Nokia N900 first impressions

I’ve been using the Nokia N900 since unboxing it 5 days ago, and I’m still blown away!

I wrote “the N900 is brilliant”, and it’s true – I have not been this excited about a Nokia device since the N95, and that was pre iPhone.

For better or for worse, the iPhone changed people’s expectations. Suddenly, having the best hardware was secondary to having the best software, services, and user experience…

Unboxing the Nokia N900

Today, hot on the heels of the Nokia Booklet 3G, I received one of the most eagerly anticipated devices of the year, the Maemo 5 powered Nokia N900…

Although I’ve barely scratched the surface, I’m pretty smitten so far. It combines the software goodness of linux, a great user experience, and Nokia’s best hardware, all in a flagship phone!

The N900 is brilliant. It’s like the mutant offspring of the N810 and N97, but a lot meaner and faster, and with 2100/1700/900 MHz 3G instead of 2100/1900/850 MHz 3G :)

Check out my unboxing pictures above, and my videos (1, 2) after the break.

Etymotic Research hf2 review

I’ve already mentioned Etymotic Research, purveyors of fine canal earphones such as the wireless ety8, and the professional-grade ER.4 – one of my reference listening devices.

The hf2 are wired canal earphones similar to the ER.4, but designed primarily for use with the Apple iPhone. As such, they also function as a headset and feature a connector specially designed to fit the iPhone (reduced diameter body and 4-prong 3.5 mm jack).

While the ety8 are also designed for use with the iPhone, they don’t function as a headset like the hf2. Furthermore, both the ER.4 and the ety8 are more expensive than the hf2.

The hf2 are molded from a pleasant (both to the eyes and to the touch) soft black material. However, the headset, which is located on the right cord, detracts from the overall design by being rather bulky (see pictures).

I tried the hf2 with other devices and the earphones worked properly, but the headset only worked with the iPhone, and should work with some Blackberry devices (like the Curve). As for Nokia N-series devices (like the N95, N81 and N810), the hf2 can be used via the remote control (it should not be connected directly).

When used properly, the hf2 sound absolutely fantastic and attenuate outside noise extremely well. In addition, they operate exactly like the earphones/headset supplied with the iPhone.

I noticed an extremely mild difference in sound quality between the newer hf2 and my older (both design and age) ER.4. I prefer the high-end on the hf2, but I prefer the low-end on my ER.4. In fact, the transducers in the hf2 appear to have a similar frequency response the ones in the ety8.

The verdict? Great performance and great value – thumbs up for the hf2.

Tasty bits – CTIA and beyond

Wait! Did two months of tasty bits just go by, CTIA and all? Hmmm yes…

HP 2133 (Mini-Note):
- HP 2133 Mini-Note UMPC Reviewed (Verdict: Rich Man's Eee PC)
- Lightning Review: HP 2133 Mini-Note
- HP Mini-Note 2133 officially official, reviewed
- HP Mini-Note gets unboxed, causes extreme jealousy
- jkOnTheRun review- hands on with the HP Mini-Note UMPC

Asus 701/900 (Eee):
- Video Hands on With the 8.9-inch Asus Eee PC 900
- Asus Eee PC 900 Hits U.S. May 12 for $549
- 1.2 GHz Pentium M in your Eee PC? No problem
- Hands-on with the 9-inch Eee PC
- ASUS' 9-inch Eee PC, now with living pixels!
- Eee PC 900 gets dissected, looks about the same as the Eee PC 700

Nokia N810:
- Android on the N810: Working on it!
- Nokia Internet Tablets to get Ubuntu and Qt ports
- Nokia's N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition gets official

Nokia N95:
- 8 GB North American Model N95 available: $779 online
- North American Nokia N95 8GB (Nokia N95-4) Unboxing

Nokia N82:
- All About Symbian Review: Long term battle: Nokia N95, N95 8GB and N82
- Nokia N82 gets blacked out for retail

Other Nokia:
- Eight useful codes for S60 devices
- 10 Awesome Applications for Symbian Phones
- Your S60 smartphone as a drum machine!
- WalkingHotSpot trial available for download
- Nokia E71 Pops up Down Under
- FCC Gives Nokia 6220 Classic the Nod
- T-Mobile’s new mystery 3G Nokia handset outted
- Nokia secretly shows E71 at Mobile Wor… er, in Sydney
- Google gets even chummier with S60, releases search app
- S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 gets broken down to the nitty gritty
- Nokia N96 gets in-depth review months ahead of release
- Things may be looking brighter for Nokia N96, Xenon flash in the works?
- Nokia readies iPhone-ish "Tube," disses Apple's sales
- Nokia E71 sneaks into the wild once again
- Exclusive: latest update on the hotly anticipated Nokia Tube
- The Nokia Guide: Getting the most out of your Nseries’ camera

