As a blogger, it greatly pleases me that RSS news feeds have become one of the major functions of the Internet. In addition to web-based RSS readers (Yes, Google Reader works fine) the N800 comes with an RSS reader of it's own.

The integrated news reader in action

The advantage of using the integrated RSS reader is that it comes with a home screen applet showing the most recent news articles right in the front. Combine that with the 800x480 screen, it blows away PDAs and smartphones for this function. As a news reader, the N800 is a great choice.

Beyond the Internet
The base Internet functions have been covered:

• Email: Best done through a web interface. Reading is easy, writing takes time.
• Web Browsing: Great, except for sites that need a lot of horizontal scrolling
• Chat and Internet Calling: Calling = great. Chat = Better with a keyboard.
• News Feed Reading: Wonderful

What else can this do? Well, in addition to the "connected" functionality shown above, the Nokia N800 Internet tablet can stream Internet radio, play music or movies from the TWO integrated SD card slots, (I have four feature length films on a 2GB SD card,) play games (Chess, Blocks (a Tetris-like game,) Mahjong, and Marbles are included) or run many available applications available for download. The Nokia 770, less than two years old, has dozens of well-developed applications available for it. It won't take long for most (if not all and more) of these to be available on the N800. There is a running list of packages tested on the N800 and it grows every day. Linux under the hood encourages not only a lot of development, but a lot of open-source (read: free for the consumer) applications.

Conclusion
The Nokia N800 delivers the best Internet experience available in a pocketable form without breaking the bank. While not a PC replacement, it will cover the most popular Internet functions quite well. Available at many CompUSA stores or direct from Nokia at US$399, it's something every "heavy Internet user" should consider.

I invite users to comment, but for extensive discussion of this article join in on this thread in InternetTabletTalk Forums.
*edit Jan 22, 2007: Don't just take my word for it. I am compiling a list of additional reviews as well!

ThoughtFix's CES 2007 Wrap-Up

ThoughtFix with Microsoft Origami Project team member Sears at CES

The suitcase is unpacked, the laundry is running, and I am back in Phoenix. It was a hell of a week. The following came out of CES:

Articles:

• Nokia N800 First Look
• Nokia N800 Overview Video
• Interview with Dr. Ari Jaaksi of Nokia (with MP3/podcast)
• Interview with TabletKiosk
• Agere BluOnyx Bluetooth/wiFi/SD/USB file server (edited - minor correction)
• Dialogue Flybook overview
• Interview with Len Kawell of Pepper. This interview (the voice recording, photos, and analysis) will be posted at CarryPad.com since Steve has the best knowledge of Pepper and is better prepared to provide accurate information.
  

Additional Videos:

• Nokia N800 Internet Tablet media playback (YouTube)
• Nokia N95 Media Phone Overview (YouTube)
• Sony VAIO UX SSD Micro PC with Vista Aero Glass (YouTube)

Photo Galleries:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• (Day 3 skipped to spend time with family)
• Day 4
• Nokia Adventures
• Meeting with TabletKiosk

I'd say that, plus a tech/market analysis article, is enough for one blogger. Hope you all enjoyed it.

My First N800 Video

This is my first Nokia N800 video. Included are three things:

1. An overall tour of the tablet
2. Showing YouTube in action
3. Showing off improvements to touch detection

Enjoy!



That wraps up three posts, lots of image and video editing, a photo album uploaded, and a very exhausted ThoughtFix tonight. More later this weekend! Check out that photo album so you can laugh at me pretending to drive that Nokia Mustang!

Agere's BluOnyx: Box of Wonder

When I first heard of Agere's BluOnyx, I thought it would be nice to offload a bunch of media to the little box for pocket streaming. Cute and handy, I thought, but of limited use. I was so wrong.

I got the opportunity to meet with several representatives of Agere at CES 2007. In addition to the discovery that Agere is pronounced "a gear" and not "a jeer," I was introduced to a fascinating little device.:

It turns out Agere's BluOnyx is a little box of wonder.

