Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Browser bakeoffs are never without a certain amount of controversy, but we’re sort of into Pocketable’s latest comparison since the three devices on the bench represent three very different points on the spectrum of touchscreen devices. Having used all three, we’ll say upfront that the results are surprising: the Archos 5 smokes both the iPhone and the N810, and not always by small margins — the 5 loaded Engadget 18 seconds faster than the N810. (We did the same test with our 5 and iPhone 3G and the results were basically the same.) Now, that’s not to say that makes the 5’s Opera-powered browser the best or even the most useable, since in our experience scrolling is painfully choppy and hard to do with the resistive touchscreen, but it’s interesting that the hotrodded PMP managed to load pages consistently faster than either the smartphone or the Linux-powered tablet. Take a peek at the full results at the read link.

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs, Wireless

Go figure — Sprint goes live with its XOHM WiMAX service, and all of a sudden, the long-awaited Nokia N810 WiMAX edition pops in stock. Crazy, we know. After seeing this puppy announced (and in the flesh) way back in April of this year, it’s about time Nokia made it available to Americans with the cash to spare. As of right now, the 4.13-inch, QWERTY-packin’ Internet Tablet can be ordered for $493, and unless Nokia’s fibbing, it’s in stock for shipment. Hello 4G, we’re thrilled you’re here.

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Filed under: Wireless

A little URL hacking by Engadget fan Leo, has revealed Sprint’s new My Xohm site and loads of service information. The site is clearly in a preparatory state with plenty of dead links and Latin dummy-text holding the pre-launch site format together. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of detail here, some of which is certainly more than just idle filler. For example, based on the current text, we can expect the following at service launch in September:

• Nokia’s N810 WiMAX Edition — looks like a lock based on the liberal use of its image (above) across the pages.
• XOHM USB (ZTE’s TU25) modem.
• XOHM Express Card (Samsung’s SWC-E100) modem with optional PCMCIA adapter.
• XOHM Modem (ZyXel’s MAX-206M2) Ethernet hub / router with optional 4-hour battery — unfortunately, XOHM will not offer static IP addresses at this time.
• The XOHM portal (whatever that is) supports both Windows and OS X. However, the modems listed above and Sprint’s XOHM Connection Manager software are PC-only, sorry Mac owners.

Unfortunately, we can’t find any specific pricing information but the site does tell us that access will be sold by the day or by the month without binding contracts or cancellation fees. It also promises speeds between 2-4Mbps for downloads and 1-3Mbps for uploads. Not sure that’s worth the move to Baltimore but it’s certainly given us cause to pause at the thought. See the modems pictured after the break.

[Thanks, Leo S.]

Read — General Support FAQ
Read — Pricing and Speed
Read — My Xohm
Read — Devices

Continue reading Sprint leaks XOHM WiMax service details and devices

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Filed under: Handhelds

It’s a common problem, really. You’re eager to get Windows 3.1 back into your life, but you’ve no N810 to install it on. Good news retro software aficionados — said internet tablet has just tumbled to $299.99 (at CompUSA, at least), a full $90 less than the price we cheered over in March. Yeah, that 800 x 480 resolution display, VGA camera and full QWERTY keyboard is more attainable than ever, but with the possibility of a bombastic successor just around the bend, would it pay off even more to wait? The world may never know (although that’s highly unlikely).

[Thanks, Vamsi]

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Filed under: Handhelds

After seeing Android all lit up on Nokia’s N810 internet tablet, seeing this antiquate piece of software on there just seems… wrong. Still, we can’t deny that we’re a huge fan of the work, and to be frank, we’d highly recommend anyone with a fair amount of spare time give it a whirl just for nostalgia’s sake. Wait, is that a tear we see forming? You softy.

[Via PDAToday, thanks Bill]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

The first official OS2008 update came to Nokia’s internet tablets late last year, and those yearning for yet another can finally breath a sigh of relief. Reportedly, the company has pushed out the OS2008 Feature Upgrade for the N810 and N800, but we are told that users will still need to “reflash the device in order to install this release.” Thankfully, future OS updates are slated to be provided over-the-air without the need to reflash. The changelog is actually quite lengthy, but the highlights include an open source email application based on Modest and the tinymail framework, simplified account setup and the introduction of Chinese character rendering support in email, browser and RSS feeds. Let us know how it goes, will ya?

[Image courtesy of Seartipy, thanks Ryan]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

The first official OS2008 update came to Nokia’s internet tablets late last year, and those yearning for yet another can finally breath a sigh of relief. Reportedly, the company has pushed out the OS2008 Feature Upgrade for the N810 and N800, but we are told that users will still need to “reflash the device in order to install this release.” Thankfully, future OS updates are slated to be provided over-the-air without the need to reflash. The changelog is actually quite lengthy, but the highlights include an open source email application based on Modest and the tinymail framework, simplified account setup and the introduction of Chinese character rendering support in email, browser and RSS feeds. Let us know how it goes, will ya?

[Image courtesy of Seartipy, thanks Ryan]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Wireless

Nary a month after debuting at CTIA 2008, the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition has found a place on Buy.com. Judging by the product listing, Nokia plans on charging around a Benjamin more for the WiMAX iteration, though this particular e-tailer hacks off another $23.01 for a final asking price of $455.99. Regrettably, the page doesn’t fill us in on an expected release date, but we can just feel it drawing closer. Er, wait.

[Via PhoneMag]

Update: MobileCityOnline has the device with an expected arrival date of July 9th. Not like we’re believing ‘em or anything, but there you have it. Thanks, Makai!

