Nokia N900 Australian Release Date Confirmed

Post by trog @ 05:42pm 19/02/10 | 73 Comments

Nokia's PR have just confirmed to AusGamers that the N900 Australian launch is happening in April! Exciting news for us Linux nerds that have been hanging out for this awesome-sounding phone and it's great to finally have an Australian release date.

An official media event will be taking place on March 2nd at the Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2010 to showcase the phone to Australian media, so we'll see if we can wing our way along to that to get the skinny.

Australian pricing details have not yet been announced, but they'll be confirmed at the media event, so stay tuned for further details.

nokia n900 release date

Latest Comments

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simul
Posted 05:56pm 19/2/10

Took them long enough to get it here. Have high hopes for Maemo but from what I've seen v5 its not all there yet, but nice to see Nokia moving past s60 even if it just a experiment.

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deadlyf
Posted 06:05pm 19/2/10

I'm guessing it will be Next G compatible compared to what is currently available internationally, that seems to be the reason for a lot of delays to phone releases in Australia. It's also apparently a good reason for why they all end up costing a few hundred dollars more.

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MatchFixa
Posted 07:03pm 19/2/10

I haven't had a decent phone for ages. I think this one is looking like a winnah for me.

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Khel
Posted 07:21pm 19/2/10

Yeah, this is looking like my next phone, I'm a bit of a nokia fanboy but I was considering getting an Android phone just cos Symbian is giving me the s****.

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parabol
Posted 07:43pm 19/2/10

Cool, some of this hardware/software may mature enough by the time my iPhone contract runs out in 1.5 years.
Bring on the competition, looking forward to moving to a less restrictive platform than what Apple tends to offer.

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gamer
Posted 09:09pm 19/2/10

A dude has one of these at work, he imported it.

I really really really hate the touchscreen. I dont own a iphone but all the iphones and ipod touches ive used had a way better touch screen then the n900.

Also the software runs pretty slow on the phone. I realise you can mutitask and stuff, which is great and the os is a nice step in the right direction. I was ssh'ing to it within seconds :) But i dont like phones that arnt really zippy when you need em to be like locking the phone and sending messages etc.

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sparrow
Posted 10:18pm 19/2/10

Omg awesome, finally!

... I'm still getting a nexus tho.

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infi
Posted 11:24pm 19/2/10

this looks like it will have the goods.

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Douche
Posted 12:35am 20/2/10

the 3gs one?? otherwise fail

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StopShootingMe
Posted 12:46am 20/2/10

I used a Nexus One today. There's a place on Adelaide St that is selling them for $999 (heh, overpriced), I only used it for a couple of minutes. I know that's insufficient for a proper judgment but at that price it didn't convince me that it was better than the 32GB iPhone 3GS, when for about $100 more it needs to be.

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Midda
Posted 01:25am 20/2/10

No way could I use a resistive touchscreen. The N900 looks like a good phone, but capacitive touchscreens are seriously far, far better. I'll stick with my Moto Milestone.

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StopShootingMe
Posted 01:29am 20/2/10

Midda is the Milestone you got Next G capable? I read that the Canadian version is while the Euro version is not.

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Khel
Posted 01:38am 20/2/10

For us touchscreen noobs, whats the difference between a resistive touchscreen and a capacitive touchscreen, and what makes on better than the other?

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StopShootingMe
Posted 01:47am 20/2/10

Capacitive requires no pressure, detects electrical properties of your finger. Resistive touch is where there are two separated layers that contact each other when you push firmly. Resistive screen tend to need a stylus while stylus (stylii)?) won't work on a capacitive screen at all. Though apparently sausages do.

With capacitive touch you can implement cool features like pinch to zoom. Resistive is completely outclassed.

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Midda
Posted 02:41am 20/2/10

Midda is the Milestone you got Next G capable? I read that the Canadian version is while the Euro version is not.

Nah, I got the Euro version. I didn't want NextG, because while it's fast and reliable, it's way over priced.

