Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

If it's bezel-less and completely flat you can just apply protective film across the whole surface? And if that gets scratched up too much just remove it and replace it with another? That's what I've done with my iPhone. It's also less dirty as there's not a crevice where dirt can accumulate.

I second the concerns with the usability of the touchscreen due to the bezel. On my N810, before applying the fat scrollbar hack, when I was running the web browser in fullscreen mode I could not scroll with my finger, I had to break out the stylus. I was able to scroll vertically in the non-full screen mode because it's offset from the edge by 10 pixels). I definitely think if there wasn't a bezel you'd have a bit more usable real estate on the screen.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Scratches, yes; but all the protective films in the world won't save a screen from crushing while leaving the touchscreen workable. I have no problem hitting the scrollbars with my finger on the N800, and I don't have small fingers. I just lay my thumb against the bezel and slide it up and down. For cleaning, the N800's faceplate pops off quite easily; I do that every month or so to clean the whole screen. A little less convenient, but I'll put up with it...

To each his own; I just wish there was a way to make the bezel user-selectable; unfortunately, the only way I can see is to make a flat-faced device and rely on aftermarket cases that provide a bezel, and something tells me there won't be as many aftermarket accessories available for the N900 as the iPhone. :(

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Ahh, thanks for clarifying your concern. Yes, if the device is placed upside down you'd be putting needless stress on the surface of the LCD. I've never even *thought* of doing so with any of my devices but I suppose someone might be careless and this might result in cracks in the LCD.

I can't test it now that I have fat scrollbars but yes it definitely wasn't registering in fullscreen mode.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Well, not putting the device upside down (I don't see any reason for putting a device screen-down on a flat surface, either), rather in a pocket of a backpack. Same pocket my HP48 lived in happily for years. But the textbooks inside the backpack did a number on the HP49+. Short of mounting "armor" on it, or sliding it into a hard case, there's really nothing convenient to be done when you need to carry such a device around with books.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

To be honest, Redshift hit on what I didn't say explicitly. The bezel is an issue if you're using primary your finger rather than a stylus. The other solution to make the NIT more finger friendly is to adjust the UI, like they did with the menus for OS2008 (which I've only heard about and not see myself, since I'm still on 2007HE). That is one of the things that I would like to see; the 900s continue on in the direction of more finger friendliness. Of course fattening the scroll bar (which hack was that? Is it available for the 770?) reduces some of the screen real estate, but I guess we can't have everything.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

That's just tweaking a GTK theme, you can do it on a 770, if you like, but I don't expect the .debs will work right. (Search for "scrool bar" [sic], you'll find it.)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

i think bug labs have a teleportation addon planed for their device ;)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

How about some form of eye tracking software using the embedded webcam camera, so that you can use your eye as a stylus? And while I'm off in left end of the plausibility field, how about we just dispense with the screen all together and incorporate one of Microvision's (microvision.com) retina painting display systems.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I'll see your retinal projector and raise you Nokia's Internet Tabletification Program (Beware! Only a Paladin with a high constitution should watch the tape!).

Indecipherable screenshot for the weak willed:

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysid..._strogify6.jpg

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I....I think I'm going to pass on that. It didn't seem very sanitary. I mean, how often do they clean all that medical equipment!?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I want a flush-screen device, that is both attractive and ergonomically comfortable. The N800 is great, but I think it could improve in both areas.

I'm thinking a similar display with larger buttons and less empty space on the face of the device. The buttons as they are don't work very well for extended use, on the go, or in the dark.

Ditch the keyboard and add haptics, to make the on screen keyboard that much better. Get rid of a speaker if we need to save space - stereo isn't that big of a deal.

Get us drivers for the graphics chip - there's nothing more frustrating than watching chunky video or tearing in apps like canola when we have capable hardware sitting right there inside the device.

SDHC cards are awesome, and 2 slots is hard to beat. Please keep them both.

TV out - again, it is sitting in the device right now, and will be one more awesome benefit for minimal effort.

Better sound prioritizing - make it so sound doesn't skip, jump, distort, or hiss - this device is begging to be a media monster.

Accelerometers. IR. GPS - Nice, but not a priority.

Extensive polish of default software. I have a calendar on my phone for crying out loud, and it is absurd that I don't even have a basic app for this. Make everything more friendly, pretty, and stable.


