SunnyChahal
...
Hello!
I recently bought this so called mobile computer, the Nokia N900. Till now, it has certainly lived up to my expectations. It does most of the stuff that a computer can do. Full Flash support in the browser, a BitTorrent client, physical qwerty keyboard are just a few of the awesome features of this device.
The N900 is a smartphone-cum-tablet powered by the ARM Cortex A8 processor running at 600Mhz. It runs Maemo 5 which is a modified version for Debian Linux for mobile devices. The UI is based on GNOME. The beauty of this OS is that repositores other than the default one can be added easily and tons of applications can be accessed with very less effort. Some of the best Linux applications like Pidgin, Transmission, Conky etc. have been recompiled to run on the ARM processor. The .deb files that are compatible with ARM processors can be installed from the Application Manager or even X Terminal. There's 'apt-get' too, so if I am feeling geeky, I can always do an 'apt-get install' to install an app. The OS is closed in no way and the user is allowed to do anything he can with it, just like Linux. That's the part I love the most.
Coming to the hardware, the N900 sports a 3.5" resistive touch screen. I know this might turn some of us off but believe me, it's the best resistive screen you'll see on a phone. After having used capacitive touch screen for over 2 years, I was a bit skeptical about resistive touch but it turned out to be great. It's very responsive and accurate and in some ways, better than capacitive. It's so well optimized for fingers that I rarely use the stylus. The screen is very crisp and bright with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. The physical keyboard is a treat to type on. Now that I have used it for a week, I find it hard to type on the virtual keyboard on my iPhone. About audio, the phone has dual speakers on both the sides of the device and they do one hell of a job of playing music! Overall, the build quality of the phone is amazing. This might not come as a surprise as Nokia are known to produce robust phones. It's a bit bulky due to the physical keyboard but feels really solid in the hands.
Here's a little something about multimedia on this device. The N900 can play virtually every audio format except of course a few formats which can also be played after adding some codecs from extras repository. It also plays DivX videos out of the box, so no more converting your videos for hours before being able to play them. The Media Player app is nothing but beautiful and extremely functional. Internet radio is also integrated into the Media Player app. Many more codecs can be added from extras repository to get support for more audio/video formats including .mkv. There is also Mplayer for the N900 but it is only terminal based right now. Several GUI frontends are available for Mplayer including SiB, KMplayer, SMplayer etc. There's 32GB inbuilt memory. Enough to keep one entertained for hours. 32GB memory and crazy format support! Fun, anyone?
The apps which I currently have installed on my phone are:
Chatting - Pidgin, Linux version recompiled for ARM.
Web Browsing - The default browser is pretty impressive but I like to try a lot of stuff. So, I've also installed Opera Mobile and Firefox.
System Monitoring - Conky. Best app for that purpose.
BitTorrent - Transmission, again, the recompiled Linux version.
Twitter - TweeGo. In alpha stage but pretty cute. Lacks some features but it'll catch up.
PSFreedom - You know.... to jailbreak my PS3. Yes, the N900 can also jailbreak a PS3.
For Email, RSS, Maps and other services, I use the default apps provided by Nokia.
As there aren't many apps for Maemo available on the Ovi Store, you should add more repositories namely, Maemo Extras, Extras-Testing and Extras-Devel. These will open up thousand of apps for you to download. Here is a tutorial on how to add those repositories. Please bear in mind that the apps in Testing-Extra and Testing-Devel repositories are meant only for testing purposes and you should not install them unless you completely understand what you are doing. In case you brick your phone, you and I are anonymous. You never saw me!
Here are a few pics of my N900:
Behold! The N900!
*img441.imageshack.us/img441/2785/img0074pi.th.jpg
Transmisson! OMG! Speeds!
*img543.imageshack.us/img543/8290/img0118rl.th.jpg
Slick.
*img585.imageshack.us/img585/3871/img0138i.th.jpg
Prince of Perisa.
*img560.imageshack.us/img560/8404/img0140z.th.jpg
Pidgin. Yeah, that's my folks there.
*img46.imageshack.us/img46/9582/screenshot2010111119392.th.png
Our very own Digit forum. You see the ads? Hell yes, it's got Flash!