For us touchscreen noobs, whats the difference between a resistive touchscreen and a capacitive touchscreen, and what makes on better than the other?

Pretty much what StopShootingMe said. It's just far far more accurate to use with your fingertips. Swiping movements don't generally work too well on resistive touch screens without a stylus. You need pretty much zero pressure, a nice, quick little tap will register just fine. Not usually the case with a resistive touch screen.

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trog
Posted 10:05am 20/2/10

I used a Nexus One today. There's a place on Adelaide St that is selling them for $999 (heh, overpriced), I only used it for a couple of minutes. I know that's insufficient for a proper judgment but at that price it didn't convince me that it was better than the 32GB iPhone 3GS, when for about $100 more it needs to be.

yeh hard to tell if the price is justified, but from the brief look I had at Nats' Nexus (and his review) it's a really nice phone.

No way could I use a resistive touchscreen. The N900 looks like a good phone, but capacitive touchscreens are seriously far, far better. I'll stick with my Moto Milestone.

the N900 interface I think is really designed in such a way that capacitive makes a bit more sense from the interface. I agree after using capacitive its hard to go back, but I'm so in love with the idea of the n900 I think i'll be able to build a bridge

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MatchFixa
Posted 10:51am 20/2/10

Trog we expect a review from you if you get it before we do.

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Nathan
Posted 10:54am 20/2/10

Certainly $999 is "overpriced", but thats just because that store will be buying them individually at retail, bringing them over, adding their markup for support etc

As I covered in my review, if you are prepared for a little bit of work you can the Nexus One shipped here in a week for US$575 , which makes it much more competitive vs the 3GS.

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StopShootingMe
Posted 11:38am 20/2/10

Yeah, but the lack of Next G for me is annoying. Still, plenty of options other than iPhone these days. I'll be interested to see if MS's offering works out.

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infi
Posted 12:24pm 20/2/10

Midda, it will just be a "Milestone" around your neck.

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Tepid
Posted 09:39am 21/2/10

resistive sucks.

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lewwy
Posted 08:06am 22/2/10

Ok, I have an N900, and let me just point out some things that I have found since owning it.

My previous phone was a TyTn II, windows mobile. And it blew, hard. It had a resistive touchscreen, yet the onscreen keyboard was useless to everyone involved. Phone was also very laggy.

The N900 has a resistive touch, yes, however I find it to be *the first* phone with a usable keyboard (INCLUDING the iphone). You want capactive so you can what, pinch and zoom? If you want gimmicky features, get an iphone. On the N900 you can screw in and screw out by moving your finger in a circular pattern. I find this much more inuitive than the iphone (as if you want to keep zooming you dont have to re-position your finger).

Another thing, the browser is magical. It is like having a desktop version of firefox on your phone. To what extent, you ask? If I browse to facebook, I get the *full* desktop experience. As in, the chat works, notification works, everything works. Yeah, I can use FB chat from my browser.

Multi-tasking is a dream also. No problems to be had there.

Someone up there commented about the phone being responsive when they want it to be. I've done quite a few sms's now and there is zero lag. There have been a few minor pauses when opening my hotmail (something like 6000 emails tho). All within specification.

It comes down to this. If you want to get a phone that you can show off to your friends and pinch and zoom on get an iphone. However, if for once in your life you want to take a leap of faith and be an early adopter for this phone, you won't be dissapointed.

I know I wasn't.

If any of you guys have any questions about the n900, comment here, I'll answer them.

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Midda
Posted 10:32am 22/2/10

You want capactive so you can what, pinch and zoom? If you want gimmicky features, get an iphone.

No, as stated, capacitive is preferable because it is much more accurate and requires zero pressure. Multi-touch also has more use past pinch and zoom. It helps make keyboards more usable, for example. Sure, the N900 is probably good as far as resistive screens go, but I have zero doubt in my mind that it would benefit from a capacitive screen. There's a reason why next to nobody uses resistive anymore.

