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Nokia N900 - A New Beginning

By Seow Tein Hee - 16 Dec 2009

Features

A New Breath of Life

We have to admit that the N900's Maemo interface is the much needed breath of fresh air that Nokia needs for its N-series devices. Of course, with every new mobile OS or interface, a learning curve definitely exists. In the N900's case, the curve isn't as steep to the point that it'll leave you frustrated. The fact is that you'll be faced with not only pages, but tabs and multiple layers of apps, both in the foreground and the background, to work with. Here's a quick walkthrough of what you can expect on the Maemo 5 OS.

The main interface of the Maemo 5 OS, with up to four different pages for you to lay your shortcuts and widgets. Clicking on the top left corner as highlighted here brings you to...

...to the Menu, where you have all your apps laid out. But, should you have apps running in the background, what you'll actually see...

...are all your apps, currently idle in the background and waiting for you to reactivate them.

A drop-down menu is also available to present all the necessary access to your connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, your profile and volume.

The screenshots above are the basics of what you can expect on the Maemo interface. Diving deeper, we also explored some of its functions such as SMS, which in the N900, are known as Conversations, and its Applications Manager. The first, would be actually a seamless integration between your SMS and your Instant Messaging (IM) accounts. Currently, the N900 supports a variety of IM protocols, including Ovi by Nokia and Google Talk. VoIP protocols such as Skype are also included within the package, making the N900 a powerful communication tool to reckon with. For other connectivity options, you also have Mail for Exchange to provide push email support onto the N900, and you can utilize Google Sync to streamline your emails, contacts and calendar from Google onto the device.

The N900 focuses on both cellular and internet connectivity. As seen here, you get IM and VoIP protocols such as Google Talk and Skype respectively to keep you connected.

Mail for Exchange has become a staple amongst Nokia's N-series device, and it's not a surprise to see this feature on the N900.

Apps, as we've always highlighted, has become critical for any mobile manufacturer. Nokia's Ovi Store has a plethora of apps that have been designed for the Symbian platform. Thankfully, the Maemo platform has been quite active over the past few years, with a variety of apps already available on the Maemo website for perusal and download. However, it won't come near the sheer volume that's already on the Apple iTunes App Store, nor even Google's Android Market.

Nonetheless, it's expected that the Nokia will be working hard on the Maemo front, with its Ovi Store coming up with a Maemo category for N900 users. Furthermore, we've gotten word from a Nokia spokesperson that work has started on porting Symbian-based apps over to the Maemo realm, though a roadmap of these specific apps weren't shared with us.

If you noticed the Ovi Store icon and expect more apps for Maemo, then you're in for a bit of a wait. Hopefully, not too long a wait.

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