Got a call from this guy, who claimed he works for an organisation that is carrying out a group discussion/session type for Nokia's device N900. Apparently those who filled out the Nokia survey (on their website?) are being contacted to see if they would like to contribute to this panel.

Basically its next wednesday (30th June) - in the evening for 90 Mins somewhere in London. There will be a group of ten N900 users from across the city who will join to discuss the highs and lows, their experience of the device and any other general discussions that come up.

I think this is a fantastic opportunity. Regardless of the method Nokia implement, I think actual N900 users getting together to voice their opinions, ideas and feedback is vital - especially if this is being taken back to Nokia.

Why are they doing this?
- Getting ready for Meego?
- Seeing how Maemo was received?
- Feel for the type of people who use this device, and their expectations?

Anyway i'll be going - and im going to prepare some notes before I go. Sounds nerdy, but id rather have a solid list of things to discuss rather than discuss how cool my lock screen looks. So if you guys have any particular areas of discussion, concerns (plenty im sure), compliments? post them here.


(P.S. i'll be getting £50 for contributing )

I hope they get objective unbiased people in the mix, otherwise they won't find out what's "wrong" with the N900

please emphasize that while the hardware is really good, the follow through support sucks - highlight lack of communication, Ovi store/map delays, schedule of future bug fixes and flash 10.1 where the N900 is gradually losing access to web flash content, which was supposed to one of the strongest selling point of this device.

i.e. Google Street View - could use it before, now cannot because flash 10.1 is req and that if the N900 is to fulfil its promise of providing access to flash content, an upgrade is needed.

I think there will probably be a breakdown for me over:

- Experience with Maemo/N900 as it is now
E.g. What I knew the device could do and how well it does it (Email, MicroB, Ovi Maps, Customisation etc)

and

- My expectations over the device
E.g. The potential it had in Dec 2009 when the road plan for Maemo was clear, momentum was building and the user base was growing.

and

- Future of N900
And now what the path with Meego is announced - the possibility of receiving further updates to the OS, bug fixes etc and any enhancements (Flash 10.1?)

Hey,

I also got the phone call but couldn't make the two dates he offered. Would love to hear what sort of comments were discussed when you get back...

I would stress the importance of a hardware keyboard and resistive touchscreen(or resistive+capacitive hybrid)

And tell them they should still support the N900 with software updates like Flash 10.1 since it's still less than a year old.

And as a curveball ask if they could make a wrapper for Android apps to run on Meego

Mind asking if they are willing to open up some of their drivers... for example; camera/video recording, there is room for improvement without overclocking.

The community could probably then impliment something better.

True. I think as an OS, we have been given a very open one but i'm not sure how much of Meego they will open for us - especially the camera etc. This pretty much makes us their developers (for free?).

I will raise the point about my own expectation, and slight disappointment that certain areas were not open for us. I dont expect Nokia to listen to this point but at least I can reaffirm the demand from consumers wanting complete open source code.

- A Keyboard is a big plus with the N900. Must remember that this focus group isnt about Meego specifically but about Maemo/N900 - so yes re-iterating that the keyboard was a big factor in the decision to purchase the N900 might push the point that not everyone wants capacitive devices with no physical keyboard.
(Why not have capactive touch and a keyboard?)

- Why not. Il throw it out there. If for no other reason but to get a glare from the note takers.

Would it possible to bring up the "slowing down" of N900 issue? There are discussions going on in this forum as well as in bugzilla. If you are interested, I can summarize the issues reported and their bug reports and post it here. Personally, I want this issue to get attention as it is one of the most visible issues in N900.

As someone else mentioned, GPS/Maps are a problem. There is no easy way to load maps to N900 for offline usage? The maploader is unstable for me on Windows and it is not available in Linux platforms. Would be great if there is a way to directly download them to N900. I am sure this would help future MeeGo devices as well.