Another thing, the browser is magical. It is like having a desktop version of firefox on your phone. To what extent, you ask? If I browse to facebook, I get the *full* desktop experience. As in, the chat works, notification works, everything works. Yeah, I can use FB chat from my browser.

That's not unique. I bet even the iPhone browser could do that if it changed the User Agent string. I know it works on my phone.

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BillyHardball
Posted 10:44am 22/2/10

You want capactive so you can what, pinch and zoom? If you want gimmicky features, get an iphone. On the N900 you can screw in and screw out by moving your finger in a circular pattern. I find this much more inuitive than the iphone (as if you want to keep zooming you dont have to re-position your finger).

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that capacative is unnecessary because pinch and zoom is a gimmick? Yet twirling your finger on a screen is more intuitive and not gimmicky? So you use zoom on your N900, and therefore we can assume zooming itself is not a gimmick, but that seems to defeat your own argument...

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Martz
Posted 11:29am 22/2/10

I would prefer to swirl one finger to zoom rather then pinching cause sometimes I'm holding the phone in a position that I would have to let go of the iphone and reposition my hand to get 2 fingers on the screen.

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Midda
Posted 11:32am 22/2/10

While I don't really think pinch and zoom is a gimmick, do I agree that there are better ways to zoom. Implementations that give the same level of control as pinching but only require one finger (like when you're browsing in portrait mode) are much better. I use a browser on Android called xScope, and it has a type of zooming called pin-zoom. You double tap the screen, but hold on the second tap and drag left or right. The same level of control as pinching or twirling, but really easy to just do with your thumb on one hand.

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Habib
Posted 12:37pm 22/2/10

Well my phone died on Friday night, so its given me the perfect excuse to get one of these as a replacement. Put through an order on Saturday, resistive screen naysayers be damned. Given the presence of a physical keyboard I'm not too concerned, and capacitive has its own drawbacks anyway, although I must admit the zero-pressure responsiveness is very nice.

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greazy
Posted 02:01pm 22/2/10

Someone should write a proper review.

googog

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Khel
Posted 02:54pm 22/2/10

I think I'll have to wait till they come out here and try one for myself

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geturactogether
Posted 10:06pm 22/2/10

Nokia are sinking like the Titanic. For some reason they love to release out dated hardware after more than a year of delays. Haven't they heard of this thing called 'competition'? No one mentions Nokia in mainstream media reports or device / gadget news any more. I'm hanging out for a Android 2 device after years of faithful service from my N95 - or is that years of waiting for Nokia to get their act together.

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trog
Posted 10:28pm 22/2/10

Nokia are sinking like the Titanic. For some reason they love to release out dated hardware after more than a year of delays. Haven't they heard of this thing called 'competition'? No one mentions Nokia in mainstream media reports or device / gadget news any more. I'm hanging out for a Android 2 device after years of faithful service from my N95 - or is that years of waiting for Nokia to get their act together.

noone mentions them because they're too busy blowing over iphones and android. Nokia still has marketshare out the wazoo. They're displaying adaptability and pursuing an open, standards-based future, and they've just partnered with Intel on the software side.

The only real question I think is whether or not they've left it too late - they were in bed with telcos for so long that they might have just missed the boat creating phones that are actually useful for consumers first and foremost. Their history is churning out thousands of different devices; they need to stop that like yesterday and focus on their software platform and let that drive their hardware.

I'm not convinced Meego is a good idea - they've spent all this time building Maemo and the brand of Maemo, and then they ditch it. I guess they figured the alignment with Intel was worth it though, so I guess I have to trust their opinion there.

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gamer
Posted 10:42pm 22/2/10

Nokia are sinking like the Titanic.

HAHAHAHAHA! Oh thats hilarious. Serious mate, your clueless if you beleive that. Nokia are doing fine and they have the right idea to combat the iphone and android markets by moving to an open source platform.

