Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

Your use of the word "maybe" is just as speculative as the person you're going up against.

Until anything is official, the lack of the aforementioned markets being announced is not exactly a good sign. Having hope that will change isn't one that I'd suggest either.

And ultimately, where are the content services (music, video, maps, search, e-mail, apps (non-repository), et al) that are needed to be in place for such an endeavor? Ovi is being renamed, perhaps re-rolled out. And there's no music any longer - Comes With Music is "dead". Gaming? N-Gage is dead.

So there's a lot of missing parts to these announcements, looking at what's there is abysmal for those of us that want those things to be answered too. So it's beyond just a phone or platform. Developers need tools (already delivered), a place to put their findings (repositories) and a keyboard to compile/program on the device (Developer's Edition)... but not the consumer device. Less answers, a bunch of maybes, and a whole lot of folks wanting to say they know a lot, but the answers are just not in place.

Answer those, and I think you'll see the entire scope of what Nokia needs to do, or should do. And to answer the OP, the N900 was a geek phone. So is any phone that you can edit the UX/UI, kernel, file system, or can develop on.

That seemingly includes the N9. Let it be released to make final judgement on that.

Or speculate on...

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

I would love to see Meego hacked on a non nokia device that has a HWKB for the heck of it. If successful it may raise more interest. What would be a good candidate amongst currently available devices? Is this possible to do on some current Chinese products? For example see

http://www.tabletpcmid.com/mid-c-87.html

My guess is the quality is suspicious and the components a little old but would be interesting if one succeeded to get to to work on such device or something better.

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

- UX is mostly closed source, even more then the N900 was.
- Lacks gimmick features like FM that most geeks enjoy and like to fiddle with.
- Lacks major features like hardware keyboard, hdmi, a precision screen(note i did not say resistive).

I am not going to go in to detail about the features i miss on the N9 because this thread is not about the N9 but these few break the deal for me.

I think people like us, the geek type are not so few, we are consumers without met needs, ripe for the picking. Someone needs to come and pick.

I can't provide a link right now but i have read an article from some analyst familiar with the Chinese market that they are slowly jumping from the Android to Meego train because Google is still holding tightly on the Android reigns and Meego offers more freedom.
The projection was that Meego will completely overtake Android on the Asian market in 2-3 years.
I believe there even actually is a tablet running Meego from some Shanzai vendor so there might be a phone soon enough.

-edit-

http://www.shanzai.com/market-mayhem...ed-tablet.html

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

Funny thing... geeks made the entire Harmattan come to life. Take a read and yet... it's not enough.

And for the record, the fact that out of the box the FM transmitter could not be used while charging was a serious deal breaker for me. Well that and I have a car stereo with USB connections as well as having a car stereo that can stream via Bluetooth, a FM transmitter is unnecessary. It's not a geek like, it's a your like. And I'm not a fan.

UX not being open? How sure are you about that?

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

I have already read Konttori's blog, my heart goes out to the guys working on Harmattan, i even posted it my facebook because it was honest and emotional and it really touched me but that does not make anything i have said not true.
I will agree with you on the FM transmitter part, its MY preference but its a preference of many other people too. I can go in to detail about other issues i have with the N9 like the battery but that was not my intention when i started this thread. I don't see why people have to persuade everyone that this is a device they want and need when they feel the opposite.

As for the UX not beeing open(not just the UX, core apps too), i am pretty sure since has been mentioned by Quim Gil on more then one occasion.

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

@godofwar424

Extracted from the source page of:

view-source:http://europe.nokia.com/find-product...k-availability

Australia
Austria
Bulgaria
China
Croatia
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong (English)
Hongkong Chinese
Hungary
Malaysia
New Zealand
Portugal
Poland
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland German
Switzerlang French
UAE-Arabic
UAE-English

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

Or just KIRF a N950 that just happens to be able to run meego.

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

Why should the developers get the keyboard while consumers have to go without? There are plenty of consumers that also are developers, just not blessed with Nokia's approval to get a N950.

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

it may be a YOUR like, however why take it out? if the tech is not deprecated why take it out. it is the most IMMEDIATELY compatible feature in n900 ANY radio in the world will work. so bluetooth however useful, isnt the most saturated technology ... so merely because your positioned not to miss the Tx doesnt mean its not a geek want, the geeks developing the SoCs wouldnt include it, if it wasnt. ;)

Re: Who is going to make a geek phone?
 

Hi, I'm gerbick. I tend to play devil's advocate. This would be one of those times...

I don't like the FM transmitter. Found it a wasted feature. I have a 32gb microSD card filled with music in my car stereo. It's more reliable, less fiddling, and better sounding than a FM transmitter. I have 32gb in Atrix. No music on there. I have 16gb in my HTC HD7s. No music there. I had a 16gb iPhone... no music on there either. I'm just not into having music on my phone - encourages people to touch my phone.

Again... personal preferences. Not saying you're wrong, I'm right or vice versa. I just cannot get behind that as a rallying part around liking or disliking anything. It's a frivolous feature.

Now the hardware keyboard... I could see why folks are rallying behind that. It directly affects the user experience. But to be honest, none of that compares to what will happen once the vendor support is announced - or lack thereof.

A pretty phone is pretty damn useless if there's nothing coming out for it. And I don't mean the open source apps either - those were already coming.

I've read it too, thought you knew more than I on that. But if that's the case, then let's be honest... this isn't an open phone either. Neither is Android. Neither is iOS. So in that regard, the whole idea of "it's open" needs to be dropped from people mouths and the truth needs to be said... this is a pretty UI on top of a Linux kernel that might/might not be more or less open than its competition.

So with that said, the OP has it more right than wrong... when will there be a geek phone that isn't an OpenMoko?