Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

IIRC, GPE has a synching tool for vcard, etc... but (and again: IIRC) it's not for Bluetooth connections. If this could be made to work, it would be rather easy to synch the N800 with standards-compliant (that is: non-Microsoft!) phone PIMs.

Right?

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

Ditto, GAIM works perfectly on my N800. Skype might be late but it will get here.

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

Maybe i misunderstood..yes of course you can use gaim for instant msgs..i was thinking he was looking at text messaging...regarding the skype..it is only my opinion from what i have seen in the past regarding rolling out applications for the USA from Nokia..the US market is really a red headed stepchild for them-Europe and Asia is where they make their dough

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

I agree with your last assessment... as things stand now. I personally believe Nokia is giving necessary lip-service to the current US market while effectively retreating from conventional phones and laying the crucial ground for the wifi/wimax future. That future has to include Skype.

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

From my point of view, at least the Dates application looks like a simple and clean calendar UI for Maemo... just what I need.

Of course, synchronization would be very useful. Instead of tying this to whatever calendaring servers, I'd try to find and port a SyncML client that is compatible with e-d-s.

In any case, PIM data on Maemo should be stored in the evolution-data-server and accessed via DBUS to provide centralized storage that can be used by any application that needs to deal with PIM data.

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

GPE Calendar also allows importing of iCal entries.

I've actually started to play around with using GPE Calendar and To Do and they aren't bad programs. I've imported my Outlook appointments into Calendar using the Windows vSync program and have started using both GPE programs as my primary PIM. They are really both completely adequate for my own particular PIM needs.

Michael

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

I have to agree completly with Jeff Mings. I also carry a cell phone as well as a Palm. When my Palm died (I have a backup) I bought the N800.

The GPE-PIM is far too immature to be a replacement (although I use the contacts and todo) and one PIM for the 770 (commercial) actually wants users to pay to sync their data and that's not going to happen.

Yes, I would pay for a good PIM. I won't pay for a PIM if I have to pay to sync my data. I've posted my thoughts on the GPE PIM on the users board so won't repeat them here. I've also opened up bug/feature reports in Bugzilla.

I wrote to several companies who provide utilities I use to try and get them to port some of their apps over to Maemo. So far there hasn't been any takers. I believe though that if more applications for business users become available (shareware or otherwise) then some of these may be ported.

I don't expect Nokia to provide a robust set of utilities. I do, however, expect Nokia to provide better than what they have, e.g. the contact doesn't have an address capability, etc. If they want the N800 to be more than a cool niche device, they should include at least rudimentary capabilities such as a calendar, contacts, and todo.
Regards,

Nick.

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

Wholly agreed with Nick above. Contacts should be contacts should be contacts, ie, ubiquitous across your range of computing/communications devices and able to sync freely with little hassle. So what if the N800 is an "internet device"? Doesn't that mean email? Instant messaging? Of course it does, and I want the email/IM addresses of every contact I have to be fully transportable and highly available. Phone, laptop, tablet, whatever. IMO this is a HUGE shortcoming in the tablets and I'm surprised it's even in question.

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

I am in support of the IT having PIM apps on it. And if you are really honest and realistic you'd agree as well.

If you work in a metropolitan area then you don't have to worry about having WIFI access. However the majority of potential owners of the IT will not have that luxury.

Nokia claims to have designed it as an internet tablet. For use on the internet, using always on WIFI or cell phone GPRS etc. If that were so why then include video playback, audio, FM radio and all the other things it can do, which have nothing to do with the internet. Why have 2 SD card slots. It can't be so we can view large html pages. :)

PIM apps are a logical extension of the device and to not include them would be a great mistake. I have a Palm and the only reason I do not have a n800 is price, it's instability and the lack of PIM apps.

I mention instability, because like most of you I don't plan on using only what nokia provided and the other programs (some of them mentioned on this forum) can cause problems.

If Nokia wrote the PIM chances are it would be stable and the price would be justified. Right now, for $400. I get to play with an internet "under development" tablet.

Re: The N800 _MUST_ have a good PIM to succeed
 

I remain unconvinced. Which is something of a change because for some time I was adamant I wanted PIM Functionality. But that's on my phone so now I'm not so sure.

I work in Canary Wharf and don't have wifi access unless I leave my office and go to one of the malls. So it's not just those in the sticks that don't have access.

That's a good question. All of that functionality is usable standalone so it's not really in the "internet tablet" mould. Perhaps it's just that the apps are relatively common and easy to implement under maemo. Nothing more or less.

Though to be fair, if you take away music and video, then you need hardly more space than is available out of the box with no cards. Unless you're using at as a big mobile file store.

To be fair, Palms came out of the diary/address book world and grew other functionality some of which (browsing) they will never do as well as the N770 or N800. So while contacts/address is their strength, it's about all they can do well out of the box.

I've had my N800 for about a month now and it's crashed on me once. I use Opera, FBReader, xterm, media player and have Python, Dates and Contacts installed.

I think you're right, some software affects stability but as a rule, the N800 is FAR more stable than the 770 was. In my experience.

Err, I believe Nokia wrote the email client (my favourite bugbear) so I wouldn't be sure that a PIM they provide will automatically be better.

If anything, I think the guys at Open Hand are showing the most promise. GPE is too clunky for me, Dates and Contacts for what I've done with them are very nice products and I hope they evolve down their current routes rather than big and ugly. If they can build a simple connection that works reliably with iCal/google then I'm OK with that and would use it. I'm just not crying in my beer because I haven't got it any more.