It's worth me saying that I wont a Sony Ericson so i dont have a ego based on the phone i own like most iphone/android/nokia owners here.

Trog makes a good point, nokia needs to stop spamming hardware and get into creating a market where users can pick the software they want on their phone or at least a little bit more independance from hardware sales with a good software platform so we can focus on inter-operability (hope i got that word right) and features and less about just creating the next shaped phone.

last edited by gamer at 22:42:47 22/Feb/10

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parabol
Posted 11:06pm 22/2/10

I would prefer to swirl one finger to zoom rather then pinching cause sometimes I'm holding the phone in a position that I would have to let go of the iphone and reposition my hand to get 2 fingers on the screen.

Swirling sounded lame at first, until I realised a problem I have with pinch-and-zoom that this can resolve: when I'm driving (with iPhone in car-dock) I generally want Google maps to be keep me centred on the map. Problem is, hitting Centre will zoom in to a ridiculous fixed zoom level - which is useless for seeing how far ahead your next turn is especially when you're driving fast (freeway, etc).

So I pinch-zoom out 3-5 times. But it doesn't always work flawlessly - if it registers one finger pressed instead of two (often the case when you're reaching forward towards the dock and your finger tips make contact), it stops centering you on the map. Then you have to hit Centre again and it zooms you all the way back in. Try again.

In this case an alternate gesture like swirl would be helpful. But at the same time I'm not basing my phone choices on just one arbitrary feature like this :)

last edited by parabol at 23:06:32 22/Feb/10

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Plastic
Posted 12:15am 23/2/10

Its called a GPS.

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parabol
Posted 12:24am 23/2/10

Its called a GPS.

Yeah I've got a couple of GPS apps, but sometimes Google Maps is way quicker to tap a rough address into, have google figure out the best match, then watch a centred satellite/street view. You know, rather than entering a typical GPS-app route by State, then SUBURB, then street name, then street number ... cause that's so intuitive and quick when you're in a hurry :)

last edited by parabol at 00:24:22 23/Feb/10

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Douche
Posted 07:31am 23/2/10

why the f*** dont they just release the f*****g v2 do they think we are in the stone age still!>>>>> who the f*** wants a 2 year old gimped antique ><

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spartan
Posted 02:16pm 28/2/10

the N900 is awesome.

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f**les
Posted 05:13pm 28/2/10

More McInfo required Spartan, I'm assuming you got one?

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MatchFixa
Posted 05:20pm 28/2/10

Yes more info plz.

I've never had a phone on plan and i'm getting sick of running out of credit so i'm keen on getting this bad boy, just not straight away.

I usually let the early adopters be the test subjects until product begins to mature.

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LanaLuvYou
Posted 05:29pm 07/4/10

YAY its finally released!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So Buying One!!

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iMatchFixa
Posted 05:40pm 07/4/10

If you really luv me you'd buy me one on a free jig to jig plan so we can get jiggy three way with fpot's mum.

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trog
Posted 12:11pm 09/4/10

finally!

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sparrow
Posted 12:24pm 09/4/10

Show off.

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Khel
Posted 12:57pm 09/4/10

I think you should do a review of it, I'm keen to see how it stacks up. Also, how much do they cost?

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infi
Posted 01:02pm 09/4/10

yeah me too, I wanna hear all about it.

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Pinky
Posted 01:55pm 09/4/10

Nothing quite like a new toy with so much potential.

Maemo uses C and GtkWidgets (code sample) if anyone else was going to look that up.

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HeardY
Posted 02:49pm 09/4/10

nice one ya bastard trog!

EDIT: I'll get a genuine Nokla from here in Thailand :P

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iMatchFixa
Posted 02:51pm 09/4/10

Review ASAP plz!

Also cost? guessing you imported it from the states?

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infi
Posted 02:57pm 09/4/10

HeardY Beware! If you buy a thailand phone and it dies in Aus you will have to ship back to Thailand for repair. Nokia's pathetic limited international warranty sucks a big d***.

