So, you bought the N900, what’s next? With news about MeeGo devices being announced soon, the obvious question remains: Will the N900 get MeeGo? Or will I need to buy a new handset to enjoy MeeGo? Here are are reasons why we think it the N900 might get the full MeeGo treatment.

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Daniel Would, developer behind the impressive Witter app for the N900, writes an in-depth article about what he thinks could be improved in the Application distribution system used on the N900.

Maemo uses a three-tier application system, to host application according to the phase they are. These tiers are called  Repositories:

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Nokia enthusiasts didn’t have much choice when it came the OS, either you went the basic S40 route, or as any true Nokia power user would, get Symbian. But that’s about to change. With the N8 launching soon and MeeGo devices to follow shortly after, Nokia fans are in a unique position of having the choice between 3 different operating systems: Symbian, Maemo and MeeGo. Yes, Maemo will hang around for a while, but eventually will be completely replaced by MeeGo, leaving the choice between it and Symbian.

With the impending release of the N8, Nokia powers users have  the choice of either buying now or wait for the very first MeeGo device, an OS that most of us have yet to see the final product. While only a lucky few can get both devices, most of us will have to choose where our hard-earned cash will go for the next months or years, making the choice even more critical.

The N8 sports impressive specs and Symbian is a proven OS, but its dated UI might leave you wanting for something more 2010. MeeGo on the other builds on Maemo, which has a lot of eye-candy and multi-tasks like no other, but it will certainly have less apps compared to Symbian and the uncertainty behind any new OS is sometimes hard to swallow.

Are you in the MeeGo or Symbian camp? And why?

Nokia Experts has posted a good review of the Game Gripper accessory for the N900, giving it high praise as a good gaming accessory. But what did catch my attention was the warning slip in the package that indicates that the accessory my cause accelerated wear on the handset’s keyboard. I would even say that it will most certainly will cause excessive wear on certain keys and because of the fact when you buy such an accessory chances are it’s to do some serious gaming, which again will cause the wear to happen even faster.

While, it is a cool accessory I simply can not recommend for this reason. Well, that’s if you appreciate the keyboard of the N900. Check the review and let us know what you think? Are you still getting the Game Gripper?

Nokia has been offering free turn-by-turn voice guided navigation for Symbian devices, but what’s missing is support for the N900. The N900 does have GPS and the OVI maps software, but only missing is the turn-by-turn navigation part.

If you absolutely must  have voice guided navigation there are options like Sygic’s recently released Mobile Maps 10. But if you want to match the global support that the full OVI Maps experience offers, it can get very expensive at 69.99 EUR (Europe, Russia, Middle East & Africa)+49.99 EUR (North, Central & South America) and 39.99 EUR (Canada).

So will Nokia add OVI Maps navigation to the N900? Nokia’s last answer on the subject according to Engadget is that: “N900 owners shouldn’t hold their breath, though, as Nokia is focusing on bringing its free navigation service to the next generation of Maemo devices. That’s not to say that the N900 won’t get it eventually, only that it’s not currently on the roadmap.”

Technically there’s no reason why the N900 would not support voice-guide navigation, in fact it could offer an even better support than the N97 or N97 mini, because:

• Maemo is build from the ground up to be a touch interface, perfect for in-car navigation
• The N900 has more memory and faster CPU allowing for smoother performance and faster calculation
• It has dedicated 3D graphics to offload graphics-intensive tasks from the CPU, while allowing for more eye-candy.
• It has a fast and accurate GPS, with quicker lock to satellites and more accurate than what we’ve seen on flagship Symbian hardware.
• Better multi-tasking and more, allowing for other simultaneous task at the same time, without affecting GPS navigation.

The main reason why Nokia has not added GPS navigation to the N900, is simply because they didn’t see this as a high priority, especially for the fact that the N900 is not a mass market device like the Symbian devices and because it’s a transitory OS, leading to MeeGo. For this reason we expect to see navigation by the end of 2010 as R&D for MeeGo will trickle down to Maemo on the N900. We expect Nokia to release an updated OVI Maps with turn-by-turn voice guided navigation shortly before or after the end of the year to coincide with the release of the flagship MeeGo devices. Perhaps a bit too late, as many N900 users will want to upgrade to the MeeGo platform.

What’s your opinion on GPS with the Nokia N900?

Nokia phones are known for three things: good reception/call quality, solid build and easy to use menu. While that last one might be slowly slipping away, there’s no denying that Nokia devices are known for their incredible ability to get good reception even in difficult areas. There have been countless cases where I was the only one with reception, while others had 1 or 0 bars. Considering all the news around Apple and the antenna design of the iPhone, one thing is for sure, if the actual phone feature and good reception is a high priority, Nokia is still the best. With all the features being added, sometimes we forget that it’s still a phone and meant for making calls.

This what Nokia had to say about antenna design:

"Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.
Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design."

So Apple mostly prioritizes form, while Nokia chooses function/performance. What these two are not seeing is that a good device should have both. When you prioritize the over the other you get compromise, a good design closely matches form and function.

