maemo.org - Talk - Nokia N900 vs. Motorola Droid / Milestone

Just look at how the E71 has over taken the blackberries, the E72 will be a big hit. The N96 is a top notch candybar and they WILL sell shed loads of X6s and N97 minis and the open sourcing of Symbian is already bringing more OEMs on board.

Not that I disagree with everything you wrote but N96 was pretty much a failure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdl (Post 351134)

It's also Android, which means you're not going to be able to run emacs except remotely via ssh.

Yeah, gonna rebind half of my shell because my keyboard has no ctrl key. No thanks...

As for Maemo versus Symbian; each has its benefits and lacking, and both are getting improved. For example, Symbian gets Qt and got touch UI support, and Maemo gets Qt and ACL/DRM.

bigbrovar

2009-10-30 14:47

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

The mistake many people seem to be making is assuming the N900 would be the product which would launch Maemo to the mainstream stardom, In-fact that is actually not the way Nokia has planned it. N900 ( and Maemo 5 ) is suppose to be a precursor to N920 (Maemo 6) which is suppose to be the first mainstream ready Maemo based device. Right now Nokia is being cautious and is trying to down play the average user play expectation the N900 phone. Most of the things learnt with the launch of the N900 would be used in making N920 a super consumer ready phone. The N920 is suppose to be the N900 + ( capacity screen, Multi-touch, Qt + etc )

The fact that the N900 is getting so much attention says much about how cool the device is. But we should not be carried away the N900 is not Nokia's *Droid* Its the *G1* of Maemo we should wait for the release of N920 (maemo 6) before we make any comparism. Although maemo has existed long before Android. N900 is the first attempt to shade the geeky, enthusiast tag of maemo and build Consumer ready OS. It would be the first time to broaden the appeal of Maemo being the niche market. right now comparing android to Maemo is comparing apples to oranges (IMHO)

DaveP1

2009-10-30 15:28

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crashdamage (Post 361567)

My point is as hardware improves, Maemo/Linux will run on nearly anything. More and more users will expect a more 'desktop' type of experience.

. . .

What I'm saying above is what Nokia 'gets'. The pocket desktop computer is the future.

I sincerely hope you're right. Unfortunately, the history of pocketable computers is filled with more failures than successes. The concept has never seemed to catch on despite the evangelism of those of us who couldn't live without them. If the N900 (and its Android cousins) can change this, I will be happy.

Mind you, despite the advertising hype, the current generation of very smartphones are just too underpowered and their OSs are just too limited to serve as real pocketable computers, even though they are far more capable than the previous smartphone generation. This will change over time but they aren't their yet. My fear is that their limitations will further discredit niche.

christexaport

2009-10-30 16:03

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

This has turned into a pretty interesting conversation. Surprised how easily people write off entire multibillion dollar industries. All of these ecosystems will survive by evolving somehow and filling their niche. That the Symbian and Maemo ecosystems are so complimentary to each other and intertwined by C++, Qt, and Python, and supported by the behemoth of mobile, Nokia, are enough to pretty much guarantee their success. The main thing we'll have to see is at what proportion of the market will Symbian and Maemo coexist? Will they command an 90%/10%, 70%/30%, or even a 50%/50% share of their total market? That will decide how well Android and the iPhone continue to do outside the US market.

JayMontano

2009-10-30 16:26

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

On a trivial N900/Moto Droid topic:
http://mynokiablog.com/2009/10/30/vi...a-n900-advert/

Rushmore

2009-10-30 16:49

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdl (Post 361584)

I wonder if your arguments about Maemo vs. Symbian also perhaps apply to Android and the iPhoneOS. I know that Android has a lot of room for growth and development, but I can't help feeling that the whole constraints of the java-layer thing were determined by the smartphone concept and technology ca. 2007.

As pocket computers get cheaper, powerful, and ubiquitous, people are going to want the power and flexibility they've come to expect in desktop computers (including the ability to run and port programs written in a variety of languages). Maemo is well poised to take advantage of the pocket computer model. I wonder whether the tightly controlled, "single language" environments of Android and iPhoneOS and PalmPre will come to seem outdated in five years. Perhaps Maemo is showing us the future high-end, while Android and iPhoneOS are the future mid- to low- range (i.e., what Symbian is today).

Android does it for uniformity of apps for different devices. Everything is contained in the layer (it is actually more like a small sandbox) so nothing is accessed out of this unless defined in the framework.

The good news is apps should work on a 7201 or 3430, but the obvious bad news is there are only so many things you can do with predefined lego blocks. This is why most of the apps have an odd sameness about them.

Anybody remember Shootem-up Contruction Set on the Commodore 64 or Amiga? Kind of the same thing ;)

mikec

2009-10-30 17:00

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crashdamage (Post 361506)

I've never owned a Symbian phone so that possible outcome doesn't bother me. Maemo/Linux is so powerful and adaptable it seems clearly more capable of growing along with future technology so I see such an outcome as a Good Thing. But I can understand it might bring some sadness to longtime old-school Symbian people. Some Windoze users still wish for a DOS comeback too. Sometimes ya just gotta move on...

Why would anyone just move on, when they are still outselling every other type of smartphone three to one, making good profits, and growing unit volume, gains share in specific segments. Without symbian there is no Maemo. How do you think Nokia funds all of the Open source work that they are getting involved in.

I dont think Nokia believe in the slightest that they have scratched the surface of how much further they can drive symbian handsets into the real mainstream ie the next 1Billion users

Mike C

GeneralAntilles

2009-10-30 17:23

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbrovar (Post 361644)

Keep in mind that anything regarding future model numbers is pure speculation at this point. So let's not toss them around like they were fact. :)

mikec

2009-10-30 18:45

Re: N900 vs. Motorola Droid (Verizon Android device)

Quote:

Originally Posted by allnameswereout (Post 361609)

Not that I disagree with everything you wrote but N96 was pretty much a failure.
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