Size comparison to a UMPC and an N800 Tablet

The Concept:
In a nutshell, the BluOnyx is a box about the size of a deck of cards with smooth edges, two buttons, an SD card slot, and mini-USB port. It is intended to be a personal content server over Bluetooth, WiFi, or mini-USB. It will be available in either Flash or Hard Drive models from 1 gig to 40 gig.

Slightly thicker hard drive version

The Execution:
This is where it all gets fun and interesting. First of all, the BluOnyx has no interface except power and Bluetooth pairing buttons, but it does push a Java interface out to the operating device. From there, the user can configure public and private folders, sharing, discoverable settings, and more. Here are some possible use scenarios:

• Streaming more media to your mobile phone than Flash cards can hold.
• Synchronizing your recorded TV from your Media Center so you can watch it on your Smartphone.
  
• Sharing the media from your mobile phone with others.
• Carting your save-game files from your home to your friend's.
• Bridging the gap between your cell phone and your gaming device.
  
• Use in an automobile permitting all passengers to enjoy different media on different devices. (take a look at the Nokia promotional Mustang below. They have N800 Internet Tablets in the rear seat headrests. The BluOnyx could serve each of them different content.)
  
• A medical or engineering office storing client files in the office and hand them to the next "on call" employee.

Nokia's Promotion Car: I imagine it would love the BluOnyx

But wait! There's more! (The following is for tech/nerds)

• This is actually an embedded computer with an open-source operating system. They're working on VxWorks and Linux for this device.
  
• Even without an integrated display, it can push it's interface to the "client" devices. Imagine interfaces in Java, Flash, HTML, or an other type of service any developers want to develop for it.
• The SD slot is SDIO. Hackers: Start your engines.
• The device itself is DRM agnostic. As long as you have a license to play media on the "client" device (your laptop, PDA, smartphone, Media Center PC) you can use the BluOnyx as storage.
  
• The device is identical across storage media and price points. The 40 gig hard drive version and the 1 gig flash drive version have everything in common except storage size.
• Up to 7 simultaneous Bluetooth clients can access the device at once, all controlled by access levels set by the master user. (Correction: I initially reported that up to 8 simultaneous clients can connect, but I invited Agere to review this artcle and they sent a correction. The theoretical maximum may be as high as 16, but by default the limit will be 7 to make sure each client has enough functional bandwidth after the Bluetooth overhead)
  
• SMB services are in there, too.
  

Very thin Flash memory BluOnyx

Who is Agere again?
When Lucent split up in 1999, two new companies were created: Avaya and Agere. Lucent took over consumer products, Avaya took business systems, and Agere took microelectronics. Knowing this (I was a consultant for Lucent/Avaya during the split,) I didn't expect a consumer electronics device to come out of Agere. I brought that up in the interview and it was quickly made clear how this happened: Agere developed all the individual components and finally got the vision and focus to put it all together. Agere is heavily integrated in development of all three major subsystems: Storage, Application Processing, and Connectivity. With all the hardware developed in-house, they have the advantage of not only knowing the drivers in depth, but the hacks and tweaks for each to know how to best talk to each other. The average consumer won't know the difference except to experience a more reliable product, but developers and hackers will love the "open" innards.

What Convinced Me:
While I was sitting there, listening, and taking notes, one of the engineers took a video of me scribbling on my tablet with his Nokia phone. He shipped the file off to the BluOnyx over Bluetooth then over to the PC. He showed me the video. While phone-to-PC isn't impressive all by itself, substitute "phone" and "PC" with a gaming device, USB-to-go device, Bluetooth or WiFi device, and suddenly your whole media world gets easier.

Final Notes:
This device is geared for around Q3 or so this year. It may come through partnerships such as phone manufacturers or cellular carriers as well. While no official price is here at the moment, they're trying to stick with a close goal of $99 for one gig flash, $150 for 12 gig 1.8" hard drive, and $250 for a 40 gig hard drive version. Be sure that I will be paying extra close attention to this one.

