After having used the N900 for a few weeks now, I must say that I constantly miss one hardware button, and another one might also be useful. Here are my suggestions:

1) Dashboard/desktop button

When using applications in full screen mode, switching apps or windows is a pain in the ***. For example in the browser:

1. click somewhere on the page to see the "toggle full screen button"
2. tap the toggle full screen button
3. tap upper left corner to get to the dashboard
4. tap another browser window
5. tap the toggle full screen button

That's 5 taps in different parts of the screen. If there was a dedicated "switch to dashboard" button, only 2 actions would be needed; press the button and tap the window you want. All the browser windows could be in full screen mode all the time.

I wonder if it would be possible to get the camera shutter button reprogrammed to open the dashboard instead of the camera app?

2) Phone button

This button could live on the right side of the screen. During normal use, pressing it would open the phone app.

If someone calls you, it could light up as green and pressing it would answer the call.

During a call, it could be red and pressing it would end the call. Right now ending a call is slow if you happen to open another app such as calendar during the call.

--

By the way, I'm still using the preprod firmware version from the summit, not the one coming in the sales box.

How about using keyboard shortcuts?

There are some hw buttons on the sides, maybe some of these could be configured to be utilized at least with some of your cases?

I really appreciate this mini-review of the user interface. These are the kind of daily experience issues that could make or break the N900. I like the idea of programming hw buttons to take care of this but I have no idea how programmable the buttons are in Maemo. What's been possible with the N8xx previously?

Try using the Ctrl+backspace shortcut from the HW keyboard to access the Dashboard. Very useful for instance in full screen mode browser.

Then again, I at least yesterday thought that "Next task" and "Previous task" would be very nice keyboard shortcuts.

A hardware button (one that is available even when the keyboard is closed) switching to dashboard would be extremely nice.

How about utilizing the proximity sensor for this? AFAIK it is already used as a fire-button in quake3... Maybe it would be possible to bind it as a global shortcut in an app that just engages the dashboard? (Except when in phone app, so that it does not interfere with the normal operation of the proximity sensor)

The only button I'm missing is a hardware "fullscreen key" button.

The one h/w key that gets seldom use is the camera shutter button. Many of us commented at the Summit that it would be nice for it to act as a 'app selector' switch when the lense cover is closed, presenting a customizable menu of apps when pressed.

Note that the phone is always two taps away atm .... press power-->phone.

I think that phone maufacturers (not just nokia) have to stop apeing the Iphone UI. This involves the N900 too and his lack of dpad and HW buttons.

The finger friendly UI is a nice feature, but the good old buttons (and dpad, jogdials and so on) are essential for a quick user experience.

its a general issue a have with touchscreen-based devices. there seems to be a tendency in the industry that touchscreen is the superior input mechanism, and if you need any hw buttons, your UI design is wrong.

this may apply to touch-based appliances you find in libraries, fast food restaurants and railway stations. it certainly isn't true for mobile devices that are designed for your pocket.

i cant understand, for example, what was wrong with the "full screen" button we had on the 770/N800/N810. easily accessible, didn't disturb any screen interaction, great solution.

also, the menu-key and the possibility to navigate menus with the d-pad was a more than welcome addition to the touch screen when you absolutely needed to operate the device one handedly. (this looks odd. handedly? is this still english?)

leaving all this out and declaring "touch screen is king" reminds me of the photoshopped super-skinny models for ralph lauren that people discussed everywhere a few weeks ago: they overdid it. it's too much.