OS2008 "Diablo" update: A pictorial

Diablo has only been out for a day, but there are some notable changes. Here is some exploration of the experience in pictures:

Nokia must have changed something on their software distribution side. The OS2008 "Diablo" downloaded quickly. It is assumed that there was a problem with the edge servers properly caching the data from the origin server on the CDN during the last release. We're all glad it was fixed. This latest release also provides on-the-fly updates so, presumably, the device will never have to be "re-flashed" again for OS updates. Users of a "leaked" version of Diablo have reported that their device has automatically updated several times since installtion. Flashing will still be available for users who wish to start with a clean slate.

Like before, Diablo detects the presence of a backup on the memory card and prompts to restore that data. There is still not a "no to all" option in overwriting or keeping files that are kept in user space like icons, default images, and user guides. After clicking "No" about a few dozen times, all previous documents were restored. It is notable that not ALL settings are carried over from one flash to another. "Happy Coding" wrote a great blog post explaining this and including a HOWTO for power-users who want to carry over absolutely everything.

The Application Manager then prompted to restore all previously loaded applications (again - with the exception of those excluded in Happy Coding's explanation.) With a lack of WiFi at the time, it took a while to download them all over a 3.5G connection to an N95. Here's the tablet downloading applications on a drive to lunch.

At the conclusion, a very reassuring message is shown. 28 applications that do not need to be hunted down to be reinstalled. OpenSSHD prompted to set a new root password during installation.

Again - the automatic reinstallation of applications deserves so much credit that it gets one more image. This also gives "lazy updaters" (guilty!) a good time to put on the absolute latest version of those applications as well.

On to Web browsing: Scrolling is faster and more responsive. Flash-embedded elements no longer seem to lock the browser's CPU time so they can be scrolled past during playback. Flash seems to have enough juice behind it to play YouTube in "low quality' mode without problems, but richer video elements like The Daily Show and Hulu still choke.

A new Email client finally arrived on the tablets. The new client, based on tinymail and Modest, shows more promise. Configuration is in "wizard" form and not all fields are fully intuitive but work just fine.
The new mail client worked "out of the box" in for Gmail's IMAP service. Gmail does not use "folders" per se, so the folders on the right are actually Gmail tags. The address book is comprised of users included in the "contacts" application so all chat contacts are automatically in the Email client's address book.

The corner LED of the N810 blinks a quick blue flash when new Email is waiting. This can be disabled in the Control Panel (Display applet, LEDs tab) for those whose sleep would be disturbed by the blinking.

There are more changes not yet explored here so stay tuned for more.