Ahh, now i see it - Karel is secretly writing for Gizmodo...

I don't write secretly. If I write something, my name will be under it (or besides, or above, or -- you get the idea).

The N900 should have a hardware switch to shut off the screen and the wifi, that behaves just like putting the 770 in its hard case. I listen to music with the hard case on to save power drain from the display, and I close it quick (say you just realize it's your train stop) and it closes the wifi to save power when you are not using the wifi.

I think I've finally decided what I want the N900 to have, hardware wise. I think I'd like this even more than the larger sidekick-slide like tilt-screen idea.

(and, to reply in-advance: I know several of you will disagree with the GSM radio part: no need to reply to that, we know the reasons for it, I'm sure we even know who you are, lets not waste space on that whole argument, neither for its merits nor its problems)

• Start with the E90, updated for any new things (microSDHC instead of microSD, though I honestly don't know which one the E90 has now).
• Other than moving the Control key to the right side of the keyboard (so you can conveniently hit control-c), keep the inner keyboard and function key row the same.
• Make it wider, so that the inner screen is 800x480.
• Inner screen is a landscape mode touch screen. Outer screen is a portraid mode non-touch screen. Not sure if the inner screen should be rotatable (perhaps only when in tablet mode: see below).
• For the inside screen, move the soft buttons to be next to the red/green button. Move the Dpad to be where the soft buttons are now. Not sure where exactly to put the zoom, unzoom, full screen buttons.
• For the outside screen, make the button arrangement like an E71 (except without the qwerty).
• If you bend the hinges all the way around so that it's in a tablet mode, lock the qwerty keyboard (which will be facing away from the screen at that point). If you bend the hinges around so that it's "closed", then that effectively locks the inner screen and qwerty keyboard (but not the outer keypad). If the hinges are bent to some intermediate location, lock the phone keypad. Otherwise, use the power button for the locking menu (like on S60).
• Make the GSM/WCDMA radio optional. Perhaps 3 hardware variants:
  1. World GSM/WCDMA: all 4 GSM bands, all 4 WCDMA bands (Euro/Asian, Australian, USA-AT&T, USA-T-Mobile) -- preferably with two active SIM cards (pick which traffic goes to which SIM card)
  2. WiMAX
  3. Neither GSM/WCDMA nor WiMAX (give this variant something else... maybe full size SDHC card, in addition to the microSDHC card). (keep the number pad on the outside, for when you're using the device as a SIP phone or Skype phone)
• Make it so that it can hold 2 different sizes of battery -- thin for basic included one, thicker for people who don't mind giving up thinness for extra battery life (and, obviously, the thicker one would also make it so that you can't quite bend the device back to tablet mode). Hopefully even the thin one will have more life than the N800/N810 battery.
• No power port. Two USB ports: USB OTG port for host and otg. USB client port for charging, syncing, and when you really need to flash the OS (de-bricking or whatever, or maybe for people who want to switch from Maemo to Symbian or visa versa).
• micro-DVI port with DVI-A support.
• Headset jack like the N810, not the AV connector on the E61i (not sure what the E90 has).
• The larger form factor might make room for stereo speakers, but I'm not sure it's honestly necessary (you could use headphones, bluetooth headphones, external speakers via the headphone jack, etc.).
• Place the various connectors where they will be convenient to use when holding the device ... the N800 and N810, for example, place the USB, sound, and power connectors in HORRIBLE locations, making it difficult to hold the device for use while you've got something plugged into it. Of course, the question might be "how do you place them so that they're convenient to both tablet and phone orientation use?"

For software:

• Obviously Maemo instead of S60 (though, an option to run Symbian on all 3 hardware variants wouldn't bug me).
• Port all of the basic S60 apps to it. Calendar, mail client, syncing software including isync support, etc. (the S60 mail client is amazingly great compared to anything I've used on Maemo)
• Include an Xterm that remembers your settings, and can to black background text.
• Include OpenSSH
• Include a VNC viewer that does the same type of zooming/unzooming that the Symbian web browser does (when you move the pointer far by holding down the dpad, it automatically "unzooms" and shows you where the screen would be with a red box). Maybe have 1 soft button be a "which mouse button is active" selector, instead of how the Maemo VNC viewer works (ie. actually use the zoom/unzoom/full-screen buttons as those actual functions, not the way the current VNC viewer works).
• Include Bluetooth BIP support, both as the client and the server.
• Include Bluetooth HID support, both as the client and the server (when acting as a keyboard/pointing-device for another computer, use the touch screen as a "touch pad" to control the host's pointer).
• Include Bluetooth DUN _and_ Bluetooth PAN support, both as client and server (server so that the GSM and WiMAX models can do tethering to laptops/etc.). Both should be handled in the control panel.
• Built in support for acting as a infrastructure mode Wifi Access Point (like JaikuSpot, or WMWifiHotspot), so that the GSM and WiMAX models can do Wifi tethering to laptops/etc. Include support for WEP and better encryption (Jauikuspot only includes WEP). Make a nice and easy to set-up and config control panel for it.
• Include Bluetooth profiles for stereo audio support.
• For at least the GSM hardware variant, but possibly usable on all 3 hardware variants, UMA phone call capability (definitely have SIP phone call capability on all three hardware variants).
• Unlike S60, make it so that it can do Syncing and Data transfers at the same time, don't make it choose between the two modes.
• Socks 5 proxy support in the connection control panel, and support in every included app to easily make use of a Socks proxy. Make it easy to set up using the included OpenSSH as your socks 5 proxy.
• Include Privoxy, and have the default web browser configuration set to use it. Include a control panel for Privoxy configuration (including having it automatically use the connection control panel's defined socks 5 proxy for outbound traffic, if the connection control panel has activated the socks 5 proxy).