*img177.imageshack.us/img177/5558/screenshot2010111119402.th.png
Terminal! Geeky! Drools!
*img191.imageshack.us/img191/9518/screenshot2010111119410.th.png
Media Player app. Delicious, ain't it?
*img812.imageshack.us/img812/6880/screenshot2010111119412.th.png
Mah music, kind of embarrassing.
*img844.imageshack.us/img844/4043/screenshot2010111119413.th.png
TweeGo! Cute!
*img838.imageshack.us/img838/9031/screenshot2010111119415.th.png
My desktop or homescreen. Using the Ubuntu Humanity theme.
*img574.imageshack.us/img574/1610/screenshot2010111119422.th.png
Apps.
*img80.imageshack.us/img80/2308/screenshot2010111119430.th.png
True multitasking, BIACH!
*img607.imageshack.us/img607/724/screenshot2010111119474.th.png
So, that was my N900. Apart from Maemo, it also runs Android and the recently released, MeeGo 1.1. I've already installed Android on my N900 which is also called NITdroid. I will add a tutorial on how to do that later on.
Of course, I have a few gripes with the N900 but then again, we are all here to praise the device. I'll mention some though:
1. Touch can be awkward sometimes.
2. Lack of official apps in the Ovi Store.
3. No Ovi Music integration.
4. A bit too bulky.
5. No multi-touch.
I bought mine from a Nokia Priority Store for Rs.24.000/-. Pretty reasonable for a device of this caliber.
Here is a list of the Digit members who currently own this phone:
1. SunnyChahal ( Sunny Chahal)
2. Desiibond (Amarendra Bandla)
3. amitabhishek (Amit Abhishek)
Anyone else who owns an N900, please get your name added to the list.
From now on, this thread shall be the one and only place on the Digit forum to discuss the N900. All the hacks, mods, tutorials, tips and tricks should be posted here. This would be really helpful for the people who are new to this phone.
I'll be adding more stuff later on including some tutorials. So, stay tuned for updates!
Keep the posts flowing in! Cheers!
I recently bought this so called mobile computer, the Nokia N900. Till now, it has certainly lived up to my expectations. It does most of the stuff that a computer can do. Full Flash support in the browser, a BitTorrent client, physical qwerty keyboard are just a few of the awesome features of this device.
The N900 is a smartphone-cum-tablet powered by the ARM Cortex A8 processor running at 600Mhz. It runs Maemo 5 which is a modified version for Debian Linux for mobile devices. The UI is based on GNOME. The beauty of this OS is that repositores other than the default one can be added easily and tons of applications can be accessed with very less effort. Some of the best Linux applications like Pidgin, Transmission, Conky etc. have been recompiled to run on the ARM processor. The .deb files that are compatible with ARM processors can be installed from the Application Manager or even X Terminal. There's 'apt-get' too, so if I am feeling geeky, I can always do an 'apt-get install' to install an app. The OS is closed in no way and the user is allowed to do anything he can with it, just like Linux. That's the part I love the most.
Coming to the hardware, the N900 sports a 3.5" resistive touch screen. I know this might turn some of us off but believe me, it's the best resistive screen you'll see on a phone. After having used capacitive touch screen for over 2 years, I was a bit skeptical about resistive touch but it turned out to be great. It's very responsive and accurate and in some ways, better than capacitive. It's so well optimized for fingers that I rarely use the stylus. The screen is very crisp and bright with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. The physical keyboard is a treat to type on. Now that I have used it for a week, I find it hard to type on the virtual keyboard on my iPhone. About audio, the phone has dual speakers on both the sides of the device and they do one hell of a job of playing music! Overall, the build quality of the phone is amazing. This might not come as a surprise as Nokia are known to produce robust phones. It's a bit bulky due to the physical keyboard but feels really solid in the hands.