Do you agree that Nokia is still number 1 when it comes to antenna performance? Is reception/call quality important for you? Let us know.

Via:Engadget

Image Courtesy: S60 Blog

As you might have noticed, we haven’t been covering Symbian-based devices lately, focusing completely on the Nokia N900 and the upcoming MeeGo OS.  We started The Nokia Guide to cover the Nokia devices we’ve come to know and love, which at the beginning were Symbian-based. But as the mobile market has gotten progressively more competitive, especially from Android, we feel that Symbian-based devices have lost their edge to the point where we’re simply not covering them enthusiastically; we won’t buy them and won’t recommend them to our readers. As a result we’re going to make it official what we’ve been doing for a while now: stop covering Symbian-based devices. We feel that Symbian is becoming irrelevant and upcoming Symbian^3 and^4 don’t seem to change that. Other Symbian bloggers, such as our friends at Symbian-Guru are taking it one step further.

Luckily this doesn’t affect the Nokia N900 and upcoming MeeGo devices. I’m a happy Nokia N900 owner myself and would easily recommend it to our readers. Because Maemo serves as the basis for what will become MeeGo we have very high expectations for this platform and for this reason we will continue to cover Maemo and MeeGo exclusively.

Microsoft recently scrapped their plans for KIN and are completely focusing on Windows Phone 7. Nokia should do the same: scrap upcoming Nokia N8 and it’s QWERTY-based version and focus on MeeGo and getting developers on their side.

What do you think? Is Symbian becoming irrelevant?

You’ve probably heard about the Graphics Processor (GPU), a dedicated processor that offloads 3D or 2D graphics rendering from the central CPU. In the case if the N900 there’s a single ARM Cortex-A8 CPU that handles general tasks, while the PowerVR SGX (GPU) offloads 3D and 2D graphics.

Will future version of the N900 need a phone accelerator?

The N900 handless multi-tasking like a champ, being capable of running several application at the same time, without even breaking  a sweat. This multi-tasking power does seem to come at a cost. In certain situations there’s the need to quickly dial a number, while keeping programs running in the background. You can also imagine  receiving a phone call right in the middle of heavy multi-tasking. In these cases all of those background apps seem to take all of the processing power, leaving little or no juice to quickly open the phone dialer or handle incoming calls. The result? Both of these slow down to a crawl, sometimes requiring a few seconds before they react to button presses. The same thing can be said about the screen orientation: as it quickly needs to re-orient the screen, with little processing power left, it takes a while before it “settles” in the right position.

A dedicated processor, with the sole purpose of handling these “phone” features like outgoing, incoming calls, SMS and even the turning controls would do the trick. It wouldn’t add much to the overall price and won’t require much power, as it would require just a fraction of the processing power of the main CPU. There reason is simple: its only task would be to accelerate the phone features.

Another way to accomplish this, is by always leaving a certain percentage of the central CPU free for these kind of tasks.

We already have a GPU, CPU and even DSP, is there room for a phone processor? What do you think?

One issue that currently stands out in the world of Nokia is the lack of an up-to-date, mainstream powerhouse. While there isn’t a shortage of devices to choose from, those choices aren’t all that exciting, at least not anymore. There is of course the N97 which isn’t all that up-to-date and the fact that it had its share of criticism for its software and underpowered hardware doesn’t help either. Symbian S60 5th edition (including its 3rd edition sibling) is also starting to look a bit aged, despite being a pretty powerful platform. There’s also the X6 and the N97 mini, which basically are variations of the N97 with their share of software troubles. And while Nokia has fixed many of these problems with recent firmware updates, it can’t make up for the lack of RAM, outdated UI, dedicated graphics chip and slow CPU.

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I know, I know, 32GB microSDHC cards aren’t even available yet and I’m already talking about SDXC. These next generation cards are supposed to revolutionize storage with capacities ranging from 32GB to 2TB and bus interface speeds from 104 MB/s up to 300 MB/s. Lucky for us, their will also be a mobile version in the form of the microSDXC (Secure Digital Extended Capacity). It’s been a few years since the launch of the N95, which is also one of the first Nokia smartphones to support microSDHC with capacities of up to 32GB. Shouldn’t Nokia be already thinking about the next generation?

With multi-megapixels Nseries devices approaching 10 Megapixels, possibly even surpassing that and the inevitable HD video recording, suddenly that 32GB of storage in your N900 or N97  doesn’t sound as impressive. Nokia’s own Comes with Music service is another way to quickly fill up your memory, OVI Maps and our ever present desire to carry anything and everything in our mobile devices are other reasons to look ahead to those 2TBs being promised with SDXC.

Another plus comes from the standard’s its fast bus interface. No need to get technical here, just think faster file transfers from your PC to you mobile. Also, in many electronic devices, including our smartphones, the storage system is almost always the weakest link. Adding a speedy storage system could make overall performance possibly a bit more responsive.

Who knows, when looking for your next Nokia you won’t only be checking  the specs to see whether it has Symbiam, MeeGo and QWERTY, but perhaps also whether it has microSDXC.

Is microSDHC enough or should Nokia quickly implement