Ubuntu Mobile On the Nokia 770/N800?

August 9th, 2007 Uncategorized

There’s been a lot of interest lately in Ubuntu’s initiative to produce an embedded version of its Linux distribution for mobile devices. Initially the consensus was that it would be x86 only, effectively ruling out any chance of it working on the Nokia tablets but pieces of information dotted about the Internet may imply otherwise.

Quoting the Embedded Ubuntu wiki page:

Suggestions were made to build “packages naitively or using pre-built cross-toolchains to build the ARM archive.”

Ubuntu Mobile should “consider [the] Nokia 770 as potential platform for development – start with taking software from Maemo.org, strip what seems to be not necessary (try to retain core SW as much as possible), and build on top of it.”

From the same page:

“EmbeddedUbuntu will initially cover ARM-based platforms, preferably with a LCD display. This includes ARM-based PDAs and Internet Tablets”

Another bit of information that points to a non-x86 release was Canonical Software spokesperson Gerry Carr’s comment that Intel “expects to see the first [MID] (Mobile Internet Device) devices in 2008″ which could be up to a year after the initial release of Ubuntu Mobile. This begs the question, what will Ubuntu Mobile be running on in the mean-time?

Initial development has begun on the ia32 platform and continues to gather pace in this direction although a few comments on the Ubuntu Mobile mailing list by Matt Zimmerman provides a glimmer of hope to the arm based crowd.

"If what you're asking is whether an ARM port is planned, that's wide open.As I noted in the original announcement, this project has begun incollaboration with Intel with an aim to support their new platforms."

We are committed to the success of UME, and ARM is clearly a relevant platform in the mobile and embedded space.

At present, we have funding for the ia32 platform work, and have plenty ofinteresting work to do there in the near term.  However, given a source offunding for ARM, work on a port could begin very quickly, and all of thework that we're presently doing to build the framework will carry over toit.

Open source is all about alternatives. If Ubuntu does become available on the Nokia tablets I can see a lot of users at least trying it. Whether it will be better or not is another question although I do believe that Ubuntu has a more open development model than Nokia’s which can only benefit the end user.

Will the Nokia N800 With WiMax Support Change the Mobile Phone Landscape?

August 8th, 2007 Uncategorized

Theres an interesting article over at Linux Devices detailing the announcement that Nokia is to work with Sprint, the US phone carrier, to produce a N800 with WiMax support. What this means is that the WiMax enabled N800 will be one of the first carrier promoted Internet Tablets (if not the first) to have a data connection usually reserved for mobile phones. The roll-out date? Sometime in 2008.

While this is a good thing for Nokia and Internet tablets in general, it does highlight something maybe a little more disturbing. Does this announcement mean that the N800 is Nokia’s main focus for the Internet Tablet and that we won’t see any other (improved) device during 2008? Or just that Nokia will be expanding its range to include the WiMax N800 alongside other new developments? I sure hope its the latter.

But one thing is for sure, I really like Nokia’s decision to explore new and somewhat “landscape changing” avenues. Lets not forget that a WiMax (or HSDPA for us in the UK) enabled internet tablet could remove the need for a phone at all. If everyone were carrying these devices, VOIP would rule and the revenue that carriers get would not be based on any current model in existence today.

If we can’t have ubiquitous wifi everywhere, especially in the short term, maybe this is the answer to a VOIP enabled world?

Congratulations to the Poky Team

August 7th, 2007 Uncategorized

A (somewhat late) congratulations to the Poky team for their 3.0 (“Blinky”) release. Amongst the supported platforms is:

“Nokia N800 web tablet (experimental)”.

For those that don’t know what Poky is, the official blurb is:

“Poky is an embedded Linux build system, distribution and developer environment which builds upon OpenEmbedded technologies. Poky’s focus is purely on building stable optimised GNOME Embedded type platforms (X11/Matchbox/GTK+) together with a streamlined system layer and cross development environment. “

Gimp Tutorials

August 5th, 2007 Uncategorized

For anyone out there that’s interested in the gimp, there’s a great set of 10 video tutorials at http://vntutor.blogspot.com, covering everything from the basics to photo manipulation, take a look.

