Hey, don't get me wrong, the N900 is a great phone/device, if I had the money, I'd likely buy it and all, but it IS an increasingly tough fit for some us old N8x0 veterans looking for an upgrade.

Hmmm, I like hooking my Arduino up to my N800. In the N900 PUSH documents, they seem to use a bluetooth-serial adapter ("BlueSMIRF bluetooth modem"). Bummer.

this? i didn't really find better info about it being or not what we're searching for...
i added the supplier on MSN and Skype, waiting for him to pop up, if he ever does...

http://gembird.manufacturer.globalso...67/USB-Hub.htm

You need the most expensive EyeFi for it to work in adhoc network ;(

or this: http://www.buy.com/prod/iogear-seria...202124646.html
(even if it's still 60 $..)

I don't know how exactly would I classify this device. Distinguishing between a smartphone and a mobile computer is becoming increasingly difficult anyway. The N900 seems to stand somewhere between a traditional smartphone and a small tablet PC.

I guess it depends on the physical size of the device - With handheld devices any wires are usually a nuisance (even more than with laptops), so I necessarily wouldn't expect it to have an interface depending mostly on wires.

My use case is to use a USB DVD drive. I also had hope that we could figure out how to connect a large monitor via USB,

If it is true that USB will not work it is a MAJOR disappointment. I'll still have to carry my N800 or a small laptop. I am really looking forward to the day when I can use a phone-sized device as a computer; I thought that day was almost here. I've been mentally redesigning my "man-bag" to be smaller yet more functional. It looks like it will still contain a computer. Sigh.

Any news from Nokia about when this will be fixed would be helpful.

Deal breaker for me. Someone asked if the previous devices didn't have host mode would we have cared. Yes, this was one of the main reasons I bought the n800, there are actually ipaqs that have host mode, and for a good reason, a certain market absolutely needs it.

When I was looking at pocketable devices, my main concerns were at least 640x 480 resolution, decent screen size(3.5" or larger), and host mode or CF slot(there are CF ethernet and serial devices) or both. There are some ipaqs that have host mode and CF, but the combination of Linux, 800x480 and usb host mode, won me over and I bought a n800. If the n800 wasn't capable of host mode, I would have never bought the device, as it was critical for me. Us techies need easy wired ethernet and serial, anything without this is a deal breaker for us, because then we have to carry a notebook/netbook and then we might as well stick with a cheap phone we can use as a BT modem, because we will literally have to lug around a notebook everywhere we go, for the ethernet and serial ports, so we might as well run our apps on the notebook and not the phone.

What's stupid about this, is that it seems like nokia could have released two devices that fit both markets, it's what nokia is good at, making a range of devices to fit as many user types. Why not release two devices, the n900 and also a larger screened version of the n900 with usb host and maybe an external SD slot, to keep your techie evangelists and often developer crowd happy. It might not sell as well as the smaller n900, but would probably sell as well as the previous n800/n810, but those people are more likely to give back than the average user, so it's no big deal.

There's no doubt that USB is a terribly bad specification. It looks worse the more I look at it. Igor Stoppa suggested we should start complaining to the USB consortium, and I can only agree. If USB had just been based on Firewire..

Still, it's a pity for those that hoped the N900 could still be considered a pocketable computer. So, with the N8x0 you had to bring a phone along on your mission but you could leave your laptop at home, with the N900 you can leave the phone at home but you'll have to bring the laptop.. there's no way to win

(I'm of course completely relaxed, as I'm betting on the dark horse mentioned in a post above )

(Bold font by me)
That's actually a very good point.