As interest in handheld computers rekindles, Nokia bucked
the trend and released a Linux-based handheld. This renewed interest was
prompted in large part by the announcements of Microsoft's Origami
platform. What seems strange in all this is the fact that personal
digital assistant (PDA), sales continue to decline and handheld
computers have never taken the market by storm.
Microsoft's
previous efforts to create handheld computers with larger form-factors
than PDAs have failed miserably. I still have a number of Handheld PCs
that attest to this. These handheld computers as a category are larger
than PDAs and smaller than laptops. The new
Origami computers are essentially small Tablet PCs, called UMPCs, or
Ultra-Mobile PCs. In other words, the Origami devices are Tablet PCs
that you can actually carry and hold in your hand.
Nokia's 770 Internet
Tablet comes in at a slightly smaller size, and a much smaller cost,
$359.99. Like Origami PCs, Nokia's tablet does not include a keyboard.
What it does include, though, is a full-fledged Linux system intended
for quick Internet access.
Nokia includes the Opera Web browser,
an email client, an RSS news reader, and a streaming music player as
part of its Linux-based suite of Internet applications. Unlike most
other Nokia devices, the Internet Tablet is not a mobile phone. A new
software update will support Internet-based calls and instant messaging
using Google Talk.
Here are some details.
To clearly differentiate the Internet
Tablet from PDAs, Nokia does not include anything even remotely intended
to manage your schedule or contacts. (You can download add-on
applications to manage schedules and contacts, though.
The
5.5-by-3.1-inch tablet sports a beautiful 800x480-pixel screen. Combined
with the excellent Opera Web browser, you can access anything on the Web
over the built-in wireless 802.11b/g software. You can also use the
built-in Bluetooth support to connect to a cell phone to get on the
Internet. With an add-on driver, the Nokia tablet supports Bluetooth
keyboards, which makes data entry a lot easier. Using the wireless
software, the Nokia tablet easily detected my wireless access point,
along with the less-secure networks of my neighbors (you can choose
which network to use).
With the Nokia tablet, you store your data
on an RS-MMC card, a new, smaller form of MMC/SD card. Nokia includes a
64MB card with the device. The RS-MMC card appears as a connected flash
drive when you connect the tablet to a PC using the included USB cable.
This means you don't need to install drivers to access your data. In
addition, it means you can connect to the tablet using a Windows, Mac OS
X, or Linux PC. RS-MMC cards remain harder to find and with smaller
capacities than their larger SD and MMC brethren.
The Nokia
interface and development platform uses a modified GNOME look called
Hildon. The development package, called Maemo is available under free and
open-source licenses in the best Linux tradition. Making the software
open source becomes very important when you realize that handheld
devices seem to come and go. Most devices disappear from the market far
too soon, leaving owners with an orphaned device. And, this has proven
especially true for Linux-based devices. With the Maemo software, people
will still be able to update the software even if someday Nokia pulls
the device off the market.
Just about the only other similar
device on the market is Sharp's incredible Zaurus, now sold only in
Japan, or via an importing firm such as Streamline CPUs, Japan Direct, or
Dynamism. The only
real limitation of the Zaurus compared to the Nokia 770 is that the
Zaurus sports a smaller screen resolution of 640x480. The
larger-resolution Nokia screen is about the smallest you can go and
still comfortably view Web pages. --Eric Foster-Johnson
