Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

errrrm...you will never have decent pentesting apps on android comes to mind when reading this totally untrue statement...running those apps in debian chroot DOES NOT count :P

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Dunno, N900 is as easy to use as a toaster also if you don't tell the user about the other repo's and xterminal commands. But once you want to customize the N900, it is much more complicated than Android. Maybe some prefer this unnecessary challenge? I do understand the freedom that N900 gives the dev users. But it was never a device for general consumers really...

Nokia N9 on the other hand, while having very similar roots to fremantle has a UI which is way too simplified. Heck it's simpler than the iPhone with less features and is more restrictive on what you can hack. N9 might not need jailbreaking per-se but in a way, it actually does. (Aegis... I don't think there is an "open" kernel for N9 yet...)

So yeah, N900 is the last of the "special" breed of open linux phone from Nokia (or from anyone else) from what I can see. I hate this fact as much as anyone here as I've loved the N900 as much as anyone here for nearly 2 years even with its shortfalls.

I guess I always wanted a toy / computer in my pocket that could do everything. N900 was darn close to perfect when it was released. But it did lack in a lot of areas. I was hoping Nokia will make a revised/improved successor. But they didn't. So I had no choice but to find an alternative device which could fulfil my everyday needs right now.... Still can't say I'm now a converted Android fan that's for sure as don't like how it multi-tasks. (or how it doesn't!!) But life is all about compromise it seems. :p

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Nice idea.
But how about a desktop linux distro with added phone functionality and possibly the Maemo 5 multitasking? Is less work.
And it does not have to look like Maemo/ have Hildon IMO. If the screen is big enough, say 4.5" to 5" ( like the old Maemo tablets), then maybe Gnome (with Maemo 5 like multitasking) is good enough. Gnome 3 is already tablet ready, that's why they changed the interface that much.
Most of my use of the N900 is as a tablet/PDA. I don't use phone feature that much.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

N900 was never for normal comsumers no.
It was for us that wanted more then anybody else offered.

I started this thread to see if any of you might know if there where anything in the works, anything i didn't already knew, and some good bit's have been given.

NOW getting on, i see no other choice then to make a new device, i really like the openpandora, it is abit thick but no problem considering my N900 hehe.

After i got my N900 i really got blood thirst for something even faster with even better res, but very similar (same build) just with bigger screen & keyboard.

So far i am really keen on building something myself with a PI or something like it.
The specs are still:
Same screen as Note, BIG battery (hight and length), Nice big keyboard same flip up as N900.

Generally a VERY small laptop (approx 5"), with GSM (and all the other networks), FULL OPEN DIST (pref ubuntu), GOOD onboard STEREO sound.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

http://www.pocketables.net/2009/02/u...-in-korea.html

something like this, little thinner with phone functionality would be perfect.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Damm that's an awesome little thing, where can i buy one? (pref inside EU)

EDIT: the SE version seems to kick ***, 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 32GB SSD and best of all NO OS pre-installed :)

EDIT AGAIN: Im so seriously buying a mBook SE when i have the funds!!!!!, that is my next netbook without a doubt, will not replace my N900 (since no phone modem :p)

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Reminds me of the Psion 5mx. That had the best keyboard EVER. If I ever had the funds and time to design my own device, I'd put a new motherboard and screen into one of those cases. I've seen other similar devices too, going to go look for them now...

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Here is the lower version at ebay germany shipping to the eu, with bs windows xp installed. :rolleyes:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/UMID-mbook-M1...item5890946513

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Only a concept but interesting:
http://www.gizmag.com/touch-screen-s...eyboard/14181/

Maybe this is more up your street?
http://liliputing.com/2011/05/asus-u...let-combo.html
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Asus-...nboard_id24347

If they could do the same with the Transformer Prime so you could have a keyboard too...

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

[QUOTE=jakiman;1143640]I also never thought I would find a N900 replacement until I got the Galaxy Note and it's the closest thing to a perfect phone right now on the market for uber geeks who want everything in a phone.

5.3" Super AMOLED HD (1280x800)
Capacitive touch + passive stylus digitizer (Wacom based)
1.4GHz Exynos SoC. (I'm running mine at 1.6Ghz rock stable)
Supports 64GB Micro SDXC card.
Can read/write NTFS. (>4GB files e.g MKV videos)
VNC, VPN, USB OTG, full native USB or BT mouse/keyboard support, HDMI out etc.
Also has user replaceable 2600mAH battery. (nearly 50% more talk time than iPhone4s or N9 according to gsmarena battery test)
ICS upgrade by Samsung in Q1 2012.
Plays practically every video container/codec combo on the internets.
Super loud/clear earpiece speaker for phone calls.
Better WiFi reception than my N900.

__________________________________________________ _



Any Idea how the Note compares to the Galaxy S II? Is it just a large version of the SII , or does it have some extra "killer" features?

