@otaku:

Oh, I've done something like that too.. but mine adds a full featured camera to a phone:

Looks good, but where's the compass?

I realize the analog compass solution is kludgy, but if you built a small tube/shaft containing the periscope mirror at the top and the ball compass at the bottom (with optionally an LED+button battery for illumination), it would be a one-piece, compact unit that would only need to be pressed against the user-facing camera to be used, and could be pocketed when unused.

It seems that the other solutions are:
1. Pre-built compass module + bluetooth module (e.g. from SparkFun) + battery.
2. Custom PCB + surface mount compass chip + bluetooth chip + battery.
3. Ready-made serial compass module OS-5000.

Based on the hardware modules I found by searching the web, option 1 would probably be bulkier than the analog compass solution. Option 2 could potentially be made small, but the battery will still make it bulky, and it requires equipment to etch a board and do surface-mount soldering. Option 3 would be very small, but requires USB host and costs almost $300, which probaby most people will agree is too pricey.

I guess we can still hope for Option 4, that the shipping delay is due to Nokia adding a built-in compass...

I'm not saying the analog solution is optimal, just that for someone like me without PCB/SMT tools or skills, it seems like a workable, low-cost, low-risk kludge. The small analog compass strap is also at least useful by itself.

Rather than a periscope, what about some kind of lens that could be placed between the camera and the compass that would allow the camera to focus on a tiny ball compass pressed right against the camera? That would certainly be more compact and lit would allow more light to shine on the compass...

Just a small note... Don't bet too much on the user facing cam, the image quality (with the current, prerelease firmware) is so bad it needs to improve to earn being called atrocious.

You've actually used the user-facing camera? Great! This is the first report I've heard about it.

Could you describe in more detail the quality issues? Or better yet, could you post some images? Preferably of small objects in distances from zero to a few cm in front of the camera lens, to simulate the ball compass...

See this project as there have been a lot of comments there that were camera related.

Qole described it being similar to a bad UHF TV reception Macro focusing is a no-go, it's infinity locked. Image from other thread.

Painful fact, we won't be able to do this.

...Whew. Thank you, Nokia, for sparing us from that.

"N900 DOES have digital compass! It’s just not in use yet. We’ll see new applications that use the digital compass soon i think." http://www.geekwithlaptop.com/nokia-...-specification is this true?

As true as the "Voice command / dial" four lines below.

ie. NO.