Nokia has released a new version of the Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition, available now for download. This new release (version number 4.2007.38-2) provides a software fix for a bug which may have appeared while copying large amount of data over-the-air or from external SDHC memory card to internal memory or vice versa. In some cases the downloaded data may have corrupted.
This new release fixes also a bug which drops in some cases voltage from memory card, though cards should manage this kind of situations without corruption.
The long awaited upgrade has finally arrived. Nokia just announced the new Internet Tablet 2007 update v4.2007.26-8. Nokia N800 owners can now enjoy three new much anticipated features: Skype client support, Adobe Flash 9 browser plug-in, and 8GB SD memory card support. Battery life has also been improved on this update, as well as a better touchscreen sensitivity. Nokia however decided to end the beta version of the Call Invitation app by August of this year.
Nokia and RealNeworks announce wireless access of Rhapsody’s three million song library, radio channels, music editorials, and album reviews using the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet.
…U.S. consumers can now enjoy mobile access to the award- winning Rhapsody(R) digital music service through the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. This innovative collaboration gives Nokia N800 Internet Tablet users rapid access to Rhapsody’s three million songs anywhere they have a Wi-Fi connection.
The new Rhapsody features are available to Nokia N800 Internet Tablet users beginning Tuesday, March 27, through a free software update, accessible via the device’s Tableteer menu and also at http://www.nokiausa.com/n800. In addition to playback from Rhapsody’s robust music catalog, this update will enable Nokia N800 Internet Tablet users to listen to customized Rhapsody playlists, stream hundreds of professionally programmed Internet radio channels and browse Rhapsody’s critically acclaimed music editorial and album reviews.
“We are thrilled to be working with Nokia to bring the Rhapsody experience to the Wi-Fi enabled Nokia N800 Internet Tablet,” said Philip W. O’Neil, senior vice president of music, RealNetworks. “Innovative integrations like these reinforce our vision of Rhapsody as a single service that delivers a personalized music experience that consumers love, at any time and on any device.”
“Giving consumers direct access to Rhapsody via their wireless Nokia N800 Internet Tablet gives new meaning to music on the go,” said Bill Plummer, Vice President, Sales & Channel Management, Multimedia, Nokia North America. “Our goal at Nokia is to make the Nokia N800 the ultimate portable Internet entertainment device, giving consumers the convenience of easy wireless access to their favorite online services beyond the confines of home.”
The sleek, pocket sized Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is a Linux-based handheld product dedicated to convenient Internet browsing, messaging, email communications, Internet calling and other applications over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth phone data connections. With stereo audio, media support and an integrated web camera, the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet lets users enjoy streamed and downloaded content while on the go. The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet includes a high-resolution widescreen display (4.13 inches) with zoom functionality, built-in stereo speakers for enjoying music, an on-screen keyboard, and an intuitive user interface that is ideal for browsing for music through Rhapsody.
We just got a note from iNdT that Python 2.5 for Maemo 2.1 (Scirocco) and Maemo 3.0 (Bora) has been released. The major changes are:
* Updated to Python 2.5 version of the core language
* Updated bindings
* Added bindings to new Hildon widgets (Maemo GTK+ extension widgets)
* Improved bindings to OSSO library (access to Maemo-specific services)
Maemo.org just announced the Nokia N800 Developer Device Program where selected open-source developers can purchase the new Nokia N800 for only $99 Euros (limited to 500 devices).
Hello,
Nokia is launching a Developer Device Program to provide
open source developers with Nokia N800 Internet Tablets at
a discount. Maemo.org will be providing 500 devices at a
price of 99 Euros per device to selected open source
developers. Eligible developers will be provided a
discount code to be used at the Nokia N800 online shop.
Please visit http://www.maemo.org/ for details.
On behalf of the maemo team,
Ferenc
The SDK for Maemo 3.0 ‘Bora’ has also been released for the developers. Some of the major changes are as follows:
New improved maemo-installer script that makes installing the maemo 3.0 SDK effortless.
New libraries to provide access to terminal features: Camera, Hildon input methods, Address book, UPNP, Alarms, GPS, and more
New Single Click Application Installation feature is supported in Nokia N800.
SDK rootstraps for both ARMEL and i386 architectures that support software development for Nokia N800 Internet Tablet and OS 2007.
Updated documentation: porting guide, maemo tutorial, updated API documentation, new how-to documents to cover features like Nokia N800 Camera, Alarm interface and more.
OK, I know it sounds early, considering that I haven’t yet installed or used IT 2006, the new OS for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. I don’t know what it really does or doesn’t do well. But I’ve already started forming my wish list for the next OS release.
My two biggest frustrations with the 770 are fairly personal and one of them is so personal as to be idiosyncratic. But they both deal with the unrealized potential of the 770 for note-taking and organization.
Btw, I don’t want the 770 to be a PIM replacement, though clearly lots of other folk do. Phone numbers, addresses, alarm reminders — I’m happy enough with those functions in my cell phone.
But note taking is a whole ‘nother category.
No one believes tapping into Notes or an editor like AbiWord is fast enough to make notes while you’re thinking or in a meeting. And don’t even mention BT keyboards — I do my best thinking on the twenty-minute walk between work and the train station.