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iMatchFixa
Posted 03:12pm 09/4/10

I think you'll find heardy was taking the piss, especially since Nokla is a blatant cheap knock off of Nokia.

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infi
Posted 03:16pm 09/4/10

oh in that case.....

:P

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foolix
Posted 03:45pm 09/4/10

Looks familiar..

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f**les
Posted 08:02pm 09/4/10

Oh my goodness, waiting eagerly for your review :)

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Fireblood
Posted 08:24pm 09/4/10

After my experiences with my n96...i've sworn off nokia and their lame OS, lack of updates etc. Bring on Android.

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Mantra
Posted 08:45pm 09/4/10

Hey sweet, some more free s*** from Trogs office!

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Khel
Posted 10:08pm 09/4/10

After my experiences with my n96...i've sworn off nokia and their lame OS

But thats the point of the n900, its not running on their lame symbian s***, its running on Maemo (which I believe is) a flavour of unix. All powerful and open platform and s***.

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HeardY
Posted 02:25pm 10/4/10

hahah infi :P

yeap I was being a smartarse

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3dee
Posted 02:34pm 10/4/10

Mate of mine at work has one of these. Looks pretty cool, haven't used it myself though.

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Douche
Posted 03:40pm 10/4/10

cmoooooon optus

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Midda
Posted 03:46pm 10/4/10

After my experiences with my n96...i've sworn off nokia and their lame OS, lack of updates etc. Bring on Android.

While I love Android, you need to be corrected. This phone doesn't run Symbian, it's an open source Linux OS called Maemo. Very different.

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Douche
Posted 04:01pm 10/4/10

what a d***tease

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deadlyf
Posted 04:36pm 10/4/10

That's right, multitasking alone wasn't enough, the N900 can run two OS's at once! Heaps of other vids on the utubes with cool s*** running on the N900, including Duke Nukem 3D.

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Fireblood
Posted 07:42pm 10/4/10

But thats the point of the n900, its not running on their lame symbian s***, its running on Maemo (which I believe is) a flavour of unix. All powerful and open platform and s***.

So it's completely open source? Not Nokia trying to be Apple? It's fairly easy to modify your phone? No stupid region/branding restrictions for version updates?

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trog
Posted 06:32pm 11/4/10

Any questions ? I'm working on my review in bits and pieces as I absorb the phone.

First impressions: this is a phone for nerds and tech hobbyists. If you want a phone that "just works" (like the iPhone) or really just works (like the Nexus One) then you should probably be looking at either of those phones.

If you want a phone that you can click a terminal icon and instantly be connected to the raw OS and do all sorts of crazy s*** with it then this is a pretty neat looking phone.

If you've ever used capacitive touch screen you'll probably hate it. Its really hard to get used to having to apply pressure. In fact I would go so far as to say this is the device's Achilles heel.

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HERMITech
Posted 06:36pm 11/4/10

I'll never use a capacative phone again after my Omnia

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iStrawman
Posted 06:54pm 11/4/10

this is a phone for nerds and tech hobbyists

ok can't say i'm either of those when it comes to operating a phone.

If you want a phone that you can click a terminal icon and instantly be connected to the raw OS and do all sorts of crazy s*** with it then this is a pretty neat looking phone.

What type of crazy s***? i'm just sick of old pieces of s*** phones and want a phone with good web capabilities when i'm out and about as well as the latest features such as touch screen, GPS, large memory. The physical qwerty keyboard appealed to me as well.

If you've ever used capacitive touch screen you'll probably hate it. Its really hard to get used to having to apply pressure. In fact I would go so far as to say this is the device's Achilles heel

Haven't had a touch screen phone before so perhaps ignorance is bliss?

Didn't take much to influence me not to get it did it? still i'll be awaiting the full review.

