Well, maybe Nokia's tablet efforts are (were?) tied to Maemo, but MID/tablet oriented OSS platform also exists outside the Nokia universe.

Apart from the proprietary hardware bits and some packages specific to tablets, Maemo is largely based on other Open-Source projects and other interested parties (significant industry names with genuine interest in a more varied and competitive hardware market, unlike Nokia who's interest lies only in selling Nokia's own hardware...) might be more keen on supporting further development of Internet Tablets.

(FWIW, the 3rd hit of "Moblin MID" search is about Skype beta for moblin...)

Considering that since early 2008 (when Maemo 4 for the N8x0 tablet series was put into less than maintenance mode; the SSU feature was delivered last summer but for what??) Nokia has been working Maemo 5 (and later) with their emphasis not on the internet tablet form factor any longer, did they really have to co-opt the Internet Tablet (Talk) community under their Maemo brand?

The fate of the Nokia tablets does seem to be tied to Maemo 4 and Mer, but the future of the internet tablets in general may lie with another (perhaps a more communicative) software platform and other hardware vendors.

Good luck, especially considering that I have deleted Linux on this eee pc and am only running Windows 7 here (though I am only running Linux on my main desktop at the moment).

If I had the money and business, you'd be one of the first people I'd try to hire.

Good luck Texrat !

About Foleo : i disagree with Javispedro, the Foleo wasn't able to work standalone and so i found it ridiculous from the begining. I was thinking to something like the next netbooks to come on the market : ARM based, cheaper, less powerfull than Atom based netbooks but with greater battery life ... Like the ones proposed as a reference design by Pegatron.

Maemo would be a dream on such a device.

!

Geneven, considering some of our exchanges () that truly means a lot to me. Thanks for the boost!

Now back on topic...

While I loaded some movies on my tablet and view pdfs on there now and again, these were, for me, never central use cases. But that doesn't mean that I don't commiserate with the rest of you for whom they are central activities on your beloved tablet.

For me, my n800 was my first (and only) mobile web device. I loved getting to know it, finding new things to do with it, new ways it changed my life. It's the first thing I've purchased that I felt was new every day.

But for me, the draw of this community *was* and *is* maemo-centric, not tablet-centric. True, I don't care much about a netbook, but rather mobile web on a maemo device. I've spent so many hours learning about linux and maemo, learning what can and can't be done, and having confidence that, in the end, just about *everything* can be done, and usually by a nice and enterprising member of our community. THIS is the draw for me, personally.

So the fact that nokia is going full-throttle with an open OS that I love is more than a little solace. And while a smaller maemo device is welcome in my book, I'd hate to lose members of the community because a tablet is not forthcoming. Here's hoping those members stick around by finding alternate hardware that can run MER. I can say with confidence that if the bulk of the community spends more time on MER, I will seriously consider abandoning fremantle for MER even on the new device .

This has felt like the twilight zone for the past few days. I've already said something positive about the iPhone, and now I'm going to say something positive about Archos: They have a nice range of sizes and they don't have hardware keyboards (I think).

From Peter's and Ragnar's comments, I optimistically predict that there will be,eventually, a Maemo 5 tablet (no hardware keyboard, 4", 5", 6"... screen). Why would they jump to a netbook and then let other companies fill the gap that they're already in? That would be stupid.

I know, maybe I am one of the few in the minority who isn't that offended by the smaller screen size and the inclusion of voice and still thinks of this new rumoured device as a tablet (i.e. if I do buy it it will replace or compliment my tablet needs).

Again, on the other hand maybe Nokia will bring out a tablet further down the line - and all this love-hate relationship in these threads will all melt into love for Nokia once again :-)

Aha - straigt from Maemo to Microsoft - :-)

But all the best to you ! May you join MS and be the protagonist in MS who ushers in opens source culture a bit more ...

slightly offtopic, Iknow, but: Good luck :-)

Regards,
Glasswalker

The part that gets me is that someone at sometime had a stroke of genius at Nokia. Some designer or team of designers came up with the 770 then bested it with the amazing N800. These devices were ground-breaking and an evolutionary step ahead in technology. Now instead of showing the world why a tablet size screen is the best, and very portable at the same time, they have given way to some guy in a suit who wants to sale more handsets.

I can empathize with what the original brilliant team (hardware engineers) that created the Nokia tablets must now feel. Sometimes brilliant is moot unless you have the marketing to go with it -- after all unseen and untold is unsold. I guess when the marketing division fails, like in the case of NIT’s, it’s easy to save face by just saying it’s merely an R&D project so nor real harm and “that was to be expected.”

I have used the Iphone extensively along with the N800 and N810. Without a doubt the screen size of the Iphone is prohibitive for extensive web browsing -- so much so that my wife grabs my N810 to do her real internet browsing.

Perhaps at this point you need concessions to stay in the game since the part were Nokia "marketed to the masses" never came to fruition (someone dropped the ball).

In the end, the tablets (4.2” screen size or so) should have been blazing a trail for others to follow if they had been marketed properly. I will probably try a smaller screen size and see how it works, but in the end I feel sorry for those that came up with the brilliant idea that created the NITs, which is now apparently diminished by a need to catch up in market share.

Sometimes the best idea doesn’t win and business politics and marketeers carry the day.