Apple iPhone:
- iPhone Pwnage Tool Getting Public Release Tomorrow; Unsigned Firmware Support For All
- iPhone to Support GPS, Stereo Bluetooth, Nike+, Battle Hackers
- iPhone firmware 2.0? You’re damn right we got it!
- Nike+ going WiFi and 3G, headed to iPhone
- The second-gen iPhone: 3G, GPS, only slightly thicker – Engadget
- Touchpad turns your iPhone into a remote trackpad
- Palm emulated on the iPhone: finally we can leave that IIIc at home
- Easy 1.1.4 jailbreaking with iNdependence, Ziphone, and… iTunes?
- iPhone PwnageTool released!
- 3G iPhone rumors building up steam
- iPhone gets VoIP and chat options thanks to Fring
- iPhone firmware hints strengthen case for GPS support
- iPhone feature rumor round-up: Jabber and iTunes control
- Flickr Find: Lilliputian iPhone unboxing
- Twinkle: location-aware Twittter client for iPhone
- iPhone video recorder with audio support debuts

Sony Ericsson:
- Sony Ericsson's X1 reviewed
- XPERIA X1 white paper reveals yet more details
- Is this Sony Ericsson's P5 or "Paris"?
- Specs revealed of the real (or fake) Sony Ericsson "Paris"
- Another shot of Sony Ericsson's Paris?
- Yet another convincing Sony Ericsson Paris pic — open, this time

LG:
- LG KG750 Is Sleek of Line, High (Five) of Megapixels, Shoots DivX, Called Secret
- Live Pics: MediaFLO for AT&T on the LG Vu and Samsung Access
- LG Vu further slides into view
- Hands-on with the LG Vu
- Thin is in: LG shares a glimpse of its 5 megapixel hottie phone

Samsung:
- Samsung-built, Google-branded Android phones due later this year?
- Rumored Prada II specs surface in purported leaked press release

Motorola:
- T-Mobile considering Motorola Z10 for 3G launch?
- Motorola’s 2008 Roadmap Revealed
- Spy shots of the Motorola ZN5
- Motorola's ZN5 gets clearer, Kodak co-branding and all

Android:
- Android gets handled, now with Street View
- T-Mobile confirms it'll have an Android device sometime this year

Other:
- Meizu M8, Something You Burn in a Paper Bag on Someone's Porch
- T-Mobile's 3G Network Rolling Out May in NYC, Coincides With 3G HTC Touch Dual?
- Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC With Intel Atom Centrino, Vista Hits the States on June 20th
- Crowded Ultraportable Party Gets Dissected
- Meizu prototype caught in the flesh at CeBIT, we handle it
- Meizu M8 interface gets tweaked once again. A few pixels to the left, please?
- Meizu's M8 gets more UI tweaks for its music player
- More MID videos: IdeaPad U8 and Aigo
- Mozilla Mobile shows 5.9x performance increase on ARM device
- Opera Mini 4.1 beta released- good gets better
- Sharp Willcom D4: Vista in your hand for $1,526
- Life with the MacBook Air

Nokia N81 8GB music phone

As you’ve probably noticed, it’s been a bit quiet around here lately… But fear not. Despite being rather busy, I’ve managed to review some products and line up a few more!

The first one of these is the Nokia N81 8GB, kindly provided by Nseries WOM World. It’s a music phone with 8 GB of built-in flash storage, WiFi, and a 2 megapixel camera – the successor to the microdrive-equipped Nokia N91.

Take a look at my pictures and videos (1 and 2).

Tasty bits – CES to 3GSM

It’s been a busy month full of tasty bits, with CES and MacWorld wrapped up, and 3GSM coming up.

