Yes.

Yes.

No.

Probably (since we've already got it, I hope they don't take it away on new hardware)

D-Pad on the device face please!

As a person that often uses the tablet with the keypad closed, I miss having access to the d-pad and the menu key! It is especially inconvenient with one handed operation (which should be easier with the coming accelerometer and auto-rotating screen).


YARR!
}:^)~
TheloneusCapt'n

Although there probably will not be a compass, why not add all sorts of sensors? The Nokia research teams have always been talking about sensors in mobile devices and how they can help larger scale surveys or services. Placing tempature, compass, and barometer sensors in an open source device could lead to some great experiments. I don't know how that would change the overall cost, but it would be alot of fun!

The N97 has a compass AFAIK, so I don't think it's completely out of the question for the N900.


YARR!
}:^)~
NortherlyCapt'n

I don't agree about 1024x600. 800x480 is just fine. Don't fix what isn't broken.

A2DP? I don't consider the NIT to be my PMP, so I don't care about that at all (one way nor the other). So it's not on my minimums.

And, the NIT already has USB Host (OTG can switch to Host, IIRC). What it needs there is just an easier selector for the different modes, and judging by the bug/feature tracker ticket activity on that issue, I am expecting we'll see that in 5.0.

My minimums for the N900 (and thus the hardware, not the software): HSPA (got it), lots more storage and RAM, and charge via USB client. More CPU would be good, but it's not a "requirement" for me. If I thought there was any hope for it, I'd put in "Dpad on the face" as a requirement, but I have a feeling that "requirement" would mean I'd never be able to buy another NIT in my life. It would also be exceptionally nice to have a 5 row keyboard that has good solid ergonomics (the E71 has amazingly good feel in this regard, I hope the NIT team was able to learn that from them). No more hitting the symbol key in order to get numbers. If the HSPA does all 4 groups (euro, asian, AT&T/NAM, and T-Mobile-USA), that'd be a wet dream.

On the software side, I do hope that Maemo 5.0 will bring us a SyncML client for calendar and contacts. Before Sept. I wasn't a big Google Apps user, so I never really looked into it with the NIT, but I do hope that 5.0's browser has good solid non-mobile version support for Google Mail, Calendar, Reader, and Voice. It'd also be nice if it does well with Google Docs. I say "non-mobile" because one of my annoyances with the G1 is that it's all the mobile versions of those apps, which lack some key features. I'm also hoping that the built-in support for the other IM/Chat protocols (general Jabber, Yahoo, AIM, MSN, and maybe IRC) will be nice and solid by 5.0, as well as solid SIP support.

If I had all of that, even without the Dpad on the face, I'd have a very hard time choosing between the N900 and my G1. If it has both the Dpad on the face, and the full UMTS/HSPA capability, that'd be outstanding.

I'm new to this forum and to the 810, but I've been doing Linux in various ways for years - especially embedded and cross-compiled applications. Aside from maintaining the open source and coolness factors, what I really want is something slightly different than the current 810.

I read a LOT - all sorts of things. I want a handheld device optimized for reading. I think that means a physically larger screen. There's a huge gap between phone-sized deices like the 810 and even the smaller laptops.

My ideal would be something more like the Kindle - about the size of a small paperback book, but with a glorious color screen, comfortable leather binding, and the ability to browse the net and run all my favorite Linux apps. WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, and compact flash/SD are necessary. GPS, FM, and accelerometers are all good. Full bluetooth cellphone control would be good, as well as the ability to act as the handset for my home phone and act as a full-function IR remote.

I don't care about fitting it in my pocket, but I want it to be exquisitely comfortable to hold, look at, and use. The paperback book seems to be close to the ergonomic optimum.

I've been waiting years for this, but no one has made me happy yet :-(

@johnkin
I agree with you that the NIT is nearly perfect.

I personally would like to see A2DP. Many computers can handle it, so why not the NIT as well (pocketable computer)? Besides, it's mainly a software problem so it should be easy enough to support.


@rx7vt
I can understand your request for such a device. There are a whole slew of netbook variants (including tablets) on the horizon that may give you what you want. Many of them will run an ARM processor and as such should have comparable life compared to the NITs, albeit in a larger form factor.

Also, Nokia seems to be getting into the Netbook game. I'm not sure what their play is, but perhaps they'll enter into the market with a little ingenuity and provide something similar.

I think I would be very interested in a larger tablet device (mainly for inking and as a thin client), but I'd like to keep the NIT as a pocket-able unit.


YARR!
}:^)~
NetCapt'n

Hmm, how we love to repeat ourselves. See above; A2DP is supported in fremantle (#667).

I'm with ya. After I was done printing Bruce Sterling's "The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier" I naively thought, "This might be the year." That was 1994. And a year or so after that I purchased a few PDF's and thought, "Now this has to be the year." I gave up over a decade ago. But 1994 was about the first year that linux has been on my desktop in one form or another.

Well, the USB transceiver (ISP1204/ISP1207) was mentioned in the beta kernel and it seems to support OTG.