Gadzooki

You can test drive MeeGo now

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The merger of Nokia’s Maemo and the Moblin Project, MeeGo, that new-ish Linux distro made for mobile phones, TVs, and netbooks, has finally released the first beta of the new operating system. The build images are meant for developers or those who are comfortable working in a terminal since the build won’t come with any user interface. The images currently work with any Intel Atom-based netbook, Atom-based handset (Moorestown) or Nokia’s N900.

From Engadget:

Sadly, the MeeGo user experience — the good stuff, that is — isn’t included here, so if you flash your N900 you’re going to end up booting into a terminal console, but hey, some of you sickos are into that sort of thing, aren’t you? Next up for the team is a release billed 1.0 that will come in May, and we’re told details on the road to that version will be unveiled over the coming days. Take care of yourselves if you go for it, alright?

However, if you’d like to get your hands dirty with code, you’re free to download the 392MB image file so you can test it yourself so you’d just get an idea on what MeeGo is like. Make sure to run it from a USB drive though!

Download MeeGo here.

Firefox Mobile released… for Maemo

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For those waiting to bring Mozilla’s rendering goodness with them on the go because they feel that heavy contenders for mobile browsers like Opera Mobile and Safari for the iPhone isn’t just cutting it, well, luck is on your side. The much-awaited Firefox Mobile 1.0 is finally out, but for those unlucky to not have a Nokia N900 will have to wait a bit because this new contender in the mobile browser war is available only for Maemo.

From Download Squad:

Like the desktop version of Firefox, version 1.0 of Firefox for Mobile looks to set itself apart from other mobile browsers with the inclusion of browser add-ons.

Mozilla’s Weave Sync add-on is already available for Firefox for Mobile, and in the blog post announcing the new browser’s release Mozilla point out some third-party add-ons that they anticipate will be useful in a mobile context, including AdBlock Plus, URL Fixer, TwitterBar, language translators, and geo guides.

I love the fact that Mozilla is also going to let us bring add-ons anywhere, but we all know that add-ons are the leading causes of crashes for Firefox. They give us additional functionality and make Firefox better than any other browser out there, but it perceptibly slows down the browser 30-40% on some pages. I sure hope they manage to pull off something that’ll let let us choose mobile-ready add-ons that won’t impact the mobile experience that much in terms of speed and reliability.

What do you guys think? Do you think a vanilla browser is good enough already or should we push for the full Firefox experience for mobile?

Nokia N900 Dual-Boots Maemo and Android

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I’m sure most of you were waiting for this, right? Since Nokia’s previous Maemo Internet Tablet offerings were also capable of running Google Android, it was only a matter of time before somebody thought of installing Android on Nokia’s intrepid new smartphone. And imagine: installing two open platforms on one excellent phone? It’s a geek’s wet dream come true.

From Slashgear:

Brandon Roberts is the man responsible for the dual-booting marvel, and while he’s describing it more as a proof of concept right now than a workable solution, from what little is shown in the video he’s come a decent way. The keyboard seems to work, and the display is running at the N900’s WVGA resolution; a boot menu allows you to choose between Maemo and Android.

Right now there are no instructions as to how exactly he did it, but we’ve a feeling this could be a popular hack assuming all the N900’s core hardware could be encouraged to work with Android. The combination of Maemo for experimentation and Android for everyday use could potentially transform the N900.

Okay, it kind of sucks that there are no instructions on how to install Android on the Nokia N900, but I guess the hack’s not yet refined. I can’t wait to see this in the future though.

We can expect to see Symbian ^3 soon

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Nokia seems to be pushing ahead with Symbian even though rumors abound of Nokia’s move to switch the entire N-Series from Symbian to Maemo. Right now, there’s new of Nokia skipping development of Symbian ^2 so that they can go ahead and proceed with Symbian ^3. And the good news is that we might be able to see Symbian ^3 this year, as Nokia is aiming to release v3 by the third quarter of 2010!

According to Digitimes:

The Symbian version 4 is believed to be based on the Qt cross-platform application development framework developed by Trolltech, which Nokia acquired in June 2008, said industry sources. The Qt will allow software developers to develop application software supporting Symbian and Maemo platforms simultaneously, added the sources.