I also have been having a tough time finding a new smartphone to replace the N900- Ive had to reflash it a few too many times recently, and the camera is just not reliable enough ( maps are poor too, even mappero etc- nothing compares to the ease of google maps ) .

But is been difficult to find a better overall product than the N900. Ive been considering the HTC Amaze 4G ( yes,...android) ... Its got great processor speed, 1GB RAM, strong and good looking build, and super fast camera with dedicated button. Seems better than even the Galaxy SII.

So any idea how does the Note compares to SII? Also, I'm in Australia- where did you buy your Note?

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

I am building almost that, based on the BeagleBoard:

• 7 inch multitouch capacitive screen
• 16.7 M colors
• 1 GHz processor
• 8 MP camera
• 512 MB RAM

...and a pluggable hardware keyboard, as the BeagleBoard has USB host ports.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

the ONLY thing I would love that changes N900, is 1gb ram and dual core proc, everything else can remain the same and there is no device like this for me.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

the only replacement for N900 can be a maemo compilation for x86 that is injected to a XpPhone-2

Attachment 24406

Attachment 24407

Attachment 24408

Attachment 24409

Os Windows-7 desktop(upgradable to win-8), 2Gb ram, full QWERTY.. & much more.. :)



nothing else comes close.. :D

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Seems nothing is close on the horizon so we can wait and see in the next months to come how Samsung messes up their next trial at understanding a well implemented Linux phone.

Rumour says Tizen next month, not clear if dev device or anything else (out of release notes of Tizen alpha)



http://www.sammobile.com/2012/01/08/...ne-with-tizen/

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

The Map on N900 is a joke, though it got somewhat usesable after PR1.2.

But I kinda like the new Map and Drive on N9 (might be the Ovi Maps on Symbian is similar but better, i haven never tried), to me it's easier to use, get the job done in simpler interface than the Google Map on Android, and might be because the preloaded map on N9 makes it very fast and smooth.
The only thing I miss from Google Map is no Traffic on N9, I still have no idea why Nokia didn't add the Traffic to the map, which is vital information for the jammed freeways in Los Angeles.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

We need more RAM than the N900 if we want Gnome 3 smooth though. We can probably fork it, remove crap we don't like, make it look nice on a 5" screen and fix clutter for gles2.

Gnome 3's touchscreen keyboard is pretty nice.

The only problem is, nobody likes booting GNU/Linux on Android devices. There's always a large amount of kernel drivers missing.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Basically, Galaxy Note is a bigger and slightly better version of the SGS2:

- It has the same but slightly better SoC. (smaller manufacturing process) So it runs at 1.4GHz instead of 1.2GHz by default while being just as efficient.

- It has a Wacom-based tablet digitizer and a stylus. Basically, it's a combination of passive and capacitive touch screen. Currently, it is the only phone which provides the best of both worlds. Stylus is extremely accurate and is pressure sensitive. (128 levels of pressure) So it is actually just as good or better than the N900 even with a stylus. It also has some system wide gestures with the stylus. (such as taking screenshots, back, menu etc) Did you watch the youtube video I linked on my first post on this thread? =)

- It has a much better screen for browsing web, reading emails, feeds, watching movies, reading comics, VNC/RDP etc. This is also a killer feature really. 1280x800 resolution screen definitely make a huge difference to the overall experience.

I still think SGS2 is still one of the best Android phone overall. (if you want a 4.3" screen sized phone that is) All it's lagging behind is screen resolution. BTW, I actually bought my parents yesterday the HTC Sensation (as I could get it super cheap) which has the same LCD as the HTC Amaze that you mention. (and practically the same SoC but just underclocked) It's good but I would still prefer the SAMOLED+ of the SGS2 over the SLCD of the HTC. Once you get used to the AMOLED's Pioneer Plasma-like blacks, you just can't go back to a standard LCD that easily. =P Also, not sure when HTC Amaze will get an official ICS upgrade. But SGS2 will get it very soon apparently. (well, Q1 for sure)

Yeah, I wish ALL phones come with a dedicated 2-stage camera button. WHY do makers get rid of it I have no idea. It's just dumb period. e.g. Lumia 800 has it, but N9 doesn't. Gawd. Microsoft did one thing smart by making all of their phones to have one at least.

Anyways, it's not about getting the best phone out. It's about getting "the" phone that will satisfy the most of your current daily and geeky needs. N900 and even the N9 couldn't do it for me anymore so I had no choice but to move on. It's all Nokia's fault. :mad:

Seriously, Symbian folks at Nokia and Maemo folks at Nokia should actually look at each others work more and think about what can be improved. Heck, they should also look at their competitors to see what they did right. I was shocked when Kontorri didn't even know what smart dial was when I mentioned it couple of months back. It's something even Symbian has and is extremely useful when dialling someone....