What I'm looking for in the N900 is:

• the "peripherals" of the N800 (SD card size, radio chip, no GPS, no slider)
• the form factor of the N810 (same size - or smaller!, faceplate camera, transflective screen and light sensor)

and fully differing from the N8x0 series in:

• a processor bump to the 3000 series
• RDS support in the FM chip
• N support for wireless
• Screen bandwidth limitation lifted
• 3D accel support

That would make for some fairly awesome badassery in Maemo Mapper.

Heh, funny story there...
I was in my 8th grade English class during some free time, so I decided to watch some Angry Video Game Nerd videos with one of ny friends.

So, I close the app (smplayer) and without thinking, pull out the headphones, and my tablet keeps outputting audio, and screams (at full volume) "Mother of a f***!," as I am trying to cover up the speakers with my hands (it looked like CPR) and I ended up ripping off the back cover and smashing the back against the ground to throw out the battery.

Believ it or not, no one else heard it in a full class.

I came across this vid surfing around YouTube. To follow up with my wish to have a compositing interface for the N900, this illustrates some of the strengths.

For those that don't know, this is a User Interface for the upcoming NVidia powered Tegra devices. Have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3lea...eature=related

I'm not too crazy about the 3D-barrel-like-window-layout, but I love the fact that they zoom in and out and slide side to side. It enables a large accessible virtual desktop rather than a rather small 'static' desktop that can only display one resolution confined app at a time. Even if a window's contents weren't composited into the zoomable windows squares (eg. icons with text labels upon zooming out, or low res representations), it would still be extremely useful and use very little memory.

I would like to see a similar desktop for the N900, though it's not impossible to be emulated on the N8x0s as well. 3D acceleration would be nice in this case, but it isn't necessary.

}:^)~
YARR!

Crapt'n Crorrupt

I'm not really sure I'm sold on a clamshell device for the N900.

There are certainly benefits to such a design: for example a built-in stand and a built in screen protector. Of course, it also implies that the screen will be farther from the keyboard, it may be slightly more awkward to hold, and it'll require one more step (and a free hand) to use the device. I would imagine that the hinges would also make the device slightly larger, though this could probably be mitigated through clever placement.

I own a flip phone and didn't mind it (when I was using it), but it was easily flicked open with one hand for use. A larger device like the N900 would likely require two hands to open, and for quick intermittent use, would probably get on my nerves a bit.

I think it's a wonderful idea, but I'm not sure if it's for me.


}:^)~
YARR!

Cappy

<nerd>
Why post one reply when you can post three? Wise men have asked this question, but who among us has the answer?
</nerd>

Ok, time to give away a $1M patent idea (if it hasn't been done already, Nokia, I hope you're listening!).

I would like a SCRATCH RESISTANT SCREEN on the N900. I would rather have a durable device than to protect it with a $3 screen protector. How, do you ask, we pull this off? Simple...ish...

Imagine a clear plastic surface. On top of the clear plastic you mount miniature glass squares that are relatively (to the square surface) thick. The squares are arranged in a grid, but not completely touching one another. The parts between the squares are filled with a flexible, stretchable, and compressible plastic with similar refractive properties as the glass used (or vice versa).

Why all this trouble?

Because the squares will take up the majority of the face, the great majority will be more resistant to scratches (glass is hard). Also, because the squares are very small but relatively thick based on their dimensions, they will be much less likely to crack under pressure (tempered glass perhaps). Also, the grooves will allow the general surface to bend (absorb pressure) without having the squares touch one another and risk chipping (assuming, of course, the material between the glass can stretch and compress readily). Also, because the grooves are so small, most objects will not be able to *reach* the filler material, but would simply skip from one square to the next.

The result, a very inexpensive (if the process can be easily automated and is cheap to produce) scratch resistant touch surface. It may not have the smooth continuity of a single materials, but if the squares are sufficiently small, and the groove material chosen wisely, they would likely not refract the light enough to be distracting during unit use. I would bet that with careful selection of materials, it would be indistinguishable from the standard-screen during use.

Either that or throw some space-age nano-material at it... Something ripe with carbon, no doubt...

}:^)~
YARR!

Capt'n (likes to grab boobs) Corrupt