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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

You know what’s great? Synergy. We’ve had an OS crush on Android ever since it was first rumored, and of course the Nokia N810 has been warming our hearts for a good while now with its mysteriously useful QWERTY-tablet powers. Put the two of them together and we’re practically beside ourselves with joy. If you’re feeling gutsy you can try it for yourself with the handy tips over at eLinux.org, but we’re content to watch this magic from the sidelines for the time being.

[Via Talk Android]

Update: Looks like eLinux is down at the moment, here’s a cached version. [Thanks, Mail]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Home Entertainment

Monsoon’s HAVA HD streamer doesn’t get quite as much love as the various Slingboxes, but it’s a fine piece of kit with features Sling doesn’t have quite yet, like pause and rewind — and now it’s got one more supported client platform, as the company’s using CTIA to roll out support for Nokia’s Internet Tablet OS. That means the N800 and N810 can now get in on the action, and the quality looks pretty decent — the crew over at Internet Tablet Talk got a chance to play with an early version, and they think it looks even better than the PC client. Hmm, looks like that WiMAX N810 could double as a fairly decent portable TV, eh? Video after the break.

[Thanks, Joey]

Continue reading HAVA player hits Nokia’s internet tablets

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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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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Tablet PCs, Wireless

Right on cue, Nokia’s WiMAX-enabled N810 Internet Tablet has surfaced at CTIA 2008, and yep, this critter is destined to go on sale here in the US of A this summer. Beyond that, you’ll notice the familiar 4.13-inch touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and even a built-in webcam for video calls, Mozilla-powered browser, integrated GPS / media player, 2GB of internal memory and a microSD expansion slot. Heck, Nokia even touts this thing’s ability to “access the Internet over WiFi or via conventional cellular data networks by pairing to a compatible mobile phone via Bluetooth technology.” Also announced today is the freshly updated OS2008, which includes an enhanced e-mail client, support for Chinese character rendering in the browser and RSS feeds and “Seamless Software Update functionality” to boot. Needless to say, said OS will come standard on the currently unpriced Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition — which is scheduled to land wherever WiMAX connectivity is available — but existing N810 / N800 owners will also get the OS upgrade free of charge in Q2.

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Filed under: Handhelds

The WiMAX version of Nokia’s N810 internet tablet has already popped up on Nokia’s European site, lending creedence to all those whispers about a CTIA debut tomorrow, and now we’ve got units showing up in the wild, which is probably a good sign. There were apparently some other shots of this bad boy on Flickr, but they’ve since been removed — let’s hope tomorrow brings us some official beauty shots, eh?

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Filed under: Handhelds, Wireless

We’ve been hearing that a WiMAX-enabled version of Nokia’s N810 would be making its grand debut at CTIA on April 1, but it looks like the cat’s out of the bag — check this new image on the Nokia Europe site. Yeah, no beating around the bush there — we’d say the WiMAX N810 is coming, and soon. Sadly, the product link doesn’t work yet, but we think we might have a hunch what the major differences from the regular N810 are.

[Via Internet Tablet Talk]

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Filed under: Handhelds

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Filed under: Handhelds

If you’ve been looking for some kind of incentive to dip into the savings account and splurge on a new gadget, this may be music to your ears. Nokia has just lowered the price on its jack-of-all-trades N810 internet tablet, shaving $90 off the MSRP to bring it down to a highly affordable $389.99. Of course, you can probably find the WiFi-sportin’, QWERTY-havin’, GPS-rockin’ little guy slightly cheaper if you troll the internet (which we know you will). Before you lay down the cash, though, you might want to ask yourself this: does the price drop mean a new version is on the way, like, say… that WiMAX-equipped N830 we’ve been hearing about? It’s a tough call, but we know you’ll make the right decision.

[Thanks, Tony S.]

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Filed under: Handhelds

It’s not like the modding community at large hasn’t shoved accelerometers within vehicles before, but conjuring up projects that utilize acceleration sensing just got a whole lot easier thanks to the USB TiltStick. Reportedly, the minuscule device features a two axis acceleration sensor and emulates a USB joystick in order to play nice with any USB-equipped host. In particular, a standard PC or Nokia’s N810 makes for the perfect comrade, and what you do from there is really only limited by your imagination. Granted, only the DIY veterans in attendance should give this one any serious consideration, but feel free to jump on through the break to catch it interfacing with N810.

[Via Internet Tablet Talk]

Continue reading USB TiltStick opens up new world of accelerometer projects

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Filed under: Handhelds

Oh Canada, it’s your lucky day, because a kind, cool wind is blowing down on you from your friends in Finland — Nokia. That brisk breeze is carrying a new partner for the long and lonely Canuck winter nights: the N810 internet tablet, the all-singing, all-dancing sliver wonder. The handheld — which your friends (namely, us) have been flaunting for months — is finally making its way into the hands of Canadian consumers for the thrifty price of $485 (a downright bargain). The WiFi-and-GPS-equipped gadget should be just the thing to accompany you on a trip to Tim Hortons, a Maple Leafs game, or some other stereotypical regional activity.

[Via MobileInCanada]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Certain winners on Amazon’s “Best of 2007″ list of could’ve been seen coming a mile away, but in the top sales category we were just a little surprised to see the Canon PowerShot A570 IS topping the list of electronics, and Nokia’s Internet Tablet topping out computers (unclear if that counts as the N800 or N810 or both). The Wii naturally held top honors for video games. “Most-loved” included Garmin’s nuvi 350 under electronics, the MacBook Pro under computers, Leopard in software and Wii under video games. Wish lists were dominated by the 3rd-gen 4GB iPod nano, Asus EEE PC and the Wii, while top gifts included that same nano, as well as the MacBook and Super Mario Galaxy.

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