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Mmmh... good find. Perhaps a little bit to big. But if we would be able to put maemo5 or MeeGo-Harmattan on it I would buy new pants with big bags. ;)

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

One of my tests of a "phone" is of practicality. Can you fit a Galaxy Note into your pocket like a N900/Galaxy SII or do you lug it around? Ive always thought the N900 was a little bit a bulge in my pants, so I wonder about a 5" "phone".

Along that line.. when you take a photo, does it feel like you're holding up a dinner plate??

Of course multitasking is smooth as butter with the N900, especially if clocked and locked at 1.1 Ghz. ( refer to Jakiman tutorial!!;) ) Ive used an iphone 4 for a while and I found its multitasking to be as comfortable as walking on broken glass- how is it with the Note, is it the same as the Galaxy Sii ( same OS) and can you handle it?

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Yeah. the note fits in my average Jeans pocket just fine. but it doors get a little uncomfortable (although bearable) when sitting down due to it's surface area. =p

regards to taking photos, it actually feels fairly normal. it's actually prey cool having such a large viewfinder. lol

multitasking with Android gingerbread isn't much better than iphone4. Really, nothing comes close to the experience which the N900 with camkeyd or N9 swipes provides. I hate it but what can I do. ICS update should make it a little better but still it's no Maemo. One thing however is that due to pc-like tabbed browsing using browser such as Maxthon, you get decent a pc like Web browsing experience. (desktop user agent also) It eliminates the need to multitask like when using MicroB with multiple browser windows at least.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

IMO, we don't need to make the N900 any bigger than it already is, maybe sqeeze a bit more screen out of the blank space on the right, but leave the width as it is. Those stonking great Galaxy phones annoy the hell outa me. I don't see that many in use TBH.

Maybe make the N900 slimmer. Do we need a multi-core CPU? OK it'll help with multi-tasking, but with an OS as efficient and resource friendly as Maemo 5 just a faster single core would do IMO.
Keep the keyboard and X-Term, they are a must, as is the FM receiver and we gotta retain the IR port, so much fun has been had mooching round the local electrical shops switching off all the TV's with TV-B-GONE widget :D

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

http://www.sammobile.com/2012/01/08/...samsung-i9500/

why not go for this one...GO TIZEN!

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Maemo 7 will come soon with new and improved N900 hardware!!

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

I really hope for Tizen to succeed but Samsung has a very bad track record with such side projects. I still vividly remember their promises of long term S60V5 support when they tricked me into buying the OmniaHD. I hope their Tizen projects don't go down the same route.
I sure wont be an early adopter for them again...

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

If the N950 was released...
There's a petition on the internet http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/wewantthen950/

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

There was also a Mbook M2:
http://www.slashgear.com/umid-mbook-...video-2257507/
http://www.pocketables.net/2010/01/r...-mbook-bz.html

Or the Viliv N5:
http://www.pocketables.net/2010/06/review-viliv-n5.html
http://www.myviliv.com/eng/product/n5.asp

But both are to big for me to carry all the time.
The Mbook M1 is a good size but still very expensive. And it also does not have 2G/3G so you still have to carry a seperate phone.
The M1 is not made any more. But probably available through usual second hand channels or through UMPC website forums like Dynamism or umpcportal.
For devises like this check also Pocketables.com (not affiliated). They reviewed a lot of these kind of devices ( called UMPC) in the past.

EDIT: actual I just found one for sale new : http://www.plemix.com/macc-umid-m1-notebook

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Yeah that has always been one of my dream devices. Maybe a raspberry PI will fit in. here is hoping :-)

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

They are just awesome, i have been searching and looking at pretty much all <6" MIDs i could find, and i will take a look at them again and ebay and so on in a few months when i maybe have a little funding for it, until then im looking forward to the PI as most of us are, but these 4-6" Mini Netbooks with x86 Atom CPUs are just freaking awesome, that is going to be the next thing i get.

Main reason would be, no need to port games, can just run them as is, hopefully via wine in linux since i really don't want to run windows again...., but the problem with most of those small laptops are they run GMA500, which is a very good graphic card but apparently lags alot of linux support :(

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Actually they already flopped. It is telling that no one remembers UMPC's anymore. They were launched with big fanfare in 2006 but flopped because of poor battery life (1.5 hours at best in real life) and high cost ( wouldn't be the first time for Microsoft product to fail because of high price and bad execution, Tablet PC anyone?),around $1000 at launch. The battery life is much better on the later models like N5 and Mbook M2. And a lot of these kind of mini laptops are only sold in far east where they are much more popular.

The UMID Mbook M2 and Viliv N5 are the latest and one of the most sold AFAIK and should have the most support for linux:
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/ne...?topic_id=7704


EDIT: How easy is it to skin/customize Android on the Note? Because Android really looks hideous to me. And can you customize everything as easy as on N900, SSH in and just replace the jpg to change icon?