N800 - First Look

This is a picture-heavy post, so go directly to the blog to get the full content. These were my first attempts to take picture with a homemade "macro box" so be kind. I'm a hacker/geek, not a photographer. Coming soon: Videos!

After a few days of playing, these are my first impressions:

Ten Hardware Improvements:

1. Louder, stereo speakers
2. Dual SD card slots
3. Faster CPU and more memory
4. Brighter screen
5. Integrated stand
6. Location of charger/headphone jack
7. Location of microphone (and included headphones with microphone)
8. Webcam
9. Addition of LED indicator (waiting for software to take advantage of this)
10. Better DSP

Ten Software Improvements:

1. Newer Opera
2. Newer Flash
3. Support for Video Chat
4. Better organized Control Panel with a couple more handy applets
1. "Hardware Keyboard" (bluetooth) applet
2. "About product" applet
3. "Themes" applet
5. Resizable applets in the home screen
6. The battery tells you how much time it has left if you tap on it.
7. Very flexible Bluetooth applet:
1. In two taps, it's possible to make the N800 "Bluetooth Discoverable"
2. In two taps, Bluetooth can be shut off, too.
8. Audio Player/Video Player merged into "Media Player" (less clutter)
9. Interface "knows" if you are using a stylus or finger.
1. If you use your finger on menus, it gives you finger-sized icons.
2. If you use your stylus, it gives smaller menus
10. Discovery of "Shared Media" directly through file manager

Additional notes:

• You can use your existing RS-MMC cards with the adapter that came with them. My 1GIG card is in the back of my N800
• Commenters on my recent posts have been a great help. For example: SDHC should be available with a Kernel patch. I sent Dr. Jaaksi a message with this information along with my follow-up Email.
• Navicore navigation!
• Skype!
• RealNetworks Rhapsody
  

Things I will miss from the Nokia 770

1. Hard-shell slider case
   
2. Suspend by flipping the cover
3. Have to wait for software to be ported
4. The curved back makes it harder to use in PDA mounts than the flat 770
5. The buttons are unnecessarily smaller.

In short: the Nokia N800 tablet is, as Dr. Jaaksi said in the interview, a natural evolution of the Nokia 770. Like the 770, it's not perfect out-of-the-box and some compromises had to be made to get the style, features, and price point they wanted to meet. Overall,

First post!

First post from my new N800! Read comments on my last post. Good discussion there. More soon.

Interview with Dr. Ari Jaaki: The Podcast and Notes

Here's the link to the voice recording of the interview. I tried transcribing it but had some difficulty as we were talking at the same time at points and he showed some things that you could not see. However, a LOT of ground was covered.

I say "um" and "uh" too much.

Some notes and answers to what others have asked in comments in my last post:

1. The 770 was no more or less successful as expected. (I got no actual figures) but it was so successful that it proved the market for such a device and they are very happy.
   
2. This was the first time that Nokia had a software model that could upgrade capabilities through software upgrades (i.e. the IT2005 to IT2006.)
   
3. Linux, Gnome, gstreamer, and other open-source choices were a BIG contribution to the success of this device.
   
4. They didn't know offhand if SDHC would work. I took the N800 directly to the SanDisk booth and borrowed a card and it did not work. The SanDisk folks were VERY nice about this.
5. We do not expect to see more Linux in other devices at this time because Series 40 and Series 60 work just great in phones.
6. The primary function of the Internet Tablet series will be "Internet" and will continue to incorporate desktop Linux technologies.
7. There were many lessons learned from the 770 that went directly into the 800, including supporting the latest formats, providing software upgrades, and more.
8. The Nokia 770 is NOT end-of-life. It will still be sold and supported.
9. The IT2007 will not be ported to the 770. The new hardware and software were built to go together.
10. There's good discussion at about halfway into the interview about the division between laptops and the tablet, specifically use scenarios. Writing your novel, balancing your budget, etc. is best on a laptop. PIM functions and calls are best on phones. Internet (chat and browsing) is best on the Internet tablet.
11. The dream features of the development team (Skype and Navigation) are in development and on the way soon. They hope to support more media formats in the future as well.
    