For terminal end products, Nokia will continue to offer Maemo-based mobile computing devices, Symbian S60-based smartphones as well as Symbian S40-based feature phones, with the prices for Symbian S60-based models likely to be more competitive in 2010, Hsu said.

By 2011, smartphones based on the Symbian S60-platform will account for 55% of Nokia’s total handset shipments, followed by Symbian S40 feature phones at 35% and Maemo-based devices at 10%, according to sources who are familiar with Nokia’s product roadmap.

I can see Nokia using Symbian on its low-end consumer phones, but if they want to have an edge over the up-and-coming Google Android phones – just about every other phone manufacturer is making one – they really have to step up and make more Maemo-based phones, soon. That doesn’t mean I’m not interested to see what they’re planning for Symbian ^3, though.

[via]

Nokia N-Series Phones Will Probably Switch From Symbian to Maemo

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I have a love-hate relationship with the Symbian OS. On one hand, it’s a mature mobile operating system with a huge selection of applications. On the other hand, it’s been pretty restrictive, especially now that you have to sign your applications before you can even install them. Also, it’s pretty old, the UI is horrible, and application programmers everywhere are complaining about how hard it is to make apps for Symbian.

Which is why we’re all keeping an eye on the N900. The N900, if you haven’t heard, is the first phone running Nokia’s Linux-based Maemo. Nokia already released a few internet tablets running Maemo before, but this is the first time we’ve seen Maemo being set up to do mobile phone functions. Also, Maemo has that sexy UI that Nokia’s other OS is sorely missing.

Nokia has held “meetups” throughout the world to celebrate the launch of its new N900, and during one such meetup in London, Nokia dropped a bomb: Nokia’s marketing team has unofficially revealed that they are planning to drop Symbian from N-Series phones by 2012!

This makes sense, really. Have you guys seen how Maemo is able to handle multimedia? The reason I’ve stayed away from the N-Series is the amazingly bad sluggishness these phones acquire after a few weeks of usage. I haven’t used (much less seen) an N900 yet so I can pass judgment on Maemo, but I’m pretty sure it’ll perform way better than Symbian on the multimedia front. It was mad for that purpose, anyway.

If you really, really, really like Symbian and really don’t want to let it go, worry not. Lower-tier phones will still retain Symbian. I don’t see Symbian going away completely in the near future.

Now what do you think of this? Is this a knee-jerk reaction to Google Android or is it something Nokia has been planning for a long time already? Tell me all about it!

[via]

Nokia’s N900 browser: New video

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Okay, we’re all heavily anticipating Nokia’s new Maemo-powered phone, the N900. I’m one of the few who would atually prefer this over the iPhone. No, seriously.

As you can see, the browser is running on the Mozilla engine, and quite frankly, that’s a huge plus factor for me. As much as I love the Opera Mini 5 beta running on my phone, I’m excited to see a mobile device running a Mozilla browser.

Also, full Flash. How many mobile devices can boast of that? I’m kinda disappointed that they’re using Flash 9.4, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be using Flash 10 once the N900 comes out.

One feature I loved about the browser would be the new finger gestures. Just look at the “spiral” motion to zoom in and out of web pages, which differs from the “pinch and stretch” motion that is favored by most other multi-touch smartphones like the Palm Pre and Apple iPhone.

Nokia announces N900 running Linux-based Maemo software

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nokia-n900-mobile-phone-maemo

It’s a busy old time for Nokia at present. After the stunning Booklet 3G announcement and new 5230 touchscreen phone (plus the introduction of Nokia Money) comes the new Nokia N900 handset boasting a new version of the Linux-based Maemo mobile operating system.

Claiming to offer a PC-like experience on a handset-sized device, the Nokia N900 is an evolution from Nokia’s previous Internet Tablets and runs Maemo 5 which allows multiple applications and windows to be open and running at the same time (take that, iPhone)

The N900 runs on an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, comes with up to 1GB of application memory, features OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration, 32GB of storage (expandable to 48GB via microSD) and a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics.

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