Here's a little something about multimedia on this device. The N900 can play virtually every audio format except of course a few formats which can also be played after adding some codecs from extras repository. It also plays DivX videos out of the box, so no more converting your videos for hours before being able to play them. The Media Player app is nothing but beautiful and extremely functional. Internet radio is also integrated into the Media Player app. Many more codecs can be added from extras repository to get support for more audio/video formats including .mkv. There is also Mplayer for the N900 but it is only terminal based right now. Several GUI frontends are available for Mplayer including SiB, KMplayer, SMplayer etc. There's 32GB inbuilt memory. Enough to keep one entertained for hours. 32GB memory and crazy format support! Fun, anyone?
The apps which I currently have installed on my phone are:
Chatting - Pidgin, Linux version recompiled for ARM.
Web Browsing - The default browser is pretty impressive but I like to try a lot of stuff. So, I've also installed Opera Mobile and Firefox.
System Monitoring - Conky. Best app for that purpose.
BitTorrent - Transmission, again, the recompiled Linux version.
Twitter - TweeGo. In alpha stage but pretty cute. Lacks some features but it'll catch up.
PSFreedom - You know.... to jailbreak my PS3. Yes, the N900 can also jailbreak a PS3.
For Email, RSS, Maps and other services, I use the default apps provided by Nokia.
As there aren't many apps for Maemo available on the Ovi Store, you should add more repositories namely, Maemo Extras, Extras-Testing and Extras-Devel. These will open up thousand of apps for you to download. Here is a tutorial on how to add those repositories. Please bear in mind that the apps in Testing-Extra and Testing-Devel repositories are meant only for testing purposes and you should not install them unless you completely understand what you are doing. In case you brick your phone, you and I are anonymous. You never saw me!
Here are a few pics of my N900:
Behold! The N900!
*img441.imageshack.us/img441/2785/img0074pi.th.jpg
Transmisson! OMG! Speeds!
*img543.imageshack.us/img543/8290/img0118rl.th.jpg
Slick.
*img585.imageshack.us/img585/3871/img0138i.th.jpg
Prince of Perisa.
*img560.imageshack.us/img560/8404/img0140z.th.jpg
Pidgin. Yeah, that's my folks there.
*img46.imageshack.us/img46/9582/screenshot2010111119392.th.png
Our very own Digit forum. You see the ads? Hell yes, it's got Flash!
*img177.imageshack.us/img177/5558/screenshot2010111119402.th.png
Terminal! Geeky! Drools!
*img191.imageshack.us/img191/9518/screenshot2010111119410.th.png
Media Player app. Delicious, ain't it?
*img812.imageshack.us/img812/6880/screenshot2010111119412.th.png
Mah music, kind of embarrassing.
*img844.imageshack.us/img844/4043/screenshot2010111119413.th.png
TweeGo! Cute!
*img838.imageshack.us/img838/9031/screenshot2010111119415.th.png
My desktop or homescreen. Using the Ubuntu Humanity theme.
*img574.imageshack.us/img574/1610/screenshot2010111119422.th.png
Apps.
*img80.imageshack.us/img80/2308/screenshot2010111119430.th.png
True multitasking, BIACH!
*img607.imageshack.us/img607/724/screenshot2010111119474.th.png
So, that was my N900. Apart from Maemo, it also runs Android and the recently released, MeeGo 1.1. I've already installed Android on my N900 which is also called NITdroid. I will add a tutorial on how to do that later on.
Of course, I have a few gripes with the N900 but then again, we are all here to praise the device.
I'll mention some though:1. Touch can be awkward sometimes.
2. Lack of official apps in the Ovi Store.
3. No Ovi Music integration.
4. A bit too bulky.
5. No multi-touch.
I bought mine from a Nokia Priority Store for Rs.24.000/-. Pretty reasonable for a device of this caliber.
Here is a list of the Digit members who currently own this phone:
1. SunnyChahal ( Sunny Chahal)
2. Desiibond (Amarendra Bandla)
3. amitabhishek (Amit Abhishek)
Anyone else who owns an N900, please get your name added to the list.
From now on, this thread shall be the one and only place on the Digit forum to discuss the N900. All the hacks, mods, tutorials, tips and tricks should be posted here. This would be really helpful for the people who are new to this phone.
I'll be adding more stuff later on including some tutorials. So, stay tuned for updates!
Keep the posts flowing in! Cheers!
Last edited:
..U must hv put in a lotta effort n time!Really a good job!