12. I asked what Slashdot users always ask: Why does it has no phone or keyboard? Answer:
    
1. Phones: Nokia has plenty of phones. Exact words: "If we were anyone but Nokia, not so many people will be asking this question." Very good point that I hadn't considered before. (More in the audio)
2. Keyboard: The on-screen keyboard is functional. Bluetooth keyboards are an option. Keeping a hardware keyboard out keeps cost down, durability higher, and gives the option for people who want it. (Incidentally, the Control Panel "hardware keyboard" applet will directly pair with a bluetooth keyboard without any additional software.
13. Incorporation of propriatary software (as opposed to all open-source) like Skype, Rhapsody, and third-party navigation software is an expansion of the portfolio and not an abandonment of open source. These are a value-add option.

All of the above was PARAPHRASING from the audio except that one direct quote above. If Dr. Jaaksi offers any corrections, I will post them.

I intend to stop by the Pavillion tomorrow to follow up on a couple questions and tell them what I found out about SDHC. According to Sandisk, SDHC is more a firmware option than a hardware option. The cards have identical pinouts. It may be possible for Nokia to code an SDHC driver. This remains to be seen.

There are far too many improvements in the N800 to write about in this post. Put specific questions in the comments so I can address them individually. Off I go again!

Huge updates coming

From Interviewing ...

Above is a picture of Dr. Jaaksi and I showing off our Internet Tablets.

I have been trying all evening to prepare a good blog post for you all and have failed. There is no wifi near my hotel and even the EVDO reception sucks. What's coming:

• A full interview with Ari Jaaksi of Nokia in podcast form (Or would you all prefer it if I transcribed? It's a little noisy in that pavillion)
  
• A huge, in-depth spec sheet on the N800
• Pictures of the N800 in medical detail
• Hands-on details.

Official N800 Product Page

Posting from my 770 in bed: I bring you the official product page that just went up. Cheers and goodnight.

Thoughtfix Live at CES! Maemo 3.0

The drive was hard in the Yaris - cross wind isn't kind to the little bubble. I am here, badge in hand, and ready to bring you all news. It begins!

Tipster Victor wrote:

http://maemo.org/#date_07012007b says:

January 7, 2007, Maemo 3.0 'bora' is released

Maemo 3.0 supports application development for the latest Nokia N800
Internet Tablet. In maemo 3.0 we have upgraded to the latest
Scratchbox Apophis R4 as a cross-compiling development environment.

For more info please see the releases page.
http://maemo.org/downloads/releases.html

Seventy Five photos of the N800

John Tokash did it - he ran out and got himself an N800. He's been giving me information all day as he finds it and blogged about it with a lot of pictures.

John: I envy!

p.s. I renamed my blog from "Thoughtfix on the Nokia 770" to "Thoughtfix on Nokia Internet Tablets"

Critical question answered: yes, the N800 is a significant hardware upgrade.

In addition to the previously confirmed webcam, stereo speakers, and full sized SD card slots (previously reported as MiniSD,) the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is a significant hardware upgrade in both CPU and memory.

Preliminary reports also indicate that YouTube or Google Video may run, albeit slowly.

Below is a table of selected lines from the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. The figures in the first column were captured by "Disconnect," an IRC user in Freenode #maemo who happened to get his hands on one of these tablets from his local CompUSA.

