What is the N900? Some far and some not-so-far fetched scenarios.
 

I have been trying to get the picture of the smartphone strategy of nokia, and predict the not-so-easy-to-predict future. I have thought of the following scenarios. I am sure some of them are far from having any connection to reality but I'd like to share them and read your comments.

1. The N97 that didn't make it: The N95 was the smartphone that changed it all (back in 2006). Hardware-wise it is still pretty advanced. It followed and combined the merits of N91, N92, N93, N93i. From model to model the specs were constantly improving. The N95 8gb made another leap forward with bigger screen, larger battery and more RAM (a big 128mb back then). The next series of N-Series devices, (N81, N85, N96) were almost miserable failures. Specs even plunged, the HW accelerator was left out, the resolution of the screen remained at the incredibly low QVGA while the competition was busy churning out 3.5 inch HVGA touchscreen phones. The N-gage platform was a failure too, as it didn't even support the 3DHW of older devices. Some devices even had major flaws (N81's camera and 26mb (!) internal storage (you couldn't even install nokia maps 2). Then it was the 5800. Flawed at the beginning but with hard work it evolved into a nice feature-packed phone, even i-phone killer for some customers - at a very affordable price. But the specs were mediocre, slow processor, barely enough RAM but a whopping screen resolution more than enough for the 3.2" screen. That upped the expectations for a real powerhouse: the N97. Could that the N900 was intended to be N97(or even N96)? It has the grunt needed, it's development was started on time to be there as a worthy N95 successor. Maybe delays called for a hasty release of a flagship: throw a TV-tuner and double the storage of the 8gb and voila, the N96. Maybe even more delays made it imperative for a touchscreen flagship. Another hasty release? throw a keyboard, the proven 5mpix camera on the 5800, double the storage again to show something impressive and here's the N97. Not one of these things required any kind of R&D. Even the digital compass, the only new feature of the N97 is reported to be barely working.

1.1 Maybe N900 was intended to be symbian too, although unlikely because of the screen form factor and resolution: When the phone was ready, it was too similar to be the N98 so someone said let's build a finger-friendly version of maemo and market it as mobile computer. The OS wasn't ready in time and the time was running up before it was obsoleted completely, and there we are.

1.2 N900 was intended to be maemo, with full phone functionality, new features like IM integration etc etc and be the first in the line of flagship devices to run it. This is what most reviewers on the net assumed when it was released, some even suggesting symbian would be dumped: Stupid, Nokia had just bought symbian for several hundred millions. BUT the software wasn't ready in time, time was running up blah blah, so it was marketed as geek device, 4/5 etc etc.

2. There was to be another segment of devices somewere between the N810 and the Nxx's running maemo for the kind of people who are on the pda side of the phone-pda scale. That market was filled up by WM devices, UIQ devices and the Nokia Communicators, and BlackBerries all but the last obsoleted. Symbian was too phone-ish for those type of customers who could easily switch to BB or the more balanced android. If this is the case it may work, but sure the device should have a little more polished e-mail and calendar app.

2.1 Those devices can bridge the gap between a smartphone and a tablet pc (like the Slate or the iPad) and an Atom processor is sure an advantage, hence the deal with Intel seemed promising.

2.2 Those devices don't target the same person that made the N95 the success it was. Phones like the N8 do. Symbian lives long in the N-series and a new series is introduced for the maemo devices (latest leaked N9 video that seems to be running a kind of Symbian -- if it is real may be an indication towards this scenario as there is no more space in the naming convention house)

3. Symbian is going feature phone (with the added bonus of being able to install apps from the store), the N900 was the first N-series phone with maemo and all the others will be too from now on. The N8 is just a spin-off because they gotta get the failed N97 out of their lineup as soon as possible and the Meego business has delayed Harmattan's release. Hopefully till then QT will be mature enough to provide a good level of compatibility, and the transition of loyal N-seriesists will come easy.

3.1 Ok I have gone over the top but how about a dualbooting N9? Just choose OS and color!

that's all for now, I hope you find it interesting, or at least amusing...
________
Reviews On Extreme Q Vaporizer