At least in the terrestrial atmosphere the system saves the pictures with the ground down and the sky up, both for landscape and portrait. Except you trick the accelerometers waving your hand, running, etc which usually results in funny pictures anyway.

I don't know about other people, but when I think about a shopping list, I don't necessarily think about this requiring a specialist third-party app. My shopping list may just be a text file that I use Notes to open, and it might not be so much a traditional shopping list as a list of presents ideas to look out for, or an email from a friend, or a price comparison website, or a free-text field added to a contact or To-Do or Calendar item (if this is possible) etc. For ease of flexibility, I would rather not have to copy and paste this text into a rotateable app.

So the point I'm trying to make is that one use case, at least for me, is "ability to look at (and manipulate, e.g. scroll) Notes, Email, Browser, Contacts, To-Dos, Calendar applications easily while held in one hand, for example while shopping" rather than the more specific "Have a third-party shopping list app that works in portrait mode".

Yes, that is simply a todo list. More specific you'd want to have it integrated in stuff like recipe manager, and special deals on sale import ability, and you'd flag something when you grabbed it.

On iPhone (and iPod touch) I can buy an application for 1 EUR which will grab the latest stuff on sale from all Dutch supermarkets (parsing the data online). Ofcourse, I filter out the stores not near me. And then I can easily flag what I want to buy where.

Well

I know this may sound a little harsh but ... that's specifically why my talk at last summit was "We are not the users".

If Maemo4 devices, only tablets, attracted a fair amount of non-technical, already non-power users, now Maemo5 with phone features will attract massive amounts of users ( And I truly believe that, as well I believe that's Nokia's main target right).

So, While it's ok to share and gather data from the community, specially such a high standards one like Maemo, it's really risky to justify / lock features based on that.

For those who have used fully virtual keyboards (with fingers) and are fine with that (Millions of users) Specially because of the opposite pointed here (It uses screen space, but saves physical dimensions) It's simply one of the most annoying things to have to rotate the Device to perform a type.

Android phone 01 was an example of that. No surprise how much people cried over the virtual keyboard. It was really plain boring to be using the home screen, clicking on the Google search widget and nothing happened... you need to slide up, go from 1 hand to 2 hands and then type.

While most of guys here will think this is a small detail, dumb perception or whatever, This really gets annoying with the use, and special data will always have it's "optimus" orientation:

Browsing through list of contents (Contacts, Music, etc) will always be more effective in portrait, While (like Quim Gil pointed out) Browsing will be more effective on landscape. What is clear is that Nokia made a design decision : Landscape. Specially because of the input. To Hack now portrait mode, will immediately call for the portrait virtual keyboard, so this decision not only saves time, but also simplify a lot of stuff (who used Android, nows about dialogs being crippled when not designed for both resolutions, widgets running wild)

Well we can go all night, so I will resume :

don't simply justify by using

"What's the problem of turning the phone to type"

Because this is and will be proven by the real END users out there, REALLY annoying.


Once the device is out, this will be one (if not THE) loudest cries ever. Be prepared.

my 2 (or 200?) cents

*hoping to replace this N97 for the N900 soon, and get pissed of with the need to rotate and use to hands to type But as a linux device would ask for it... I will probably get a friend here in the office to do a virtual keyboard on portrait, to increase my love for my future favorite device

Where would I get headphones like that? Ideally I'd like something I could plug my own headphones into ...

Amen to Marcelo Eduardo. I don't look forward to the N900 because I simply won't go turn the phone to type. I don't have to do it on a N97 (at least I can use the on-screen T9), which has a far inferior UI design, and yeah, one of the most annoying things in the N97 is to have to turn an open the keyboard for efficient typing.

So I guess I will wait until either the virtual keyboard and turning for all apps gets done, or just get a Palm Pre.

One good thing that people should not forget that came with Maemo is: more software updates So... the device will be a success and the need will make the portrait v keyboard appear on one of those, sooner or later

At least we know Maemo is a new way if it was symbian, then we would have a more complicated future

Is this something that might satisfy your needs?

http://europe.nokia.com/find-product...headset-bh-214

They are not difficult to find and actually Nokia has several models, BT and wired. If your headphones have a 3.5 mm jack they should just work.

Anyway, if anybody wants to brainstorm the idea of having media player actions related to the hardware buttons please propose, comments and vote at http://maemo.org/community/brainstor...n_when_locked/

Basically I would like to have ALL applications available in portrait mode as well.

I really like this phone, and I was considering the iphone also, but would prefer to also be able to use the Nokia N900 i portrait mode.

Not being able to use the phone in Portrait Mode is a BUMMER if you ask me, and a "make og break" regarding choosing the phone or not..

I know it's intention is to be an internet tablet phone etc. etc., but being able to use the phone handheld in Portrait Mode does not stop the unit from still being a Internet Landscape Tablet unit.

My buy order for me and my company for this unit is put on a serious hold until I se that proper Portrait Mode also is embedded.

dissapointed