I certainly hope Nokia ads world phone functionality to the next version. I would easily pay another $100 to replace both my palm and my cell phone with one beautiful internet device that would practically speaking decimate the iphone, and allow me to keep my existing provider.

To stroll anywhere, anytime with true internet access from a small Linux pocket computer with applications that are improving all the time which can be updated/ downloaded in a snip, is just fantastic.

The N800 is definitely a step up. My main complaint with it has been using the on-screen keyboard. I’d be able to update my blog without a problem using the N800 if it wasn’t such a pain to type. It looks like the N810 has a pretty elegant solution for that.

While it may surprise the Apple Faithful visiting this site, I don’t WANT an iPhone. If you gave me one, I’d sell it to buy the N810. Seriously.

The N800 I’m using now has several things to recommend it that the iPhone doesn’t. First, you can get one for $239 if you look online. It has two SD slots, so it can be expanded quite a bit, and you can swap SD cards as you like. Can’t do that with an iPhone. I don’t have to even have a cell contract to use the N800, but if I have a cell contract with Internet access and a Bluetooth enabled phone, the N800 can use that connectivity. I can connect a full-size Bluetooth keyboard to the N800 if I want, along with other Bluetooth devices. There are lots of applications I can install on the N800, available free online, that don’t void my warranty or turn my N800 into an unusable brick. The built-in Opera browser and Flash plug-in have satisfied all my web browsing needs since I got the device. The display is perfectly readable and clear to me, and while I may not have a fancy multi-touch display, I can certainly zoom in and out to read web page details on the N800. Plus, I can access a large music library on Rhapsody that I don’t have to buy. I don’t have to have iTunes or an equivalent to update the device or its software, just a WiFi connection. I can use Skype and make free calls with it if I want to, again so long as WiFi is around. I can read and respond to email, keep up with RSS feeds, play games, instant message, etc. I can buy additional batteries and swap them out on long trips, and they’re standard Nokia cell phone batteries so I have lots of potential places to buy them. It charges from a standard USB cable, wall outlet, or car jack. When connected to a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux) it acts as a storage device I can copy items to and from, allowing it to act as an extension to my computer. I can record voice notes, take (mediocre) snapshots with its built-in camera, and plug in headphones to listen to music or watch videos.

Is it a replacement for my laptop? No. While it’s capable of many things I want to do on the Internet, it’s not powerful enough for others (say, World of Warcraft). But it’s a handy device that fits in my pocket, goes with my just about anywhere, and gives me at least basic Internet connectivity.

But best of all, this is at heart a Linux device. That means it’s potentially able to work with a huge collection of existing applications, with many being developed and released specifically for this device.

What we need are new standards to push/pull information between devices so that recipients are instantly notified in some type of XML push/pull dashboard (not necessarily of any particular standard), and any type of background applications can be woken up depending on the information received - all within a web framework. (Contrast this with Blackberry’s push platform which is dependent on Blackberry servers and does not do a good job of extending real web applications.)

So while I think its great that Nokia is slapping linux onto a device, I think they are still taking too much of a client heavy approach and not addressing the hard problems. I think the Google mobile platform is going to outcompete Nokia platforms in the long-run.

IT’S NOT A FREAKIN’ PHONE! It’s an Internet Tablet! It’s a computer you can put in your pocket. The only phone capability it can even remotely be said to have is that it has Skype and Gizmo clients, and you can link it to a SIP server such as Asterisk.

What’s your point? Since N810 does not have a cell radio it makes Nokia as closed as the next company? Are you a bit slow or something?
Cell radio was left out that they could be more open to the community and do things regardless of the operators. But, like Anssi Vanjoki said, if they feel like putting a cell radio inside internet tablets, then they will do it. And still be more open than Apple will ever be.

As recently as September 24, Steve Jobs was on record that Apple was working against iPhone unlockers (”It’s a constant cat and mouse game,” from an article by Ars Technica.) On October 18, they announced that in February they’d have an SDK, and Jobs had changed his tune: “We want native third-party applications on the iPhone.”

It’s not realistic to compare the TIFF buffer overrun exploit in Safari to the open approach Nokia is endorsing. Developers shouldn’t have to hack their way into a platform. Nokia’s approach of digital signatures for authentic applications (which Jobs referenced in his announcement) is a lot more open.

Admittedly, Nokia lives in a country where phones aren’t tied to carriers. But so does the rest of the world (with the notable exception of the U.S.)