The line up is as follows:

Lesson 1: GIMP Basics
Lesson 2: Selective Decolorization
Lesson 3: Make a thumping picture in GIMP
Lesson 4: Render Images in GIMP
Lesson 5: Make a Superkaramba (A-foto) decoration
Lesson 6: How to make a banner
Lesson 7: Alter an image
Lesson 8: Lightning
Lesson 9: Retouching a Photo
Lesson 10: The User Interface

Support the old to encourage the new

August 2nd, 2007 Uncategorized

Nokia’s first foray into the Internet Tablet world was the 770, a 141mm x 79mm x 19mm bundle of great potential. Their Maemo platform was a step in the right direction for mobile devices and choosing Linux as their operating system was a great decision. So what’s currently gone wrong with their Internet Tablet strategy?

The 770 is ‘cheap as chips’

Nokia’s latest decision to dramatically reduce the price of the 770 has been a master stroke on their part. For example, in the UK you can, at the time of writing, get a Nokia 770 Internet Tablet for £73.40!

This is at the magical consumable price point. It’s not to prohibitive that potential buyers would dismiss it as being too expensive and in the same vein it lures the people who weren’t even in the market for something like this to part with their hard earned cash. Effectively Nokia has created a whole new customer base for itself.

Ordinarily this would be a welcome event for any manufacturer but in the case of the 770 they could in fact be ’shooting themselves in the foot’.

Product Maturity

You see the problem with the 770 is that Nokia treated it as a test bed. A dip of the toe into the proverbial tablet waters if you like. This is all very well and good but I’m sure they were aware that the platform they created on the 770 would need a good deal of maturing to give them at least a chance against the likes of the Microsoft offerings in the same space.

Windows mobile has seen may incarnations over the years, some good, most bad but the underlining factor its that these guys (and gals) have been at it for some time. They have ironed out many bugs and digested many user reports which has enabled them to produce a some-what stable platform. Nokia on the other hand seems to have abandoned the 770.

Competition

In a recent announcement, arguably the most popular Linux desktop distributor, Ubuntu, announced an initiative to develop an ultra mobile version of its software. This was big news, even the BBC here in the UK picked up on it. The most damming news for Nokia was that is was to support the x86 architecture rather than Nokia’s arm base one and thus would not be compatible with any hardware Nokia had previously released. But the encouraging signs are there that Nokia’s involvement with the Hildon desktop for mobile devices will not be in vein as that could be used in future devices from other manufacturers.

A customers perspective

With the influx of new users, Nokia has now got a rather large problem if is to lead the way with Internet Tablets. You could say that Nokia is at a transitional period when it comes to this market. Sure, they are pretty damn successful in the mobile phone market but who can honestly envisage a future where your mobile phone just takes calls, a text message and the occasional photo here and there?

Nokia were very smart to see that the future is a mobile ‘computer’ not a phone but they may disgruntle future adopters of their platform by leaving past customers wanting.

Many people are coming in at the bottom end. Buying the 770 as an impulse buy, just to try it out. But what they will get is a buggy, unfinished and unpolished bit of hardware that will grace many a second hand sale on ebay or the likes. For a Linux geek its great, for Mr Smith who thought it looked cool and the price was great, Nokia just lost a future customer.

First impressions last

Nokia should see their recent stock sell off as an opportunity to sell more future products, not an opportunity to try to claw back some revenue from unsold 770’s. Support the 770, don’t abandon it just because its not the latest and greatest. Sure, the N800 is where the profit margin is but how many 770 owners will upgrade if they are dissatisfied with the 770? How many will choose the N900 (or what ever Nokia choose to call it) and how many will just jump ship to an Ubuntu/Intel derived model?

Make a good impression, that’s what I was always told by my mom, because once you’ve made it, you can’t take it back.