Really, I have to say the N800 is a heck of a device, and has been one of the only purchases ever that doesn't seem to get the "new" worn off. It is just so far ahead of it's time that I feel like I'm looking at the future every time I discover a new app. Right now, the only thing it needs is refinement, and carrying out the basic concept to the logical conclusion that everyone envisions with these devices. If anything - don't go crazy with features; we could have a real winner that appeals to more than just passionate nerds (myself) as long as design and polish made priorities.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I would disagree with having larger scroll bars, icons is the only way to go. We should have an option to choose a finger optimized interface or stylus optimized one. While i love using fingers on occasion, having big fat scroll bar/bigger links will always means less screen estate. You will need scrol morel to see everything in file managers, websites which is a pain if you need to be productive. In os2008 the interface is neither here nor there. We still see tiny links on websites that needs unnecessary zooming to bring it up to same sixe as the other interface icons.

We already have a meager 800x480 screen so i am not sure want to see precious screen estate wasted by "finger friendly scroll bars or tool bars at the bottom. A less recessed or so called bezelless screen would solve some of the problems caused by side scroll bar. Which brings me to another problem on OS2008: poor drag scroll response on the micro-b browser and its crawling speed on many common websites. Why cant we have at least option for a less full feature but ACTUALLY useable browser like on OS2007? Sorry back to the topic. A side scroll bar (fat or thin) wont even be need if the browser itself scrolls fast and easily with drag scroll.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Beside the usual more ram/flash/cpu/dsp that will come anyway, a few things that are more design options and that are doable with existing technology:
- Alsmot full device size screen, with 1024x600 resolution (this would have almost the same dpi and allow most web site and applications to run natively), with hardware buttons moved to all 4 sides (active side selectable for right/left hand, and portrait/landscape, ideally selected through accelerometer) so they all fall under the thumb.
- High-capacity battery option with a battery position that will tilt slightly the screen like on most laptops.
- Touchpad on the slide-out keyboard and small clickable trackball on the side.
- SDIO, which implies at least one full SD slot. I could sacrify a few add'l mm in thickness for that.
- Tropicalized version (rain&sand) like the ToughBooks.

Last but not leasts:
- DOCKING STATION, with charging/full size powered usb hub/IR receiver, so we can use it as a home/car small media center/gaming/GPS and connect external 5.1 sound card, external video card, external hard drive, etc. through USB just by dropping the IT in the docking station. The docking station should of course be small enough to be usable in car too (In fact I plan to make one for the N770 using the hard cover since all connectors are on the same side)


Then, there's the software wish list but we don't need Nokia for that, do we?
- PIM with SyncML a bit easier to configure than GPE
- Hand-free operation of cell-phone similar to what you find in modern cars
- Multiplatform automated media syncing software for PCs (like what WMP11 does).

Now, there's two we need Nokia:
- Fully finger-friendly OS
- Fully finger-scroll OS (No more nail tip sized scroll bar)


Krystan

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Just to make sure they are mentioned ::::: THE SPEAKERS. ~I LOVe THEM.

They can take my ears as long as they leave the speakers !

I will not buy a 900 without SPEAKERS !!!!!

Abel.



(And Diablo fo course !!)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

It's funny to see the remarks about a flush screen after what I saw on my flight over here to Helsinki.

A guy on the next row and up a seat was watching a movie on a tablet that looked to be the same size as an N810. I kept looking for a logo but couldn't see one. When he was done, I asked him what the device was-- turned out to be an iPod Touch. What made it look odd was that he had added a plastic protector to it-- that made the screen recessed just like the N810's.

So I think I see the solution to make both parties happy here... :D

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

- N810ish form factor
- Dual SD (even if it makes the device thicker)
- charge via micro USB
- active/hard touchscreen
- Fewer buttons (think apple has the correct idea here)
- better battery life
- improved browser (this will happen with or without nokia...)
- finish the conversion to finger controls... Readon
- mesh networking
- 802.11g/n (wimax optional)

We do not have a lot of screen space. Now we waste quite a bit for scroll bars etc. Why not use a transparent interface? If you touch in an area that can show a control it shows (transparently). Next touch(s) let you play with the control. After a configurable interval with no activity the controls fade away.