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

By a long way (I'm a little disappointed with the N900 one) and the patent must be up soon.

Though wasn't the Revo more pocket-sized?

Oh I want Clear Black Display as well.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Fujitsu H900 looks nice, but it's larger than the Umid and mbook:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2796/...50b3e02f_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/...9bc7c06d_o.jpg

http://www.netbooknews.de/13982/jenn...i-netbook-aus/

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

That sounds like a great idea. I think what would be even better would be if the phone bits were just created into a source available framework. Then, you could use whichever distro you like and be able to compile and install the phone stuff. I'd love to have a full gentoo install on my phone... not in a chroot or have everything funnelled through busybox.

As for the gnome/kde comments... I think something much less bloated would be better, like fluxbox or even xfce.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

get the droid 4 when it gets out.....im thinking about it

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Well, I've been convinced to give a Galaxy S II a go. It'll be my primary phone but my trusty N900 will still be my primary computer in my pocket.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

This has been discussed on the Pi forums already and it looks like it will be a possibility. There is also discussions of getting some members of the RepRap & MakerBots communities involved to make cases for them. But they too are waiting for their Pi units before they can make a decision what they can do.

On a side note, my friend and I have been looking into building one of these makerbots for our RC Car parts. He owns his own RC shop and in my previous carrier I trained as an apprentice engineer in Fabrication and CAD design. Now with the idea of making a Pi case and seeing a market to be had, I may have to get serious with the idea?


As for the x86 devices that are being suggested, they are nice but I do feel that the devices wont have the communities behind them like we have with ARM boards. I can't say that I have ever come across an x86 forum who hold the passion for their chipset like we have for the NITs, Panda/Beagle boards and the like.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

I also thought about making my own case based on this design (http://www.concept-phones.com/nokia/...tphone-design/), carving it out a solid polycarbonate block by building my own milling machine. I could do so much fun stuff with it :-)
How much do one of those machine cost?

And are there camera modules like the one in N8 or better that can be used with the PI?

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

The RepRaps can be made for as little as £400 if you supply most of the parts yourself, their forums have listings for the required parts and the brackets are made by community members on their own machines. The sodtware is FOSS too.

Infact the software come with the pattern models for the brackets and they actively encourage you to make the parts to sell on effectively making your printer pay for itself.

A decent assembled models can be bought £1000+ and you will find that many of the online 3d printing studios are using these.

If all of that sounds like too much hard work and money, there are the sites like this who can fabricate one offs at a reasonable price.

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Maybe a device running MER?

http://www.merproject.org/

"For those of you generally interested in Open Mobile Linux, we'll have
a devroom at FOSDEM (www.fosdem.org, 4-5 feb 2012) in Brussels,
Belgium, see http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/call_for_p...t_fosdem_2012/
- hope to see many of you there."

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

Hi, I think my N900 is almost dead, so I am thinking about getting a new one or return to a dumbphone and wait until something able to replace N900 shows up. I don't like Android, even if as a "phone" it can be considered nice, but as a "real" computer it's missing a lot. I would be looking for something like SG Note, but smaller, and without Android, jeje. On the other side, I've got to the conclusion I would only "accept" Android if it was bundled with Ubuntu for Android, and so I would be happy. I see this as commercially, technologically and almost ethically acceptable (as N900, BTW), but I've not seen any news about it since it was mentioned something like a month ago.
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android
If such a device were launched, I could even accept it not having HW Keyboard, as I already own a BT keyboard, and I would buy it. But why doesn't anybody (any company) seems to be interested on it?
As I said before, I think Android is good as a Phone, but lacks real computing power. Ubuntu is not meant to be used as a phone. But both being used for what they were meant to be, sounds good for me. And, the important part is it has a better "commercial" support, as Google+Samsung?/Motorola?+Cannonical would be supporting it... so we could expect updates and commercial apps (which are already on Ubuntu, for example)...

Re: When will there be anything that can replace my N900
 

I want something... that can make me keep drawing while on the phone. Galaxy Note loses out in my interest for not having a physical QWERTY keyboard AND running Android. Hey, don't take me wrong, I don't have any personal vendetta against Android. To put it short, if at least, it can't do something like this... (note the KRDC window and the MyPaint app running on my laptop):

http://i.imgur.com/yM6DU.jpg

... then any prospect of a new phone for me is at an impasse. I'm liking what the N9 is, but currently the inability to use it as my portable drawing pad, and the lack of the sliding QWERTY, is kind of a deal-killer for me.

Granted, I don't draw often because I rarely have time for it due to work; but still, this was one of my major attraction to the N900 and the main reason I specifically targetted it as my next purchase a few months back.