How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

First of all, yes, I googled. From what I gathered, N900 got portrait mode to most of the built-in apps - I have a couple of questions tho..
Can I update the software anywhere? I'm in Czech Republic, and usually if software is region bounded we either get it slow or not at all

and, does it mean I can read/write SMS, look thru gallery and all that "basic" stuff in portrait mode, right?

I'm sorry to ask such dumb questions, but I don't want to get burned, N900 isn't the cheapest device out there .. .:)

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

Hm... Difficult one to answer. Although the browser wont *officially* get portrait mode support unit PR 1.2, it currently does support portrait mode browsing. The phone is portrait mode too, natively. However, SMS composition is not portrait mode - and from my understanding there is not a plan to make it so in PR 1.2 either, so until either a) an app is written or b) PR 1.3 confirms portrait mode support for the N900, it's all landscape. Some apps also run in portrait mode but not all of them. Photo gallery does auto-rotate and will adjust to how the phone is being held through feedback from the accelerometer, so you can hold it upside down and the photo will auto-rotate to the correct orientation for viewing.

You will find the majority of your time on this phone will be in landscape mode. It feels clunky at first, but you get used to it.

In terms of being burned, unlesss you are either willing to learn a new OS or you have previous experince with Linux or similar OS's, or unless you are willing to do a lot of research to find what you are looking for, then the N900 might not be your thing.....

If on the other hand you are looking for a mobile computer with the added bonus of containing a phone, then the N900 might be just what you are looking for.

Hope this helps you...!

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

shallow
shallow

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

I agree to that.

I do understand that this device teaches us to concentrate on its power in landscape mode, but looking at this device generally, since this is also a communication device, why not Maemo founders make it easier for users to send SMS in portrait mode too since texting is usually done in a portrait mode approach?

N900 is a different thing since it is a mix and a confusion between tablet pc and smartphone.

Looking at its awesome dial pad, I think SMS is more often utilized than dialpad. I don't think there will be no reason why it shouldn't be implemented.

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

you can try writing sms in portrait...

...without keyboard.
(no onscreen portrait kb available)

good luck!

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

how did you come to that conclusion?
with my previos phone (E90) i almost never texted in portrait mode, reading incomming, yes that i did most of time in portrait but sending a reply i always switched to portait.

i think this is true for most people with a hardware qwerty keyboard. or even an onscreen one like my girlfriend have then i also always see here turning here phone in landscape and start typing.

so i hope that the do support reading of txt in portrait but typing can be done later on

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

I was just thinking, if you just have to reply a two-letter word "OK" in some forum in the internet (while web is in portrait mode), or in SMS, do you have to open the side-slider keyboard? I do understand it is a tablet, but it is also a communicator, right?

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

No, matter of fact I didn't use the hardware keyboard for the first month or so of having the phone. Just tap in the small dialogue box where your words come up and an on-screen QWERTY keyboard appears. Type on that instead.

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

Maybe a simple twist/rotation of keyboard won't hurt, since the screen (on portrait mode) is a bit wider than that of N97.

Honestly, how would anyone feel if that is possible?

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

yesterday I needed to send an urgent sms and I couldn't because I was biking and I need to have one hand on the handlebars all the time since I'm biking in the city. also making a phonecall with only one hand is a nightmare since you have to unlock it from the side etc.

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

Unlocking system of N97 when phonecall arrives is one helpful feature. You just have to swipe one of the active bars on the screen, and you're ready to hear the caller.

I hope N900 will have this feature one day as it has phone (touchscreen) capabilities as well.

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

The N900 unlocks when a phone call arrives too. Because of the proximity sensor it wont unlock in your pocket, but when you pull it out the screen is instantly active and all you have to do is press the big green button to hear the caller. Alternatively you can also reject the call by pressing the big red button..... No swiping required!

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

<offtopic>
Short press on the power button brings up the slide to unlock feature - so you can hold it in portrait and unlock it. Although I do fully agree, having an alpha-numeric button pad in portrait for texting would be a very very useful feature - for me anyway
</offtopic>

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

I don't have my n900 yet but I don't see how it would be too difficult to turn screen 60 degrees and compose and send short messages with your thumb using virtual keyboard really needs prediction though

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

You are saying 90 degrees right?

The point is, what about one-hand operation while walking? Since S60v5 and Maemo are both owned by Nokia, why don't they somehow merge some important features and capabilities of their OS, like for instance, alphanumeric keypad from S60v5 (N97, 5800) to Maemo.

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

I agree completely about qwerty or T9 software support for use while walking or on the move, which is what I do alot being a student.

My suggestion is a workaround for one handed short message typing, since the n900 is smaller than the iphone (and I can do it on that) it should be easier.

Hold the n900 portrait but slightly at an angle (60 degrees) so that your thumb is straight and can reach across the screen to hit all the letters (which will be in landscape).

The base of the phone is where all the stability lies so it must be gripped well by the other fingers but positioned to get full thumb use over the screen.

I am 6.2" tall so maybe its not possible for everyone.

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

Nice try there. I believe you have longer fingers. I tried that too, but I'm a bit scared to drop it off my hands.

Maybe developers out there will make it a little merrier if they can develop small applications which could bypass horizontal virtual keyboard, and display something like small portrait qwerty or T9 (alphanumeric) keypad, if necessary.. ;P

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

ok - all I did was go into recent phone calls on the N900 which forced the phone into portrait mode and when I closed it, everything else stayed in portrait mode. Had to reboot to get it back to Landscape.

The screen scrolling for the desktops worked ok although my icons were obviously not positioned correctly. So perhaps it's coming very soon. I just tried to replicate it but it didn't work this time.

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

Two different code bases. It'd be like (probably a poor example) combining Windows 7 and OSX (Snow Leopard? Is that the latest one?).

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

To give you an idea of how shallow (as opposed to "deep") the portrait support is for N900, you can't exit full screen in the browser when in portrait mode. Basically, Nokia just decided they didn't want to deal with having to adjust any UI elements for portrait mode, they just rotated the page rendering.

Try closing the browser in portrait mode, or selecting a new website from the address bar. Can't do it.

Nokia just says deal with it, they "don't have plans to support this."

Re: How "deep" is the portrait mode support?
 

I got this a lot when i had OC'd my phone with the 125-800MHz kernel. Whenever i ended a call or something like that it was possible for the phone to get stuck in portrait mode. I was able to scroll thru my desktops and so but it was pretty buggy. To get into landscape mode again i had to start the "phone app" and turn it off, if it didnt work the first time it usually worked after a few tries. However with the 250-800 ulv kernel i dont get this anymore.