For status areas I would encourage all application to make them hideable via a transparent control (eg touch the lower left corner and a control appears, touch it again and you have a status/input area - much easier than hunting trough a menu)

With standard positions and sizes for transparent controls we could get rid of the need for many of the buttons.

something like this might be workable (user testing needed)
upper left - touch to get menus
upper right - touch to get /fullscreen/minimize/close buttons
lower right - touch to get non transparent status bar
lower left - touch to get non transparent input bar (or toggle full screen input eg for a drawing program)
bottom (above status bar & keyboard, if displayed) - scrollbar
right - scrollbar
top - zoom scrollbar
left - application specific (eg back/forward/home/bookmarks buttons for a browser)

Comments?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Would it be unreasonable to stick an atom proc in an nx00 device?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Unrealistic and stupid. There's a thread around where a lot of highly intelligent and informed people will tell you exactly why it's a bad idea. :D

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

That's a great product idea - you might be able to get rid of the slider though with buttons on the side of the case combined with accelerometers - make the thing a Wii and its controller combined.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

+Dual core processor (2x500+)
+More and faster RAM
+More tactile keyboard with Arrows
+Longer life battery
+Editable, dedicated face buttons with D-Pad
+Better FINGER recognition
+Better video processor with more codecs
+Improved network speeds via BT and Wi-Fi
+With improvements, a comparative price point to the N8X0
+Keyboard light stays on when it is open or a dedicated key/switch

Not necessary, but wouldn't mind
+True HD res
+16+ Million color screen
+Better Video Cam (can it get any worse?)
+A stand that actually works in multiple positions
+Move the light sensor to the middle
+Move the usb port so I can plug it in w/o having to use the stand
+Higher volume output with EQ
+Any percent zoom in MicroB

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

How about UWB (google it), for communications and personal radar? As I understand it (please correct me if I'm wrong), you can run Bluetooth, USB, IEE 1394 protocols over UWB.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

With Wimax, it should be able to implement an intelligent traffic "Jam detector" with the GPS and Map software.
Like I'm driving and suddenly , it's slow but it's a high-way :
So the software should be enought intelligent or Directly asking the user if he is in a traffic jam or stop at a redligh or for personal use.
And this information should be use to inform the other on the traffic map.
It could too calculate the midle time of the red light who sometimes are really long, to calculate the real quickest way.

If a lot of people has that kind of engine, a real map of the traffic can be done and should be usefull for all the user.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Not on the 900 but on the next evoluton after than I hope Nokia usa the Atom process. I would like to emulate/virtualize win98/XP.

As for n900, I need a SD/CF/XD memory card reader than has a mini USB plug.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Ah, another fan of zero battery life.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

it seems that some have gotten the "only X86 is a computer cpu" meme ;)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Ok, new desire for the next generation tablet. Welllll, I'll be honest and say up front that it doesn't actually have anything to do with the tablet itself, and could be implemented now, with the current tablets (770/n800/n810). Rather it is more of a marketing approach. It is this, included free wifi on some network, my personal preference being ATT(pretty damn unlikely) or Starbucks(possibly maybe?). Before the flamage starts, let me say there is a precedence, and by a .....competitor of the NITs no less. Sony includes free WiFi access at McDonalds with their Mylo2 internet tablet wannabe. I'm just sayin...

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Ideally, I'd like to see more choice:

-a 1024x600 5" screened device with a slide-out keyboard (and maybe a tilting sliding mechanism like the HTC Shift has)
-a 800x480 3.5" screened device without keyboard, but <12mm thick; with a couple of media playback control buttons (or mappable multi-purpose buttons);

Both versions should be running on a OMAP3-based platform, offer dual microSD slots and plenty of RAM. Built-in screen orientation change options would be nice as well (maybe accelerometer-supported?)...

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I'm with you here, but the platform isn't quite large enough to support a significant variety of devices (especially devices that deviate from eachother significantly specifications-side). But looking towards the future, diversification is most certainly something Nokia will have to do.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I'd like to see in the N900, better input options in pen or voice.
If they are not going to move forward with better writing recognition, then why not implement an alternative virtual keyboard?
I know the community has already shown variations recently to accommodate other languages. I realize FITALY is licensed but I saw a link to a windows guy who easily mod'ed to a FITNALY layout. It is renowned for its optimized input.

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/utili...ive-bucks.html

The QWERTY layout is just plain sad after all the years and inhibits good/fast pen input.

