yep, altho the second is probably the best example, as the first only really mentions that a nokia exec claimed the move is done in response to competition, not that its done specifically to emulate apple.

here is the article that got me fired up:
http://mobile.broadbandgenie.co.uk/b...ow-Apples-lead

hell, the first one you linked to make it sound like nokia execs have figured out that hey, there are little in the way of new hardware we can stuff into our products, so lets cut it back to a couple with the same base, and make them "different" on software.

hell, SE have been pulling that for ages, resulting in people installing the W range firmware on their K range phones and similar, just to get the improved music player...

The N900 is sold out everywhere so wtf!?
I know for a f'n fact guys at my work will drool over it when i show it off at work multi-taskiing and they will spend the money even though they have been so hesitant in the past with previous models like N95 8GB.
This thing is the best thing on the market.
Data plan only plus 4 dollars or less to get unlimited USA phone calls from skype pretty mcuh beats everthing else out there.
But by all means go ahead and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z1X3jTJ2BY

This "analysis" has clearly been bought by someone who's afraid of Nokia and the N900 in particular.

Buying "neutral" opinions is a fairly common competitive berhaviour. The best evidence here is that this "research boutique" is a no-name in the analyst world.

I order 10.000 copies of a "neutral" study from a small company and the study says what I want. In addition the "analyst firm" gets some visibility = win/win. Simple mechanics.

I did analyst relations quite some time and know what I am talking about.

First, the "open" argument is bogus. WebOS is a Linux based OS with some proprietary pieces owned by Palm. Maemo is a Linux based OS with some proprietary pieces owned by Nokia. The relative openness is determined by the company that owns them. If they bought Palm, Nokia could make WebOS as open as Maemo.

The question is, as the analyst pointed out, the OS user interface and the apps that run on the OS. At this point, WebOS has a better look and feel as a smartphone than either the current Symbian or Maemo platforms. This could change with the new Symbian and Maemo 6 but that will require development on Nokia's part. Likewise, Nokia would have to invest to bring its core apps up to the level of Palm's and they will need a huge effort by the development community to bring the number of useful apps up to the number that run under WebOS.

Like it or not, these are corporate decisions that are based on the kind of bottom line reasoning which cannot afford to spend money wastefully. Having not seen Nokia's or Palm's books, I can't say if it makes sense but it is certainly not out of the question.

The author is a doucehbag and doesn't know what he's talking about...how about Nokia buy's Palm then turn around and sell's it off piece by piece, then makes Maemo the OS on all Nokia phones.