Asus 701 (Eee):
- WiMax-Enabled Asus Eee PC Confirmed
- Ten-Mod Eee PC Stomps Competition, Still Room For More
- Asus press event summary: WiMAX, Eee PCs, and R50A
- How to: boost the display resolution on an Asus Eee PC

Nokia N810:
- Hook a USB device to your Nokia N810 thanks to USB-On-The-Go
- Nokia E90 vs N810: Part 1 – head to head
- Nokia E90 vs N810: Part 2 – GPS, Apps, Web and Multimedia

Nokia N95:
- Nokia N95 makes a nice GPS receiver for Nokia N800
- Nokia N95 8GB Wireless Sharing in Action
- Nokia N95 8GB with US 3G passes FCC

Nokia N82:
- Nokia N82 – part 1 – The Physical, the Camera
- Nokia N82 – part 2 – GPS, Applications and Performance
- Nokia N82 Smartphone Reviewed In Depth (Verdict: High-end Hotness)

More Nokia:
- Flip Silent for S60: Silence Calls by Flipping your Phone
- Sh-sh-shake it Like a Polaroid Picture!
- Nokia E90 Communicator review: Gear Diary
- First glimpse inside Nokia S60 Touch. Going beyond Multi-Touch

Apple iPhone:
- iPhone 1.1.3 Jailbreak Has Issues With GPS, Official SDK?
- Makayama Adds Voice Recognition to the iPhone
- iPhoneCam streams video from your iPhone over WiFi
- iTransmogrify brings more flash content to the iPhone
- Etymotic hf2 headset for the iPhone
- Pocketguitar for the iPhone lets you strum on the multitouch
- 1.1.3 iPhone jailbreak goes LIVE

LG:
- LG Viewty hands-on
- LG’s HSDPA ultraportable runs Vista on Silverthorne
- LG shows a KS20 clone with WiMAX
- LG’s silver Prada gets a new on-screen QWERTY

Samsung:
- S60 powered Samsung G810 to be announced at MWC?
- Samsung i900 to take on LG KS20?

Other:
- WiBrain B1-H UMPC
- UMPC & MID trio: LimePC comes in three sizes
- BlackBerry 8xxx = BlackBerry 9000?
- Hands-on with Mio’s dual-front GPS phone concept
- Hands-on with the WiBrain B1 UMPC
- iriver 3-inch touchscreen “GSM phone” headed for the States
- Skyfire browser for Windows Mobile is game changing, does Flash
- Garmin gets official with its nuvifone
- Modu mystery unravelled, look ma, a modular handset
- A Tale of 40 Follow-ups (and a LimePC video)

Tasty bits – 35 (holidays edition)

Happy new year :)

Here’s last month’s tasty bits, a little behind once again! I’ve decided to stop numbering the column hereafter…

JKK added HSDPA to the Asus 701 (Eee) – I’m working on a similar mod using a Sierra Wireless AirCard 875U HSDPA modem…

Also I’ve started using Qik to stream live video with my Nokia N95!

I’m keeping an eye on all the CES madness this week and I’ll be at Macworld next week, so stay tuned :)

Asus 701 (Eee):
- WiMax-Enabled Asus Eee PC Confirmed
- How to add internal 3G HSDPA to Asus Eee PC
- How to add touch panel to Asus Eee Pc
- It’s official: upgrading the Asus Eee PC memory keeps warranty intact
- eeeXubuntu: Ubuntu distilled for your Eee
- Ubuntu on the Asus Eee PC: Part 1 (or How to run a functional Ubuntu install off a USB drive)

Nokia N810:
- Nokia N810: unboxing and first impressions
- Canola2 Now Out!

Nokia N95:
- Nokia N95-3 Finally Gets an Update to v 11.2.009
- The N95 classic hits v20 firmware
- The N95′s camera quality? It just got better…
- Hands-on with the Nokia N95 8GB for North America!

Nokia N82:
- Nokia N82: impressions after a week…
- Nokia N82 hands-on
- Nokia N82 preview: First look
- Nokia N95, N95 8 GB and N82: The evolution of the multimedia computer

More Nokia:
- Cellphones: Alleged Nokia N96 Spy Shots Look Yummypianoblacklicious
- New Slider: Nokia’s Patent Reveals Innovative Six- or Eight- Megapixel Slider Phone
- Video streaming from your phone QIK-ly, as in: instantly
- All About N-Gage – Totally CONFIRMED Star Wars N-Gage Video
- emTube – YouTube client for S60 phones
- Nokia Internet Radio
- Clarification: Upcoming Nokia IS a QWERTY Nseries

Apple iPhone:
- Breaking: iPhone Firmware 1.1.3 Video and Evidence Confirms Update Is Real, Breaks Unlock, Third-Party Apps
- How to Install Applications on iPhone 1.1.2 (Video Tutorial)
- Syphon lets you save iPhone text messages
- Control Pro Tools with your iPhone
- Apple doesn’t give us MMS on the iPhone, so the community does
- iPhone gets video recording capabilities
- Not all is lost: partfoundry developing GPS module for iPhone
- Fixing YouTube on your Jailbroken iPhone
- Mobile Safari plug-in downloads files to your iPhone/iPod touch
- Apple relents, sanctions custom ringtones!

