Originally Posted by chlettn

Quite frankly, current tablets were neither fish nor meat. Too small to be really useful as a productivity device, too big to be taken whereever you go. And by now, they really just don't stand a chance as dedicated web-browsing devices against the newest smartphones which combine good enough web browsing with a ton of other features in a package just small enough to fit in a jeans pocket (which the current tablets certainly don't).

Even without data to back up that statement, I think I'm right when I say that the current three versions of the tablets have been complete commercial failures and the whole line was only kept alive as an R&D playground up to now. And on the other hand, things like the iPod Touch/iPhone have sold millions of units...it's really not hard to see why Nokia changes the tablet's premises.

Assuming that the the MobileCrunch article is accurate, this next-gen Maemo device will be a full smartphone, and I applaud Nokia's move to make it pocket-friendlier (and thus, actually usable as a smartphone). It's the first Maemo device I'd actually consider buying because it seems genuinely useful to me - while the N800/N810 were nice devices, but ultimatively nowhere near interesting enough for me to spend money on them.

And with that, I'm outta here. The negativity about an unannounced device on this board is both ridiculous and annoying, and it's continuously gotten worse in the last half year. A few members seem to be simply posting to point fingers on everything Nokia does and scream "CRAP" - and quite frankly, I really have no interest in this big whine fest once called ITT. Bye.

Originally Posted by sachin007

...but that exactly is what the switcher hardware key is for. Why duplicate it when you can do it easily with your thumb?

Originally Posted by mullf

How about a magnifying glass attachment that you slide over the device to magnify the screen to 4.1 inches

Originally Posted by Aisu

Well, I have to say, the E71's keyboard is much smaller than the N810's, but it is so, so, so much easier and quicker to type on. I love typing on my phone, but doing so on my tablet is a hassle...
Nokia did an amazing job on my E71's keyboard
Lets hope they do it with the tablets' successor(s).

Originally Posted by sjgadsby

Using the hardware button is a little slower. To use it, I need to:

1. move my thumb away from the screen (just a little, but why bother if it's not needed?)
2. push the button
3. wait for the menu to draw
4. move my thumb back to the screen (again, just a small, but unnecessary movement)
5. press the menu item for the target app

Originally Posted by benny1967

I got used to th N810 keyboard eventually, but it's still far from perfect. They must know that in Finland! (What kind of fingers do they have?) That's why I'd hoped for a better, slightly larger keyboard, not a smaller one.

Originally Posted by GeraldKo

Just curious: what do you use the Tablet for?

Originally Posted by lma

IMHO in terms of usability the Maemo UI peaked at 3.x. There were some great ideas there like modifying the UI behaviour according to stylus vs finger input, work being done for resolution independence and so on. I understand there were limitations in the touchscreen hardware of the time, but if those could be worked out somehow instead of abandoning tablet-style usage patterns a lot of customers would be much happier.

It's not quite a deal breaker for me because the underlying system is much better and more open now, and I can tolerate a bad UI up to a point. But given a choice I would definitely go for the UI that optimises the use of screen real estate and the number of taps needed to do things rather than the one with the eye candy.