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Midda
Posted 07:13pm 11/4/10

If you've ever used capacitive touch screen you'll probably hate it. Its really hard to get used to having to apply pressure. In fact I would go so far as to say this is the device's Achilles heel.

This is the number one thing that turned me off the phone. I was really excited about it when I first read it, until I found out about the screen. Total downer.

I'll never use a capacative phone again after my Omnia

Are you stoned? Capacitive screen are far easier to use than resistive.

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deadlyf
Posted 07:15pm 11/4/10

Yeah I dunno what Trog is on about, the phone is pretty much really easy to use as a... well, phone. Threaded conversations with SMS, standard contact list kind of stuff you will see with just about any phone and a pretty good built in web browser with capabilities of installing others.

I don't get what he is on about with pressure either, you barely have to touch the screen to get a response. That said, I've only had brief uses of an iPhone before and it's screen is certainly more sensitive so maybe if you are used to it then it would be a big difference.

I bought the phone because it can be used in just about any way you want. I'm not much of a tech head but I do love gadgets and didn't want to be locked into using iTunes and having to pay a premium for cheap flash memory. It was either this or the Droid for me and since the N900 comes with an IR port and you can download some universal remote software the N900 won out.

The only issue I have really had is that it is hard to find the right apps for it. There is an app store but the majority of apps are found elsewhere and you basically have to troll google to find information on a lot of stuff. I guess that is the compromise you make when choosing a democracy over a dictatorship. Democracy you have to think for yourself, a dictatorship creates a centralised app store and nukes all competition from orbit.

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trog
Posted 09:49pm 11/4/10

What type of crazy s***? i'm just sick of old pieces of s*** phones and want a phone with good web capabilities when i'm out and about as well as the latest features such as touch screen, GPS, large memory. The physical qwerty keyboard appealed to me as well.

This is the first phone I've had w/ a physical keyboard. After ~2 years or so of using iPod touch I find it woeful compared to the simplicity and ease of use of a capacitive touch screen. I am not sure how much of that is the physical 'strain' to press a keyboard button versus how much is because of the auto-correction of the iPod fixes typos. I need more practice but I cannot see any future in which I will be able to type as fluidly on the N900 as I can on iPod.

Yeah I dunno what Trog is on about, the phone is pretty much really easy to use as a... well, phone.

never said otherwise. But you don't go out and drop $1000 on a device like the N900 because you want a good phone.

Threaded conversations with SMS, standard contact list kind of stuff you will see with just about any phone

I think it's miles better than what other phones have in this regard actually. Except - WHY in my contact list is there no visible way to differentiate between contact types? This is f*****g retarded. It does it in the 'recent calls' listing but not in the contacts list (where it would make even more sense).

and a pretty good built in web browser with capabilities of installing others.

I'm using in-built browser more than firefox. It's faster to load. Firefox takes too long to load - it's next to useless on a mobile device IMO for this reason.

I don't get what he is on about with pressure either, you barely have to touch the screen to get a response. That said, I've only had brief uses of an iPhone before and it's screen is certainly more sensitive so maybe if you are used to it then it would be a big difference.

Yep the difference is phenomenal. Term couldn't even figure out how to make it do anything and was ready to throw it against the wall. If you're used to capacitive, you'll find it utterly perplexing. Fortunately before I had iPod Touch I had an iPaq with an even MORE resisitive screen than the N900 so I feel I can cross back and forth - but I know that I definitely prefer the capacitive. The effortless nature of using it is a real kicker.

The only issue I have really had is that it is hard to find the right apps for it. There is an app store but the majority of apps are found elsewhere and you basically have to troll google to find information on a lot of stuff. I guess that is the compromise you make when choosing a democracy over a dictatorship. Democracy you have to think for yourself, a dictatorship creates a centralised app store and nukes all competition from orbit.

Yeh this is DEFINITELY true and I think a major issue. Nokia should be paying developers RIGHT NOW to move their stuff into Ovi/in build app store thing. They need this to compete - and not just because the iPhone has apps, but because the N900 can run SOOOOOO MANY MORE APPS SOOOO MUCH BETTER than the iPhone.

