Nokia launches its first Linux N900 phone

Damian Koh | Aug 28, 2009

Nokia N900

Nokia is on a roll.

After unveiling the Booklet 3G, 5230 and Nokia Money this week, the Finns probably thinks that world needs more Nokia news by announcing its first Linux-powered handset last evening.

The N900 packs a 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY and, get this, cellular capabilities. The earlier N810 and N800 Internet Tablets were meant to be Web browsing companions, so they didn't compete directly with the S60 smartphones which are primarily cellular devices.

Prior to yesterday's announcement, there were rumors about Nokia ditching its S60 in favor of Maemo. Clearly, in the N900 press release, Nokia said that Maemo will complement other software platforms such as Symbian. In the broad spectrum of things, the N900 is positioned as the solution between a smartphone and a compact laptop that delivers a desktop experience on a pocket-sized device. That's what the company would have you believe.

A few videos have made it to YouTube showing the desktop panel interface and a dashboard that lets you access these different "screens". Applications can be kept running in the background and the Web browser supports Adobe Flash 9.4. Under the hood is an ARM Cortex-A8 600MHz processor with 1GB of application memory. The N900 will also have 32GB of onboard memory with an option to increase that with a microSD card and a 5-megapixel camera with dual LED flash.

According to Nokia, the N900 will be available in selected markets from October at an estimated 500 euros before tax and subsidies. We'll be at Nokia World next week, so keep a lookout for more information about the device then.

Filed under: Mobile Phones
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nitrowz

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nitrowz says...
Wow, I saw the YouTube videos of N900's interface, and I'm impressed. However, I will definitely buy the smartphone if I could actually see and test its capabilities. Until then, I'll wait for its release.

Aug 31, 2009 11:07