What I want in the 770 follow-up...
 

Hi all,
Ok, the 770 is a great job for a first gen machine, but now there are rumours of a follow-up, here is what I think should be in there.
Let's start with the 770's hardware and work with that:

1. Dedicated video accelerator
2. VGA out (external monitor support)
3. 5-inch display 1024x600 (the new rage)
4. 2GB internal NAND Flash (minimum)
5. 256MB RAM
6. BT 2.0+EDR and 802.11g
5. Built-in Webcam, mic and speaker
6. Built-in powered USB 2.0 host
7. Built-in GPS support

diJenerate

I think some of those would be perfect:

1. Dedicated video accelerator
4. 2GB internal NAND Flash (minimum)
5. 256MB RAM
6. BT 2.0+EDR and 802.11g
5. Built-in Webcam, mic and speaker

The other additions would dramatically reduce battery life, and I'm not so sure we want that. I'll add what I think should be in the next Internet Tablet since this seems to be where this thread is heading:

- SD/MMC card combo slot
- Slightly faster CPU
- Better navigation buttons

With all those features, it's likely to cost $700.

1. If you mean OpenGL accelleration there is little point (plus it would be expensive and power-consuming) and 2D graphics are already plenty fast enough. If they upgraded to say a 500MHz proccessor then 3D games would be great.
2. Why? For presentations? If they added an expansion system, say a USB 2.0 host port.
3. The current screen is great, I don't think it needs an upgrade.
4. 512MB/1GB of flash would be plenty, this isn't a portable media player!
5. With 64MB swap, the current device has plenty of RAM, so 128MB of physical RAM should be just as plentiful, if not better.
6. We already have 802.11g. The current bluetooth is fine.
7 (5!?). A webcam would be nice, but IMHO, it would be better as an optional add-on, possibly using the USB port (there is no reason why this could not be done on the current hardware). We already have mic and speaker.
8 (6). Good idea, I should read the entire list before suggesting things!
9 (7). It's not a GPS device and bluetooth GPS works well enough as it is. I dont really see the point. Nokia could make an official add-on though.

My suggestions:
1. Official bluetooth keyboard that can clip onto the device, possibly also acting as a stand.
2. Cool expansion options, such as webcam, wired ethernet, POTS modem, GPS, TV tuner, etc...

Let me add my 2¢...

before releasing ANY enhancement to the Nokia 770... make sure that ALL members of the 770 community can FLASH any new OS to their devices... that means Mac users!!!

ARRRRGGGG!

Omega
omegaone37@mac.com

I would really like it if they could somehow design the sleeve to double as a stand.

I would like to be able to hide the half inch wide side menu-bar, and be able to add custom home desktop shortcuts.

My two main wish list items are:
 

• Web browser compatiblity with Web 2.0 apps. This has to be Priority #1 for a web tablet like this. For example, Google's new Picasa Web Albums would be ideal for this device -- it automatically resizes photos to fit screen dimensions. That would save me the trouble of resizing and transfering photos to my 770. Why should I have to do this if I already have created Picasa Web Albums.
• An "around the house" form factor with docking station for recharging. Add an inch to the screen dimensions. It doesn't need to fit in my pocket. OTOH, don't make it as big as a notebook computer. I want to be able to hold it easily when reading on the coach or in bed. I was happy to read that Nokia is considering "different form factors" .

I'd prefer not to have a web cam built in. I wouldn't use it and don't like the idea of extra bulk and weight with no need. It would seem out of step with the Nokia 770 principle of orthogonality -- Specialized devices that interoperate, as opposed to integrating many disparate functions into a single device.

Oh please, NOOO!! I love how small it is, I take it with me everywhere. If I wanted an "around the house" form factor I would get a pepperpad or a tablet pc. Besides, I think it already works well around the house and I view large websites on it with no problem. The ability to drag around websites with the stylus really compensates for the smaller screen size.

Easy.

1) GET RID OF GNOME/HILDON. Simply put, it's bloat, and doesn't deliver the bang-per-buck that a simple X11+WindowMaker or other GNUStep desktop delivers. Not only would our tablets be faster and more responsive, but we'd have oodles more memory available. Unfortunately, I don't think this is ever going to happen, primarrily because the people working on the 770 have never seen a Linux box that didn't have GNOME or KDE installed. *sigh*. I'm on the verge of doing this myself, just to see how big the difference is.

2) MORE APPLICATIONS. Don't just release the tablet and expect a cult following! Maemo is a good start, but there should have been boatloads of programs already ported before the device even hit the shelves. It can't be that hard. The 2006 OS just came out, and the application package shelves are still bare. What the hell have you guys been up to in the past year?

3) GIVE UP ON HANDWRITING RECOGNITION. Nobody uses it!

4) USE A LOW-POWER CPU WITH AN X86 INSTRUCTION SET. They exist! Solves problem #2 in one fell swoop, too, while making future applications that much easier to eventually see running on a 770 as well. I write apps for X11, and the only thing stopping me from writing apps for the 770 is the whole ridiculous gnome/hildon/maemo/arm mess that I neither have the time nor the patience to learn.

5) ENCOURAGE HACKING. Word of mouth = $$$.

6) INCLUDE USEFUL TOOLS. It's been a year, and there still isn't a useable rdesktop client out there, or a clock/calendar that makes any sense. VNC is a mess. Where's the standard slate of PDA tools? Yes, I know, I know, it's an "internet tablet", not a PDA. But guess what. It's a PDA.

7) MAKE IT FUN. How long would it have taken to get MAME or at least an Atari 2600 emulator ported to it? Hell, most PDA game shops are struggling to survive. A couple free 770's and $5000 cash would give any shop a real boost, and something cool for everyone to use.

Do they really exist? I thought that UMPC's are such power hungry monsters because of x86 cpu. Though I'm quite new to development for embedded systems and may be wrong. One of the benefits of linux is that it can run on a variety of cpu architectures. I wonder if it is possible to use some more advanced architectures for maemo later to improve performance/watt ratio even more, for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVR32

Seems like I also write app for X11 to some extent (thought X11 is accessed through allegro game programming library layer). And I did not have to deal with gnome/hildon/maemo mess at all. And when writing portable code, you should not have problems with arm as well. Have you really tried programming for maemo already?