Nokia N900: First Look

Kyle Rankin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:04:16 +0000

The Nokia N900 has just started shipping and there are already a number of reviews of the device out on the net. I've had the opportunity evaluate a pre-release N900 for a few weeks now, and while you can expect a full review in an upcoming issue of Linux Journal, I wanted to give you a quick look into what the N900 is like from the perspective of your average Linux geek. If you've read any of my previous articles in Linux Journal, you'll know that I'm a vim-using, mutt-loving sysadmin who spends a lot of time on the command line, so hopefully I can provide a unique perspective on this device.

The N900 isn't Nokia's first pocketable Linux computer. The N770, N800, and N810 are all previous models of their "Internet Tablet" all running Nokia's Debian-based Maemo Linux distribution. The N900 is the latest device in the series and what makes it special apart from updated hardware is the fact that it adds cellular connectivity. This means that not only do you have a Linux device in your pocket with an always-on Internet connection (if you have a data plan), you no longer have to carry a separate cellphone. Plus, like the N810 before it, it provides a hardware keyboard, which I think is crucial for an interactive shell.

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I have always been a fan of small laptops (see my Point / Counterpoint column on the subject to get a more complete perspective) because even if they were sometimes less powerful than their desktop or large laptop counterparts, their increased portability far outweighed any other limitations. As I mentioned before, the N900 is not the first Linux computer you can fit in your pocket, but the hardware has finally gotten to the point that you can legitimately do many laptop-like tasks on it. It sports a 600Mhz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 256Mb RAM (plus 768Mb swap), 32Gb of storage, wifi, bluetooth, TV-out, FM transmitter, and an 800x480 resistive touchscreen. If you combine that with hardware-accelerated graphics you find that there are more and more things you can do without pulling out your regular computer.

As I mentioned, I've carried around and tried out the N900 for a few weeks now, and here's a short list of the sorts of things I've been doing from the device:

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Nokia N900: First Look