Introduction
This is not a complete guide. This is intended to save one or two people a minute or two which they would otherwise have spent asking / answering the same questions over and over again.

External references
If you haven't seen these, you should. The aim of this FAQ isn't just to reproduce these official references.

• Nokia N9 specifications page
• Nokia factsheet (presumably intended for media/sales people)
• Nokia Swipe (UX Guidelines)
• Developer device spec reference

Acknowledgements: Commander
General

What is the N9?
It is a consumer phone announced by Nokia at the Nokia Connection event on 21st June 2011 in Singapore.

So is it the market-disrupting device?
We were promised a "market-disrupting device" on the 21st of June. Most of us assumed that means the N9. However, Peter@Maemo Marketing states that what comes after the N9 will be the real disruption. What this means is open to debate.

What is the N950? Can I buy an N950?
It is a developer device. It has a hardware keyboard. Nokia have indicated that it will not be available for purchase. Instead, it will be distributed by Nokia via the usual developer channels. Further information on the N950 is available in a number of places, including this post.

So when can I buy an N9?
Over 2 months since the announcement, and we are still waiting for solid info on dates. Sadly, none yet - only some hints (a countdown which was removed from a Nokia website, some suppliers expecting the phone "in September").

The Nokia website doesn't list my country (e.g. UK, US) so will it even be released for me?
Fact: importing electronics sucks. Indications are that the list found on the Nokia Check N9 Availability page only indicates availability in Nokia Store. It may well be available through networks or third parties in countries which are not listed; for example, the UK Nokia Store is closing at the end of June 2011 so they won't be selling it through that [non-existent] channel, but perhaps an operator will pick it up. As time goes forward, availability seems to be going down (not up).

So... how much is the N9 gonna cost?
We don't know yet. Some people are quoting Eldar Murtazin as saying it will be €450+tax, but that's based on a rumour which is at least 6 months old. How reliable is that as a source? You decide

Operating System / Software

I heard that I won't be able to put my apps into folders on the home screen. Gnaargh?
This is not possible currently, but according to konttorri this should be possible following an OS update (date unknown).

What are the chances of halfway decent MS Exchange support?
Actually this looks promising, as bugs are being fixed.

How about last.fm scrobbling?
Looks like MeeGo forum user (and N950 recipient) Olka is working on it.

Will Alien Dalvik come to N9?
There is a 'alien dalvik on the N9' thread which contains links which might suggest that Alien Dalvik is coming to MeeGo/the N9. However, later posts in the same thread indicate that it seems unlikely.

What is the Aegis security platform? What is MSSF? How will it affect my use of the N9?
I have not yet developed an understanding of either, so I'm not going to attempt to explain them. qole's blog post on this topic is a great read. More discussion is here on gmane.org.


Display

Is there an HDMI port on the N9?
Nope. There is no physical HDMI port on the N9. Confirmed by everyone who has handled the device since the launch.

Could there be some kind of HDMI-via-MHL-via-MicroUSB setup, like Samsung Galaxy S2?
Probably not. There's currently nothing to suggest that the N9 could support this.

Media

The N9 is capable of 720p video playback, right?
The N9 is capable of playing video using its "Wide codec support: H.263, MPEG4-SP & ASP, H.264 BP/MP, WMV9 / VC-1 and Mkv (Matroska)"

Matroska isn't a video codec.
No, it's not. But let's stay on-topic...

So the N9 is capable of displaying 720p video, right?

• Not at native resolution on the screen. Weasel words from Nokia marketing might make you think that it can, but the N9 display resolution is FWVGA (854 x 480 pixels), but 720p video is 1280x720 pixels. However, the N9 screen is 16:9, so it should show scale wide-screen video quite nicely.
• Not via HDMI either. There's no HDMI connector
• Should be possible via DLNA. Harmattan includes Rygel UPnP AV MediaServer and MediaRenderer. Still waiting for further information on exactly how this can be used in a practical situation.

Does the N9 support Flash?
This has caused some confusion. The answer is:
The N9 has native support for Flash video.
The browser does not support Flash out of the box.

Will Flash be added to the browser at a future date?
We don't know. It's easy to extrapolate based on the non-existent Flash 10.1 update for the N900, but all we have for now is speculation and hope/despair/indifference. There's some hope that Fennec-for-N9 may get Flash. It's still very much wait-and-see, though. Jalyst's summary of the situation: "A Nokia dev responsible for testing/tweaking Fennec on Harmattan has finished testing the latest flash binary using his build of Fennec & has confirmed all is working well. The only road block left, is trying to convince management to license a signed binary. His latest responses re: how that's progressing are positive, yet still quite vague..."

Does the media player now have an equaliser?
Can anyone point to anything on this? Perhaps someone who has had hands-on experience?

Can the N9 receive/transmit FM radio?
There is no mention of FM capability on the official N9 spec. The FM status of N9 thread has not yet reached a firm conclusion.
The N9 contains hardware, which is physically capable of both receiving and transmitting FM (TI WL1271?); however, it is not known what OS/driver/software work would be required to make use of this.
It seems that there's no aerial connected to the FM transmitter.

What media syncing capabilities will the N9 have?
Software called Nokia Link is coming for the N9 according to NokiaGadgets.com.
Of course, you can always transfer stuff using Mass Storage mode (like the N900).

Design

Critically important question: what colours will the N9 come in?
The N9 announcement and all web materials show the N9 in an average of 2.5 colours and 0.5 shades: Black (which is arguably a shade, not a colour), magenta (which is definitely not pink) and cyan (which some people might mistakenly see as 'blue').

What is polycarbonate?
Wikipedia suggests that it is a type of plastic suitable for use in complex industrial design. One useful property is that it can be deformed at room temperature without cracking or breaking. In the case of the N9, the shell is coloured all the way through so that scratches don't show up as much as they do on coated cases (e.g. N95). Having said that, N900 case material also seems to be uniformly coloured as scratching does not reveal another colour inside.

Does the N9 have a microSIM? I saw some photos of an N9 with a regular SIM.
MicroSIM. Prototype devices had a regular SIM card, but all release models have microSIM (as listed on the device spec page).

Does the N9 have a microSD slot? 64GB of internal storage is nice, but I might need more...
There is no memory card slot on the N9 (confirmed by the device spec and everyone who has handled the device).



Thanks to everyone who has contributed information, links or meaningful discussion - particularly jalyst who has been busy digging up a great deal.

Magenta is not pink. Just sayin'.

Thanks for the briefing about the N9; will you credit me for reporting the repetition of "energy to"? (kidding of course)

and cyan is not blue...

A Fact: The N9 is without Adobe Flash

My Vision: No N9 for me.

More Information http://www.developer.nokia.com/Devic...ifications/N9/

And black is not a color. Cmon, try to stay constructive, or we will get another unuseful thread with 5k posts.

well, this OP is trying to be extremely precise...so in that vein...nokia has said the colors are black, cyan, and magenta...FACT

Any improvements for the media player? Does it still not have an equalizer?

Nice thread.

Just a little remark:

The N9 is not part of the "future disruptions" strategy. That's planned for the next Meego device. (If it ever comes...)

Source:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...1&postcount=46

Thanks everyone for comments & contributions so far. Unfortunately my employer is expecting me to do some actual work (I have a suspicion that TMO doesn't count).

Back in a few hours to update further.