I’ve been exploring use of the GTD system propounded by David Allen in his book Getting Things Done, and despite my highly electronified state, I’m heavily dependent on scribbling things on 3×5 cards. No other way to get so much information down quickly enough.
But I can’t use the handwriting recognition engine in the Nokia 770 because it just doesn’t work. (”Adequate” is a failing grade here.)
The screen resolution of the 770 is 225 pixels per inch — about five times that of the UMPC and most laptops. It’s so high that it seems ideal for actually being able to decipher handwriting and translate scribbles into keystrokes.
I urge Nokia to license the PhatWare HWR engine used in Calligrapher and PenOffice and use it instead of their current feeble software. I really would use Notes then for just what it’s supposed to be, to jot down quick notes.
As for my other wish: Like others, I’m wanting more capability out of Opera. But in my case, giving me a complete desktop Opera 9.0 wouldn’t satisfy me.
That’s because I like to use a TiddlyWiki-based micro-content wiki called MonkeyGTD. (Jeremy Ruston wrote TW, and Simon Baird customized it to MonkeyGTD.) TW and its derivants are single-html-page wikis, whose “tiddlies” correspond to pages in a standard wiki and which typically are short entries rather than the full-blown kinds of things you want and expect from a full page. A TiddlyWiki is meant to be stored locally and is perfect for tracking lots of cross-linked notes. All the programming in TW is done in Javascript.
My problem is that Opera won’t save changes you make within it to an html file, even one stored locally. (A modification lets you do this through Java on a desktop machine with Opera.) So I’m ready for a different browser, and if Nokia doesn’t supply it, I’d like to be able to remove Opera and free up that space for a browser that can do what I need.
Being able to quickly make notes with a viable HWR application and to consult, add to and check off all the things I need to do in a small browser-based GTD application — these are how I’d like to make the 770 work for me. Can we get those in the next go-around, please?
It was one year ago today that Nokia announced the Internet Tablet at LinuxWorld Expo in New York.
From the beginning there has been a lot of excitement for what the Nokia 770 is and portends. And there’s been a lot of disappointment and dismissal of the Nokia 770 for what it’s not.
But think about it. No other company has been able to get out a device that is this portable and this powerful, that has an 800-pixel-wide display and that also sells for anywhere close to the 770’s price.
For everything that the 770 can do and for what it will be able to do, I’m really grateful that the Nokia developers made so many correct choices in designing this computer.
Thanks, everyone! Congratulations on your one-year anniversary!
ElectricNews.net writes that “Nokia looks to have scored a major hit with a new wireless device that doesn’t have any phone functionality.”
What prompts this report is the news that:
The Finish firm announced on Wednesday that, against its expectations, it is to increase production of its 770 Internet Tablet handheld after achieving huge online sales since its launch in early November.
Well, we knew it, because we’ve seen the pre-release anticipation and post-release frustration-at-shipping-delays here in the itT forums and in other blogs. ENN says further “The product has no direct competitors in this new segment and analysts believe it could be successful as a niche product.”
It definitely has no competitors, and I guess you could call it a niche now. But this unexpected demand, I would argue, presages the emergence of a full-fledged category, one that won’t be a “niche” much longer.
Edited later to add:
I wonder how long there will be no “direct competitors”? This demand is bound to be noticed by others. Do you think some Asian firm will rush a small, Linux, under-$400 (and probably half-baked) device out before June? Other devices will mark another step on this road.
Thanks to Mike Cane for pointing us to this report and one at TMCnet, which attributes the original information to the Wall Street Journal.
We’re entering a new phase for the Nokia 770, the third for users.
Phase 1 was the five-month buildup of anticipation as we waited from the end of May for the 770 to be released.
Then the device was released. And in this phase, for users, it was a matter of acquiring a device (still to be achieved for some who had hoped to be well into this phase weeks ago) and seeing installer-ready applications from third parties appear. In this phase, to a certain extent we’ve had to discover how things work on our own. The many blogs by Nokiaemployees, by developers, by users, the forums here at itT and the FAQ, the Maemo wiki, not to mention Planet Maemo — a lot of sites have popped up to deal with the information exchange.
Despite the 770’s aspirations of being an internet appliance, we initial users have been something of pioneers, having to piece together what to do with many, many issues. And we began to feed our opinions back to Nokia from day one about what we expected from a consumer-ready product, something as easy to operate as a kitchen blender. This phase is still ongoing, of course.
But we saw something new on Friday when the latest firmware was released — unlike the two images released previously, this one was accompanied by instructions. A wizard now takes a user step by step through everything needed to Install the update onto the 770 (a Windows user, anyway).
“Nokia will fix things” and “later purchasers will have a smoother experience” have been the answers to carping in the forums for some while. But still, when someone points out that this thing doesn’t work as expected or that thing is too confusing, it’s hard to deny that more could be done. Now the evidence has come in that Nokia is indeed listening to us and our expectations. It may not be possible to move the scroll keys, say, or change the app list, at least till some time down the road. But making things clearer, explaining more, simplifying any steps an unsophisticated user must take — all these can be done now. It’s great to see Nokia gets this, too.
