The Telegraph's Gadget Inspectors take a look at the Nokia N900

After an initially positive view of the N900 over at the Telegraph, Claudine and some guy (Alan Carr?) as supposed “Gadget Inspectors” take a look at the Nokia N900. To see the video, you’ll want to head over to the Telegraph.

Some interesting points:

• Whilst Claudine isn’t a fan of the physical QWERTY keyboard + touch screen hybrid, the guy (what is his name? I’ll refer to him as ‘the guy’) likes them. You do have a choice of using a virtual QWERTY (albeit with lack of multitouch, typing may be slightly slower)
• + Apparently, it’s the best pull-out QWERTY keyboard the guy come across, though the top row is slightly problematic being too close to the screen. Much better accuracy than with the HTC Hero and Magic .
• +Claudine loves the panoramic/4 desktops – quickly switch the shortcuts/info/widgets that suits your mood.
• +Claudine thinks that Maemo5 is a “lovely OS” and that the browser is “absolutely beautiful”.
• – They harp on about the 181g weight of thee N900. Closest current smartphone in same weight category is the 178g Touch Pro2
• -They HATE the Ovi store which seems to taint the rest of their review of the phone as they compare it to the iPhone and it’s gargantuam library (of fart apps). They compare Ovi Store to being Primark and Apple’s AppStore to Selfridges or Harrods. Harrods? Seriously…and that’s not really fair on Primark because what they lack in quality they make up for in quantity.
• -When asked if Claudine would give up her iPhone for the N900, she said no – mainly because again – the Ovi Store.
• Claudine says she sees bags of potential with the N900 and Maemo, but that she’ll will wait around for the second generation of MaemoPhone (Which is what Nokia had intended from the very beginning; N900 for tech geeks, N920 or whatever is next is for mass market)
• The final verdict of their first impression, Claudine gives N900 7/10, mainly due to the Ovi Store and the guy gives the N900 6/10, due to the N900 being too heavy (notice his douchey joke) and because Nokia have included a stylus that you could lose.

The main reason to hate the presence of a stylus is because it means you’ve got a resistive screen. Though the N900 has an excellent resistive screen, you do still need a tad bit of pressure, when touch screens should really be all about featherweight contact.

On having a stylus: the N900 doesn’t need it. The 5800 had a stylus embedded and has done absolutely fine. Though subjective, I have never seen anyone use the stylus. It’s optional (for the tech geeks), not necessary.

Again, to journalists writing for general public on tech: the N900 is not for the mass market or Nokia’s answer to the iPhone. Intended users of the N900 and Maemo5 are more like beta-testers for the eventual ‘iPhone Killer’ from Nokia – which by then should have a solid foundation of Maemo Applications to stand on at the Ovi Store. At least, that’s how Maemo marketing want to play it.

Telegraph.

Tags: Linux, Maemo, Maemo5, Nokia, Nseries, Telegraph

Category: Linux, Maemo, Nokia