Exactly what we were talking to Jussi Makinen about the other day. Pick up an iPhone, N97, 5800 XM, i8910 HD, Touch Pro, or pretty much any slate style device with an accelerometer, and rotate it in your hands. The UI of the entire device will rotate so no matter how you look at it, the text and elements are positioned upright to the eyes.

When you need to hold it sideways, no need to hold your head sideways, because ALL aspects of the device rotate. There may be SOME apps that don't, but 99% do. And should I need to enter some text in portrait mode, either a T9 or portriat QWERTY OSK appears, depending on user preference (I love T9, and get about 38+ wpm using it).

Looks like most NIT users don't use smartphones, which I think can't be possible, but I guess you never know.

The accelerometer makes it possible. I know. But when I pick up the device and hold it in portrait, the UI stays in landscape. Most will find this a turn off and a downgrade from any high end phone on the market. What calling device do you use? If its a touchscreen smartphone, it rotates the UI when the phone rotates, not just certain apps, but THE WHOLE ENTIRE PHONE UI!

Now do you understand? The rotation shouldn't be limited to apps, but pervasive throughout the experience, so others can choose the orientation that best suits them, instead of Maemo deciding.

You say that as if you have confirmation that ASR is being implemented by Nokia or someone else to contribute to the OS for universal support. Is this so? Please say yes.

With the responses from the "powers that be" on this site, it looks like Nokia abandoned ASR for Maemo 5 to rush it to market, as if they expect the community to support it. But from my research, the community ASR solution for OS 2008 is buggy as hell for the most part, and putting such a core feature that is part of the experience in the hands of volunteers may not be optimal. For smartphone users wanting ASR (there are many like me) a buggy rotation mechanism will be unacceptable. That is a regularly used feature, and not working affects workflow and productivity.

I think regardless, an OSK for portrait needs to come from Nokia, not individual app designers, so we don't have fragmented portrait data entry methods. Nokia made a point of having consistency in the device keyboards across the portfolio. Why not copy the one in S60? Has anyone here even studied the N97? If we could mash the N97 and N900 together, we'd be...at Maemo 6?! I hope not.

I keep hearing that adding ASR would've delayed the launch by six months. I understand that. I'm used to getting Nokia kit that isn't prime time ready at launch, but I expect it to be down the line. But will ASR be available 6 months later, and if so, will T9 be included? No one will confirm this, not even Jussi when I asked directly, which leads me to believe it won't! And initial desire to add it via the community was met with resistance, which means no one that cares is working on it, because the only people that care are smartphone users, whereas many NIT users keep a dumbphone for tethering only, and don't rely so heavily on a pocketable sized device, preferring the NIT.

NIT users are happy as is, so we need a smartphone user advocate to speak up for the new guys. When I make a suggestion, its like I'm crazy to want to use a device for that, or that isn't the intended purpose. ITS A COMPUTER FIRST, not a tablet or a smartphone! Its supposed to have its intended purpose reinvented for the user's needs. Why aren't our needs meant for the N900?

It looks like Nokia is using the N900 as an hors doeuvres, and will force us to upgrade by not making the N900 what it should've been, like Microsoft did with the netbook licensing. I'm not very confident Maemo 5 will be much more well received than the last iteration here in the US. Bummer. Its just not ready, I have to admit, and I don't think there's a desire to get it to that level.

I hear that said all of the time, but I have to admit I think that is a cop out. I mean that. Let me explain by asking this: How is the N900not a phone that comes with internet as we know it? First of all, I've been using Symbian devices for a while, and while Flash 9.4 is alot better than Flash 7, I've used desktop like browsers in a handheld before. I understand the difference between desktop-like and desktop for real, but what quality does the desktop browser experience have that necessitates the device not having a rotating UI? T9 was born to beat the challenge of small form factors being dominated by too many buttons. Portrait browsing was born from being performed in devices of small narrow size designed for one handed usage.This has nothing to do with device power or browser prowess, but convenience, comfort, and efficiency.

And the web is the dominant feature of the N900, but the same can also be said of the N97, yet ASR is present. Soon the N97 will run Fennec. Then what? The simple fact is the only major difference between the N97 and N900 is the developer language support, desktop class app support, and Nokia supported hackery and OS access. I understand the N900's desktop apps will probably only work in landscape, but everything else can and should've been rotating.

The fact Nokia knew it may take 6 months to implement it means it was considered, and since Maemo 6 will have it, it must be useful in the Maemo context. Difference between 5 an 6 shouldn't be revolutionary but evolutionary. The main toolkit will change, and the UI will surely be updated, but the heart and purpose of the devices are still the same. That the N900 hasn't yet lived up to that doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't. It means we have 6 months from release to wait, which I'm willing to do if someone with a forward vision has the desire to be a trailblazer for the society. But will the wait be for naught? Nokia seems mum on the ASR deal, and no one will confirm or deny if Nokia plans to implement it in 5.

I'm not asking for landscape to be done away with. All I'm asking for is that portrait be supported throughout the UI via ASR. If you like the device in landscape mode, and the device needing two hands is no issue, then ASR won't be a hindrance to you. You don't even have to use the phone at all, nor the 3G data. If the screen is too small, perhaps the N900 isn't for YOU, either. (just saying to make a point.

I've decided the N900 is for me. It has the possibility of being the device I and tens of millions across the world dreamed of, but will Nokia and the community make it that way, or stick to the core NIT users while ignoring the smartphone base that's been dissapointed for 2 years straight but stayed loyal to Nokia's tech vision? We deserved an N900 with the ASR at a later date if necessary, especially since the N97 was so lackluster. Here's the future right here! Give us what is possible, and stop making us wait! (AARGH! Had to have a mini rant there for a second)

ASR will make the N900 more appealing to more people, though, which should be applauded by great developers like yourself, not dismissed because you don't need it. In honesty, most people that have it could get by without it, but it is a useful feature that will draw more users to the platform, meaning more developer support.

But ASR isn't there. OK, fine. But if the only reason it isn't is 6 months, fine, too. But development should've been continued, and expecting to see it after launch via an update shouldn't be too much to ask. The community ASR solutions exhibit the desire to see it on devices, and Nokia not having a plan to do it for the N900 is appalling.

But ignoring the feature as a form of strategy to get us to buy the Maemo 6 device, which it seems to me to be, is short of predatory.