OQO Model 02:
- OQO Announces model e2 with Built-In HSDPA Mobile Broadband Capability
- OQO does WiMax and 64GB SSDs

Neonode N2:
- Neonode N2 officially coming to the US
- Review of the unique Neonode N2 multimedia phone

BlackBerry 9000 (aka. BlackBerry 8xxx):
- BlackBerry 9000 specs revealed, our early Christmas present to you
- BlackBerry 8xxx hails from Rogers!
- BlackBerry 9000 series spy shot revealed?

Samsung:
- Hands-on with the Samsung G800
- Hands-on with the Samsung P520 Armani
- Samsung’s P720, F490 make their video debut

Other:
- Google Maps for Mobiles shows your location, even without GPS
- Verizon Wireless will open network for non-Verizon devices, services
- Photo of the Sony Ericsson P5i Leaked
- Wibrain’s B1 UMPC gets showcased on video – Engadget
- Hands-on with the LG KU990 Viewty
- A teaser shot of Motorola’s 5 megapixel multimedia maven?

Nokia N810 vs. N800

Today I have to return the Nokia N800 I’ve been evaluating for the past 2 weeks, thanks to NSeries WOM World… But I’ve also been playing with my Nokia N810 for about 10 days now!

I used both devices for similar tasks, in similar situations for several days (blogging, web browsing, checking email & RSS, chatting, listening to Internet radio).

I installed the latest (non-beta) firmware and applied the same settings to each tablet. I only personalized and tested the existing applications (home screen, web browser, RSS, email, IM, video call, Skype and media player), although I also tried the GPS (N810 only).

I paired both devices to my Sony Ericsson K850i for heaps of HSDPA goodness via Bluetooth :)

So which one is the winner?

First, I’m not going to review each tablet here – there’s loads of info on the tubes already. Second, let’s take a look at the main differences between both devices.

Nokia N800:
- Cheaper ($250)
- Larger
- Half plastic design
- Tablet OS2007
- Opera-based web browser
- Swivel camera
- No built-in GPS
- No hardware keyboard
- Mini USB connector
- One internal SDHC card slot
- One external SDHC card slot

Nokia N810:
- Pricier ($450)
- Smaller
- Full metal über hotness
- Tablet OS2008
- Mozilla-based web browser
- Front camera
- Built-in GPS
- Sweet hardware keyboard
- Micro USB connector
- 2 GB of internal storage
- One external Mini SDHC card slot

If you’re on a budget, or need lots of storage for your growing pr0n media collection (up to 32 GB with two 16 GB SDHC cards), the N800 is the winner. You can install a beta version of Tablet OS2008 and the Mozilla-based web browser today (a non-beta version will be available soon). You can use the on-screen keyboard without the stylus. If necessary, you can even pair the N800 with a Bluetooth GPS and a Bluetooth keyboard.

If you’re into the newest and sexiest gadgets, or need a fully integrated tablet in your pocket instead of your bag, the N810 is the winner. You’re already running Tablet OS2008 and the Mozilla-based web browser. You have built-in GPS and a surprisingly decent hardware keyboard. Of course, you can still pair the N810 with a Bluetooth GPS and a Bluetooth keyboard – but why bother?

So there you have it… Regardless of which device you choose, you can’t go wrong!

Unboxing the Nokia N810

My Nokia N810 has arrived and I’m in love! It’s super sexy (full metal) and surprisingly small, thin and light…

Enjoy all the pictures, including a size comparison with the Nokia N800, Apple iPhone and Asus 701 (Eee).

Then check out Dan’s unlikely N810 vs. Eee battle of the $400-something Linux-based devices :)

Nokia N810 on its way

I’ll be getting my Nokia N810 Internet tablet this week, and I’m definitely looking forward to it… Ironically, I’ve been playing with a Nokia N800 that was sent to me by Nseries WOM World a few days ago!

Before I started this blog I owned a Nokia 770 for several months and I really liked it. When I sold it I promised myself to get my hands on the first Nokia Internet tablet with a keyboard – so there you have it :)

I also recently acquired a Nokia 7710, which is the ancestor to the Internet tablets. It’s a Symbian-based (S90) smartphone with a large touch screen that uses Hildon, the same user interface as the Linux-based (Maemo) Internet tablets.