Filed under: Handhelds

Last week we got a few tid-bits of information on where Nokia is heading with its next round of Internet Tablets and now we’re learning a little bit more courtesy of a spy shot taken at the company’s Maemo Summit (held over the weekend in fabulous Berlin). The 3G HSPA connectivity and a TI OMAP3 processor mentioned earlier are confirmed, the latter of which will open the door to OpenGL ES 2.0 compatibility for graphics acceleration and, hopefully, alleviate the occasionally stuttery video playback that made the N810 a somewhat less than ideal PMP. Beyond that all we know so far is that it will utilize the company’s Maemo 5 OS (Windows 3.1 is right out), will support USB 2.0 (surprise!), and that use of hair-care products at the Summit was apparently optional.

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Filed under: Handhelds

Nokia’s always had big plans for the open-source Maemo internet tablet OS that powers devices like the N810, and it just spilled some more details about the upcoming release of Maemo 5 — and provided some hints on what’s in store for the Internet Tablet line in the process. The biggest ticket item seems to be 3G connectivity over HSPA, but new support for the TI OMAP3 processor should mean faster devices with better graphics, and Nokia’s also promising “high-def” cameras with photo-sharing features. All this work on the Linux-based OS means that Nokia is now a Gold Sponsor of the Linux Foundation, and it’s already contributed the HSPA OMAP3 code back to the project — hooray for sharing. Of course, what we really want to know is when to expect the actual release of an updated Internet Tablet, but Nokia just says it’ll be out “when it’s ready.”

[Thanks, Ryan]

Read - Nokia Maemo announcement
Read - Maemo 5 liveblog

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

With Nokia’s dedication to Maemo and the recent Trolltech acquisition, it’s no secret that Espoo has its eyes firmly locked on the Linux prize — but outside the whole Internet Tablet phenomenon, there hasn’t been a lot of product to show for it. Looks like that’s all about to change, with CFO Rick Simonson commenting this week that the company will “definitely” be releasing some Linux-based cellphones in the future, marking a pretty big move for a company with strong tradition in its long-lived Series 40 dumbphone and S60 smartphone platforms. Simonson refused to get into the nitty gritty details about what flavor of mobile Linux would be used; borrowing from its tablets might make sense, but the Android and LiMo juggernauts seem like they’re going to be pretty hard to ignore as well — not to mention that Google is said to have chatted briefly about Android with Nokia in the not-too-distant past. So what does this all mean? Is S60 Touch in danger here?

[Via Thumb Report]

Update: A closer look-see at Reuters’ report (ignoring the misleading headline) indicates that Nokia has not specifically committed to rolling out Linux on phones — rather, it has simply said that it intends to expand its use of Linux across its product portfolio. We figure that handsets are bound to get swept into the mix at some point, but technically, we could just be looking at other kinds of devices. Always room for another Internet Tablet or three, we suppose. Thanks, Eric!

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Filed under: Handhelds

We’ve already seen Google’s Android mobile OS get shoehorned onto Nokia N810 tablet, but it looks like the Internet Tablet OS is about to get even more flexible with ports of Ubuntu and the Qt toolkit. Nokia is acquiring Qt developer Trolltech, so it’s no surprise the Qt is making the jump, but it looks like it’ll be mostly a third-party-targeted framework, with the ITOS interface and bundled apps still using GTK+. Nokia told Ars Technica that it’s exploring cross-platform possibilities between ITOS and Series60, and that it wants to see if GTK+ and Qt can coexist on the tablets like they do on the Linux desktop. That’s pretty ambitious for a low-powered tablet, but we’re all for more flexibility — which seems to be in the cards with the Nokia-sponsored port of Ubuntu to ARM. Several pre-Hardy Heron versions have been ported and run off SD cards, if you’re feeling adventurous — we’re not sure what the advantages are, but it’s nice to know that Nokia’s keeping things wide open.

[Via Digg]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Wireless

Having trouble telling the difference between this and a garden-variety N810? Yeah, don’t worry about it — that’s okay, and it’s actually by design. We had an opportunity to tool around with Nokia’s just-announced N810 WiMAX Edition today, and it stays very true to the original N810’s formula, substituting a darker case and keyboard (both of which look very handsome, by the way), and physically, that’s about it. The real magic happens deep within this thing’s innards, where the addition of a WiMAX radio keeps things speedy when WiFi hotspots are out of reach and Bluetooth tethering to a 3G phone is too much of a hassle. The software necessary to support XOHM activation isn’t complete yet, but Nokia’s reps tell us that the process of signing up for WiMAX service will be seamless and entirely doable from the N810 itself — no pesky phone calls or visits to a store necessary. They likened it to purchasing hotel internet service; there’ll probably be hourly, daily, or continuous subscriptions available, making it possible to only shell out XOHM coin when the situation demands it. It works just like any other data connection on the device, too, so getting your wide-area broadband on is pretty much as painless as it could possibly be. Check out some shots (including a side-by-side with the original N810) in the gallery!

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