Basic questions about N900
 

hi,

I have ordered an N900 from amazon, I wanted to know if the N900 can do the following things out-of-the box

Send/Receive vCards or business cards.
Create contact groups and set different ringtones for each.
Send Receive music and pictures through bluetooth.
Sync with microsoft outlook for contacts and calendar entries.
Show received sms and missed calls on the home screen.

your answers will be highly appreciated :)

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

yes
no
yes
think so
yes

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

Wow, shouldn't you have done a little research before you bought the device? Just askin'....

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

thank you.. but i guess we can atleast make the groups right?

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

i have done a lot of it.. but some places have different answers.. and many features can be added later too through apps and hacks so i wanted to know about those too :)

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

Not in the native state. You'll need to use the mycontacts app from one of the repos.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

Yes to all except "Create contact groups and set different ringtones for each" A fairly new app called mycontacts will handle that but I haven't tested it myself. Search for a thread on it.

The N900 is very different to Symbian phones that have much fancier, more mature phone functions.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

thanks .. but isnt the maemo 5 much better than s60v5?

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

For some people it is, for some it isn't.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

Ok i do a lot of texting! and wanna use my phone instead of my iPod and watch videos and net browsing.. so it good for me!? :p

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

and photography! and facebook

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

Not in the "Phone" department it's not I'm afraid.

The best way to judge is....think about what you do with your contacts and sms everyday. Don't leave out the little things cause those are what you'll notice are missing.

For instance, to search for a contact on My E75. I just begin typing the name and it'll show up. On the n900, you cannot do this from soft on screen buttons within the Phone app. You only get a quick slider there. The only way to do this on the n900 is to slide out the keyboard and type outside the Phone app, this will take you to your contacts and from there you pick and call. The simple speedy function becomes a two handed ordeal. Not really a big issue. But it's those little things that you'll notice, so I wanted to give an example.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

yeah youre right. nut ive used one briefly and am pretty ok with that.. but i wanted to know the user guide says something about groups in the contacts app.. what is that about. i just want to know can i creat a group of friends and send them a text message by just selecting the group instead of one contact at a time.. like how i would do in my S60

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

For smsing. The big change would be getting used to the conversation layout which will also include IM messaging, all in one window.

It's not like Symbian where you have tabs of Inbox, Sent, Outbox, Reports etc.....

Watching videos will be better than the iPod when it comes to not having to convert alot. The n900 will play many untouched .avis and .mp4.

Net browsing is good. You have more choice with Firefox and Opera. It's quite speedy.

The is camera is ok. Nothing ground shattering. The basic functions are there.

You can open the facebook website in it's full glory. But there are no neat apps that simplify using facebook like the iPod. There is one in the making. but it's not finished yet I believe.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

The default groups in contacts are for different IM accounts, so you can choose to view only your facebook, skype, etc. contacts.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

thanks for the info. and yeah i really want the conversation style. symbian is too much of a hassle!.. and in India most of the ppl around me have a nokia phone with different video formats so i guess its better in this regard than an iphone or ipod

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

oh that sucks! but are there any chances of someone writting a hack for this? or is it not possible at all...?

thanks.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

I'm looking at the contacts screen right now. There are no grouping options. There is a button called groups. But all I see in it is SIM card groups and Ovi groups. I can't make another group.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

The already mentioned MyContacts does the trick somehow http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=57162 . Haven't tested it myself.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

well does the phone allow you to select multiple contacts to send a message to or is that also not possible?

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

Yes, that seems to be possible, just tested.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

Oh thanks! and could you also tell me about music controls on headphones?

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

I remember reading that they don't work out-of-the-box but there is some app you can install to make them work.

P.S. have you noticed the "thanks" button here in talk.maemo.org? :D

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

ok. and hahaah i dint notice it :p

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

The supplied wired headset doesn't have controls. Bluetooth headsets with AVRCP controls work for me; I therefore haven't tried any wired headphones with controls. The only real reason I have for using wired headsets is to act as an aerial for the FM radio (or I've forgotten to charge whichever BT set I've got witnh me...), for which the spplied earbuds are fine.

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

anyone tested the mycontacts app?

Re: Basic questions about N900
 

and wired headsets? and can you use the front camera for taking photos?