There are two factors that count against using a NIT as a cellphone - size and battery consumption.

Sure, you could use a Bluetooth headset to connect to the NIT so that you don't have to hold such a large device to the side of your head to make or take a call, but then that's another device (headset) you have to carry with you when you may as well carry a small phone.

The current battery will most likely crap out much sooner if you added a phone, or it will have to be made even larger to accomodate the new cellular functionality, making the device even more unwieldy as a phone. And shrinking the device to a phone form factor will mean it is no longer a NIT (ie. reduced screen size and/or resolution etc.).

In short, adding phone functionality may appear useful to some people but it will necessitate all sorts of other complications and compromises that I personally don't think are worthwhile.

My 2p.

Hmm, just in case I may have come across wrongly: I would _hate_ it if Nokia introduced a GSM component in the tablets. Sure, I would not use it, but it would involve some wrangling with carriers and such... that would increase the price. Plus, I'd rather go to town with my stone age Nokia on a Saturday night than with the N800.

the tablet wants to be a phone.

nokia won't let the tablet be a phone.

why? to preserve existing revenue streams (nokia sells phones) and to play nice with the FCC which is manipulated by mobile carrier monopolies - both are reasonable business motives. In this respect, Nokia is not fully committed to the tablet which will continue to be irrelevant against blackberries, iphones, and treos. (until wimax, maybe)

Why would i want to carry a phone and a tablet and a laptop? it's ridiculous.

I'm holding out on buying any tablets until Wimax or a working USB/bluetooth EV-DO data modem (not phone pairing) is a reality. Unfortunately Nokia's choice of un-powered OTG conveniently prevents the usage of USB EV-DO modems.

If Google becomes a player in the 700mhz spectrum, consumers may get a little more freedom. It would be nice to carry fewer gadgets and subscribe to fewer service plans.

You wanting the tablet to be a phone is not the same thing as the tablet wanting to be a phone. If Nokia puts a cellular radio in a tablet, the expense will shoot up and battery life will shoot down. Neither of which are good things. I, personally, do not want to take my tablet everywhere. There are a lot of situations in which I'd much rather take my $50 phone with me than my $400 tablet, for convenience and safety (say, a party where the likelyhood of ending up in the pool is high, or a morning run where you'd rather not be carrying around dead weight).

I'm not a fan of holding giant bricks up to my face. I want a phone that does voice calling well and I want a tablet that does micro-laptop functions well. I don't want a phone/tablet that does neither well.

so you'd carry a tablet instead of a phone that would be only a third in size, has much longer battery lifetime and is better suited for - well, making phone calls?

come on ...

n810 looks a lot like an iphone. it's pretending to be an iphone. it absolutely wants to be a phone. but the design(ers) are limited by business policy.

your arguments are stretched thin. It already has a powered wifi antenna. you're saying that adding a cell antenna is different? if so, then why is adding a wimax antenna ok?

do you also carry a $20 pager for those situations where a $50 phone is inappropriate?

yes. and so would 2 million iphone owners, apparently.

the iPh0ne is still smaller than Nokias smallest IT; and its still much bigger than what I'd consider acceptable for a mobile (!) phone.

Knowing that a built-in phone would make a tablet even larger, I simply dont see how it could be useful.

It's not. I don't want Wimax either.

not by much. Many of the early N810 photos placed it next to or on top of an iphone, as if to say "look how similar they are". They are very similar in looks and in size.


come on. phones are tiny and 90% of the hardware is already there.

although it would help improve sales of the tablet, i personally don't care about cell phone functionality. i'd like to see working EV-DO or Wimax. I don't want a cell phone. I just want data and to make my calls over EV-DO or Wimax. I would not hold up the brick to my head. I'd use a bluetooth headset (quick! we must stop users from attaching bluetooth headsets! they might use the tablet as a phone!). I want to cancel my cell phone plan, toss my cell phone, and just subscribe to an unlimited data plan (like Sprint's). I'm a cheap bastard. Nokia and the providers anticipate consumer frugality and stunt this obvious and inevitable use case.

ok, this is one of those bill gates 10k memory should be enough for everyone quotes. i'll remember this one. amazing.