	Nokia N800	Nokia 770
Processor	Some Random V6 Processor rev 2 (v6l)	ARM926EJ-Sid(wb) rev 3 (v5l)
BogoMIPS	320.37	125.76
Features	swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp java	swp half thumb fastmult edsp java
CPU implementer	0x41	0x41
CPU architecture	6TEJ	5TEJ
CPU revision	: 2	3
D size	32768	16384
D assoc	4	4
D line length	32	32
D sets	256	128
Hardware	Nokia N800	Nokia 770
MemTotal:	127252 kB	62224 kB
MemFree:	46508 kB	5176 kB
Buffers:	256 kB	12 kB

N800 (previously known as the Nokia 780 or Nokia 880 Internet Tablet) on sale at CompUSA

There is one store local to me - the Peoria CompUSA Superstore - with the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet in stock for $399. I was tempted to drive out and pick it up right now, but they have no floor models and I need to save that money for my unexpected hotel expense at CES.

I'll have to wait to provide the in-hand coverage of the N800 and it's eating me up inside. Back to packing and preparing for the show!

In the meantime, John Tokash did a great size comparison using the screen size as a marker. Check his blog. Also, join in on the discussion at InternetTabletTalk. Great new site design, Reggie!

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet: The Confirmation

Here it is. Here it REALLY is. The next internet tablet. Looks like all the speculation was correct.

Stefan at RingNokia tipped me off to a Flickr photoset he accidentally found. Stefan's post: http://www.ringnokia.com/2007/01/nokia_n800_inte.html

Congrats for the second exclusive in a day, Stefan. Journalists: Don't use public photo albums with indexing if you're under non-disclosure, okay? We need more moles inside retail stores, too.

p.s. Thanks to everyone who sent sympathies regarding my last post. Everything is all set now. Looks like I will have to reschedule all of Wednesday, but still plan on relatively full event coverage. Hell - Grandma would have yelled at me if I made a fuss over her on my vacation.

CES emergency.

The grandmother with whom I was going to stay next week passed away last night. My parents and uncle will be in town and I want them to stay with Grandpa at the house. If anyone knows any reasonable, still-available rooms in Vegas at this time, please let me know. My sister and her family will be coming into town (four total) and I'll likely be staying alone. Any advice is welcome.

I will still be covering MOST of CES, excepting of course time that will be with the family and time for the funeral. Arrangements have not yet been finalized.

I love you, Grandma Dolores.

*edit* Crisis averted thanks to an overpriced Motel Six a couple miles from the show.

Nokia 770 dissection

We all know my warranty expired a few weeks ago. With that, I decided to give InternetTabletTalk readers a special holiday gift as the exclusive place to find my Nokia 770 disassembly and dissection pictures. Now that they've enjoyed it for a couple weeks, I'll share the link here as well.

To CES!

Since I haven't made mention of it in my blogs yet: My attendance at CES is now 100% confirmed. My predictions:

1. A new Nokia Internet tablet and at least three new Nokia phones will be announced. There may even be some talk about a Nokia branded embedded Linux smartphone.
2. At least three new Ultra-Mobile PCs will be announced, plus an array of accessories from TabletKiosk and others.
3. Major accessory manufacturers like Belkin and Targus will start embracing the ultra-mobile platform.
   
4. PDAs will be declared officially dead. Smartphones and other Internet enabled devices will have destroyed that market.
5. I will spend at least one night entirely awake and out on the town, scaring my poor family (my maternal grandparents are hosting me in Vegas) to pieces.
6. My entire discretionary income for 2007 will be spoken for.

In addition to live coverage of the event, interviews, product profiles, and lots of photos and video, I hope to find someone willing to sponsor my blogs. Nokia Internet Tablet and Ultra-Mobile PC coverage went from a casual hobby to a very exciting (and expensive) hobby. Through the feedback of readers like you, press contacts, and device makers, I've decided that this is where I want to steer my career. It may take much more time before that is possible, but for the several dozen of you who have written me telling me you've decided to embrace this new technology based on MY writing... Well, that's the best feeling a blogger can get.

Thank you all and wish me luck!