I can't example much for the cause of 'voice input', but I have seen a few very promising options in recent years.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

It is, but people like it. If you try and market soemthing with a keyboard device that isn't ascii, it will be rejected. Maybe as an option.
I tried FITALY, but really didn't get on with it.

I would like to see a keyboard that didn't take over the whole screen though, like a transparent floating one.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

"ascii" "keyboard"? ;)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

sorry - qwerty!

Although .. I guess it is an ascii keyboard too!

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I get your idea. Sounds good. :D Seems possible now we are seeing more and more of that in the desktop environment.

I know 'qwerty' is well entrenched and familiar to many, and I found 'fitaly' quicker but it did require some 'learning curve', so-to-speak.
I do like the pen for input and the tablet does indeed focus there, they just need to refine the 'recognition' to be more natural. Its already been demonstrated as possible on other platforms. Format of a Tablet, the pen is still highly instinctive for many people with that premise of a 'tablet'.


I know I might be dreaming a little on Voice options, but hey, I have seen an example of sorts in Voice Navigate on Palm a while back.

Just opening a thought to input refinement... outside of the simplified finger input styles that are emerging most recently.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I was told in so many words by a Nokia employee (Roope Rainisto) that Nokia does not consider a stylus-based interface as the way to go ahead with the Itablets. Here:

http://tabletui.wordpress.com/2008/0...myth/#comments

(Look for comment # 7)

That was basically my cue to no longer consider Nokia's tablets as something for future interest (a nice way to say I won't be buying another one. Ever again), as I consider finger-driven interfaces (the only other logical path to follow) as something for gadgets, not computers.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Just so long as it's not an EBCDIC keyboard. You need some huge freaking hands to reach across the gaps between "I" & "J" and "R" & "S" while typing. Stupid design.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Why does a finger-driven interface preclude the device's use as a computer? Or rather, what do you do with a stylus on your tablet that raises it to the level of a computer that you wouldn't or couldn't do in a finger driven interface?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

A handwritten interface.

I must admit, 10 years past the introduction of the Newton 2x00 it is unbelievable how not only has portable computing failed to move forwards, it has taken huge strides backwards in many ways.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

When you say handwritten interface, are you referring primarily to handwriting recognition for text entry? (I'm assuming you are ....correct me) and saying that this is advantageous because of increased input speed, ease of use....? I didn't get to use the Newton (before my time), and I haven't used the handwriting capabilities of my NIT, so I'm honestly at a lost as to the killer app that comes with the stylus and/or a handwriting interface.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

If you make a small computer-like device, you can go three ways:

1) Make it keyboard-centric, in which case you're basically going to produce a Psion (or a Pandora -- hehe); the clamshell design has (for the user, that is) several clear advantages, such as compactness, built-in screen protection and recognizeability. The user interface can be great (Psion's SIBO and EPOC are simply marvelous) or quite stupid (the Wince crowd), but simple text entering will always be quite straightforward. The reason I preferred Psion's offerings to Wincies, is that Psions have always been real, standalone computers, which allowed the user to do everything he could do on his Big Box.

2) You could decide to make a tablet, and then the user interface suddenly becomes very important: A tablet cannot be interacted with in the same way as a keyboarded computer, at least not without invoking serious frustration from the user. There have been two good tablet interfaces sofar: Palm and Newton. Palms however were always designed as computer companions, not primary devices; the Newton OTOH was designed from the ground up as a stylus-operated, handwriting-centric main computer.

3) The thrid choice is to make a content-serving device, or what is basically known as a PMP. There's gazillions of them around and they're quite good at serving up content, but pretty lousy at actually processing stuff.

It seems to me Nokia tried to market a PMP as a portable computer...

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Maybe it's my complete lack of imagination, but when I look at the clumsy, big UI-elements of finger driven devices (and this includes those absurdly big menus and scrollbars in OS2008), I don't see how they could efficiently handle menus and dialogues with lots of options.

Somthing like XChat, for example, with its sub-menus and 100 options... it's hard for me to imagine how a finger-driven UI could handle all this without breaking it down into even more sub-menus and sub-sub-windows/tabs, thus making it totally unusable.

(But, as I said, maybe it's just my lack of imagination. Surprise me with something that works. I still wouldn't use it because I hate finger taps on my screen, but it'd be interesting to see.)