I wonder how bluetooth keyboards perform with the n900? On my n810, I'm back to using a USB keyboard, because the BT keyboard was so slow.

I'm a moderately fast typist (80wpm), and with my BT keyboard I would literally type a line of text in vim and then wait for the characters to appear on the screen. My USB keyboard is a bit laggy, but much better.

BT keyboards are obviously more convenient than USB because they're smaller and they don't have the huge cumbersome cable. If they were as fast as USB keyboards, I'd probably use them.

Except, of course, that you're not supposed to use BT keyboards on airplanes, and that sucks.

haha, i know...

i wasn't thinking that "step 5" is the last one, but this process gives me a bit the idea of (software example): Alpha (N770 - step 1), Beta1 (step 2), Beta2 (step 3), Beta3 (N900 - step 4), RTM version 1 (step 5), version 2 (Maemo 7?), version 3 (Maemo 8?)...
of course it's all my immagination and I wouldn't care of this, as long as the N900 does all I search for and a decent features&desire/cost relation...
it just missed one feature...
nice irony

Oh, and what's this? A bluetooth USB hub?
http://www.inspector-gadget.co.uk/blog_134.shtml

BUT I CAN'T USE IT ON A PLANE!!!

j/k, thx a lot for finding this one...

now, what's the transfer speed of data someone may expect from an external 7200 rpm HD to N900 with this bluetooth USB hub? any additional slowness issues using this system due to the use of bluetooth? (thinking about a USB keyboard connected this way for example, something that needs a quick response)
thx in advance!

ps. couldn't something similar exist using WiFi ? isn't wifi "better" than bluetooth?

Even with full USB OTG support a separate adapter would be required to connect USB devices with standard-A type plugs. This makes USB OTG largely useless for use cases like quickly needing to copy a file from a friend's hard drive or USB stick, unless you're always willing to carry an adapter with you. And I don't like the idea of having a highly-integrated pocket-sized mobile device and then having to carry a bag of accessories with you. The moment you can't fit all the stuff in your pocket you're better off with a larger device anyway

I agree that there are some valid use cases for host mode and it surely would be nice to have for hacking, but I don't see the lack of it as a deal-breaker in this type of device.

Question: So I guess USB2SERIAL for managing Cisco devices is out?

My main use of OTG was flash drives. Even 32 Gb fills up quick if you had music, movies, and other documents on it (like my n800 does).

Though the n900 has a good camera I imagine I'll still take my Canon when I go places where I know I will be taking photos. But my Canon only supports up to 4 GB. So I would take my n800+camera+a big USB drive and use the n800 to move photos over on vacations.

Granted if it can be done via bluetooth then that's ok. The only other time I have used OTG USB is when my friend and I found a random USB drive on the ground and wanted to see if we could return it if there was a name on a file.

This is not good news.. I was hoping to interface some microcontrollers to the N900 via a USB-to-Serial converter a very important thing for hobby electronics guys.. not to mention those expensive (65$) bluetooth-to-serial converters Nokia suggests on their hacker guide on the PUSH website, might as well hold off the pre-order and wait for the actual in-depth reviews...

If someone finds them actually offered for sale somewhere, and the pricing isn't outrageous, the EDSLAB WiDRIVE battery-powered, WiFi hard drive enclosures might be useful to someone.

i go nearly always around like this anyway (on my back/under my arm): http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7559/dscn2015r.jpg
with money, phone, digital camera, headphones, anything else...
so, an adapter wouldn't be a problem at all for me..