I was able to install Xchat in a single click and get on IRC (once i remembered the server password, heh). I was able to install OpenVPN in two clicks (after googling to find out why the first one didn't install the UI component, wtf) and was on the work network. I actually thought it was broken because it worked so fast and first time!

It was either this or the Droid for me and since the N900 comes with an IR port and you can download some universal remote software the N900 won out.

which software? I tried Irreco but it wouldn't install for some reason. I want to see if I can make it control my XMBC/Xbox and/or TV!

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Habib
Posted 11:43pm 11/4/10

In my quick testing, Qtirreco seems a bit better than Irrecco

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Midda
Posted 01:14am 12/4/10

This is the first phone I've had w/ a physical keyboard. After ~2 years or so of using iPod touch I find it woeful compared to the simplicity and ease of use of a capacitive touch screen. I am I find it woeful compared to the simplicity and ease of use of a capacitive touch screen. I am not sure how much of that is the physical 'strain' to press a keyboard button versus how much is because of the auto-correction of the iPod fixes typos. I need more practice but I cannot see any future in which I will be able to type as fluidly on the N900 as I can on iPod. any future in which I will be able to type as fluidly on the N900 as I can on iPod

Yeah, I'm the same. I hardly use the keyboard on my Milestone anymore. I just find it so much faster to type on the screen. You just tap it so quickly and softly.

I bought the phone because it can be used in just about any way you want. I'm not much of a tech head but I do love gadgets and didn't want to be locked into using iTunes and having to pay a premium for cheap flash memory. It was either this or the Droid for me and since the N900 comes with an IR port and you can download some universal remote software the N900 N900 comes with an IR port and you can download some universal remote software the N900 won out

The only issue I have really had is that it is hard to find the right apps for it. There is an app store but the majority of apps are found elsewhere and you basically have to troll google to find information on a lot of stuff. I guess that is the compromise you make when choosing a democracy over a dictatorship. Democracy you have to think for yourself, a dictatorship creates a centralised app store and nukes all competition from orbit

That IR port sounds like a pretty huge trade off if you ask me. App support is one of the biggest things in smart phones. I don't know what you think the Android Market is like, but it's nothing like the Apple App store. Google don't go through rejecting things like alternate browsers and mail clients. I'm typing this post from a 3rd party web browser which I bought from the Market, on a replacement keyboard that has more features than the default. While the handset manufacturers selling Android phones might try to lock their hardware down, the software itself is pretty open.

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deadlyf
Posted 07:56am 12/4/10

Yeah I'm using Qtirreco for my remote. I haven't got it completely sorted out yet as I need a bluetooth dongle for my media box so haven't played around with customising the UI which the default is pretty chunky. I've found codes for my Xbox and TV but haven't found anything for my amp yet.

Androids app store was never on my mind when comparing the apps on the nokia. As I understand it google even allow for other app stores to operate similar to nokia. It wasn't really a consideration when purchasing the phone as I had no idea what acquiring apps for either phone would be like at the time. The fact that there was a lot of people out there working on installing complete operating systems on the N900 kind of gave me a sense of security about the device as I've just assumed that eventually someone will get Android up and running on it if I ever needed to switch OS's. I'm pretty happy with Maemo as an OS though, it seems to be more the centralised external support that is lacking compared to Android. I liked the idea of having a phone where it wasn't constrained by the original OS it was installed with.

Also, it's great not having to pay for apps. There are some apps for sale on the Ovi store but there is just so much free s*** out there I haven't even looked at the paid stuff. And none of the apps require me to install aids on my phone.

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greazy
Posted 02:25pm 12/4/10

Would be awesome if in your review you could go into app development a bit. Comparing it to apple, how large the public community is, maemo SKD.
I know they're noob questions but I'm just getting into programming.

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Wayward Strand