Yes, that’s right. I have an N900 coming to me. With the excitement of the Nexus One by Google and the still heavy-weight contender that is the iPhone 3GS – why would I drop change on an N900 with what most are calling a sub-par platform? The hardware.
Software can be fixed. By Nokia, by 3rd party developers, by the community and by myself. It runs an un-adulterated Linux kernel with a full GNU toolset. I’ve been using and abusing GNU/Linux for the past 10 years, I’m sure I can cope with it on ARM architecture just fine. Nokia has had their Maemo platform around since 2005 on the 770. It is for geeks, hackers and DIY’ers. There is no doubt about it. If you don’t know the difference between ARM/RISC and x86, don’t know how to configure and compile a kernel or you are unable to program your VCR – probably should not have a current Maemo device.
So, what can the N900 do other devices flat out can not do for me? The following;
FM Transmitter. Hop into a car, you immediately have your music with you. No need for an aftermarket or factory headunit with auxiliary-in.
Autonomous GPS functionality. I don’t need a data connection to use my GPS.
5MP camera with autofocus and Carl Zeiss lens. Nokia incorporates THE best camera phone optics and processing algorithms. You can’t deny it. Ever. Don’t try.
InfraRed. Yes, I use. I can control just about any consumer IR device I please.
Non-proprietary connectors. A 3.5mm headphone jack. A MicroUSB charge port. TV-out that uses regular composite cables. I don’t need a special jack made only for my device, I can use any 4 pole AV-out line that somebody has laying around from a digital camera.
A physical keyboard. I prefer buttons. Squishy buttons. They make me smile.
32GB of on-board storage and a slot for a hot swappable MicroSD card. I can currently have almost 100GB of storage on my device. I have workstations in my home that don’t sport that much space.
The current iterations of the iPhone and Nexus One just can’t compete for me. On a hardware level or a software level.
N900. I await your arrival.
Simple and to the point, I like that.
I would like a N900 also… Where did you buy it from?
Cheers, Alban {keen}
It certainly has a good camera! Some of my example (these were all made with my N900):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbraad/4043461586/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbraad/4075597088/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbraad/4083441696/
Tigert also made some with his camera:
http://www.tigert.com/2009/10/18/photojourney-with-n900/