Because I've heard numerous companies in the past make such promises. Promises are easy to make, delivering on them is the hard part. I'm not sure sure we'll even see any bug fixes on the 770. I just don't buy it that Nokia is devoting an enormous amount of resources to the 770. Like I said, I'd like to be wrong.

I posted over a month ago that WiMAX is very likely to be in the next internet tablet! And look for some sort of timing or partnership w/ Sprint 2008 Wimax deployment.

http://www.itweek.co.uk/vnunet/news/...ks-2008-mobile

In my view, everything mentioned in there was good but nothing was ground-breaking and revolutionary.

The smart thing they are doing is doing the bulk of their work upstream. This works well for nitty-gritty things like making gtk/cairo faster or making the gcc arm compiler better, etc. However, they do have an end-user face too and that is where there seems to continue to be an expectation mis-match between the Nokia team expecting to throw a finished immutable infrastructure over the wall and the end-users and application developers wanting to be able to rip out/swap out/upgrade/tailor some of that infrastructure easily.

It seems like they don't really mind if devs break out on their own with the 770 and want to rebuild the firmware from scratch with some community-driven project but they are unwilling to give guidance for fear of absorbing some liability. I have a lot od sympathy for them as it is a fine line to walk when you are trying to provide something for both mass consumers that expect a 110% polished product and Linux hackers that don't mind the odd wire hanging out of the box provided they can clip onto it and read the output on a 'scope.

I hope that WiMax doesn't go the way of traditionalized balkanized cellular market rather but turns out more more like unregulated (like WiFi) or universal (like Internet access).

we're trying to do just that:

http://www.phoneplusmag.com/hotnews/72h513247.html

My expectation for an internet tablet is that it should be able to access the common things my desktop computer is able to access: Google Maps, YouTube, and my wi-fi router. Google Maps loads, but doesn't work the way it should - no panning. YouTube doesn't work at all. The wi-fi router works on and off with local-link being the common connection when it doesn't. Nokia doesn't have to deliver OS 2007 for my 770. I would like them to add Ajax, Flash 9, and figure out what is with the wi-fi connection issue. If that is for OS 2006, fine.

When I purchased the 770, I was under the impression that Nokia was delivering a device that, while currently falls short on its goal of being an all around internet tablet, would eventually reach its goal. I was willing to wait for the day where the 770 would work like my desktop, with perhaps the exception being the speed. When the 800 came out, the odds of the 770 being fully capable as an internet tablet went toward zero. Sure, bug-fixes are nice, but will Ajax or Flash 9 ever get ported? Even when these features have no dependency on the new 800 hardware?

As for your software experience, have you ever used a program called PageStream? It's a desktop publishing program made by SoftLogik. When their first version arrived on the Amiga, it was buggy as hell... but only cost $50 because it wasn't quite ready for prime time. Further versions were offered for free until the program became stable. The final stable version didn't arrive until about a year later. At $50, you didn't mind the wait. After that, there was always an inexpensive upgrade path, $50-$75, for major version upgrades.

The point I'm trying to get at is that I eventually got a stable version and was given reasonable options to continue along. The 770 is much like PageStream when it first came out (though the 770 was more mature, I'll grant you that) but I don't see a reasonable upgrade path offered. Basically, it's "please buy another one" (the 800). Does Nokia seriously expect me to spend $400 every year? I'm more inclined now to sit it out until the next version has all the basics I expect from normal PC web browsing.

With a PC, you have options when your hardware gets old. You can run lighter OS's. I'm running SuSe GNU/Linux 10.1 on my 350 Mhz/256 MB box. I can use Google Maps, YouTube, etc. My 770 can't do that and it's about the same hardware. With such a smaller installed base, there's no reasonable Linux developer base to keep the development going. The 770 is dependent on Nokia to keep it going.

Vinh

Vinh - most of your issues relate to closed source applications, and these applications will not be improved with significant new features due to (according to Nokia) licencing issues. I don't want to disappoint you, but you won't get significantly better Web App 1.0 support (AJAX etc.) nor will you ever get Flash 9 on the 770 (I'm not even sure the 770 has the CPU/memory to play Flash videos acceptably).

Bug fixes are pretty much all we can hope for - and there are plenty of those out there to keep Nokia busy before they get to adding any new features. Nokia could go bankrupt tomorrow yet the 770 will continue to receive application software updates - the 770 is not dependent on Nokia, except for firmware updates.

As for the PageStream comparison - that's all well and good but take a look at Windows Mobile devices for a modern day comparison. Want the latest version of Windows Mobile - guess what you do? That's right, buy a new device! Although some manufacturers may offer chargeable upgrades of the latest OS for existing devices, this is the exception than the rule.

Oh, and the 770 is nothing like a 350Mhz (Pentium II?) with 256MB RAM!

I agree with Milhouse. Buy a device for what it can do for you now. Not for what you will hope it will do in the future, that is just asking for disappointment.

For Ajax support, I guess there's still hope in Minimo, though I've yet to try it the 770.

Since Nokia has this new partnership with YouTube, I thought there might be mobile friendly video versions for phones that the 770 could play well. That would be sufficient for me.

Nokia also has the power to negotiate for Opera and Flash upgrades. Why can't they do what Archos has done? Certain codecs cost money. You can optionally pay for them. I'd be will to pay some licensing fee for a newer Opera and Flash.

And that's why I didn't by a Windows Mobile device!

Heh heh... it is a PII!

Vinh

True, true...

I bought the 770 before leaving for a trip to Japan since I wanted some guaranteed internet access. Most of the hostels I stayed at had free wi-fi but pay PC's. The 770 served me well.

Since coming home, I wanted to use the 770 more and more like a casual internet browser but erratic connections to my router make it frustrating. The local-link issue is by far my number one peeve. (I didn't submit the original Bugzilla report, but did try to re-activate it. I don't know if it took.)

Vinh