Nokia debuts Linux-based Web device

Nokia on Wednesday announced a pocket-size Web browser for wireless broadband networks, the Finnish firm's first Linux-based device and its first portable product without a built-in mobile phone.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is designed for browsing and e-mail functions, the phone maker said. The gizmo has a 4-inch horizontal touch screen with zoom and an on-screen keyboard. It can be connected to the Net either from a hot spot or using Bluetooth via a compatible mobile phone, Nokia said.

The tablet runs on Linux-based Nokia Internet Tablet 2005 software edition, which includes desktop Linux and open-source technologies. The device includes software such as Internet radio, an RSS news reader, image viewer and media players for selected types of media. The company will provide tools to developers using the Maemo platform to work on future versions and OS releases, it said.

The device is slated to begin shipping in the third quarter in select markets in the Americas and Europe. It will sell for $350 excluding VAT, or 350 euros including VAT, the world's biggest mobile phone maker said.

Phone makers have been introducing smart phones loaded with features including Internet connectivity and e-mail functions. On the other hand, computing device makers are designing PCs that are smaller in size and sport additional features.

"This is the first step in creating an open-source product for broadband and Internet services," Janne Jormalainen, vice president of convergence products at Nokia, said in a release. "We will be launching, regularly, updates of the software. The next software release planned for the first half of next year will support more presence-based functionalities such as VoIP and instant messaging."

Reuters contributed to this story.

What could be the logic?

It is very difficult to say why nokia have created a mobile phone without a calling capability.
Technically todays mobile phone are so powerful that they challenge any hand held device on computing power as well as software availability. In such scenario when nokia 9220i already have WIFI inbuilt and is fully loaded with PIM software, it is not only surprising but difficult to believe that nokia have released a device for *just* browsing internet!!
I think it is more of nokia flirting with open-source. May be in future we see more of nokia device running on Linux in the place of symbian.

[Mario Nogueira]

Think iPod (or Blackberry)

It's becoming clearer and clearer that the market prefers mobile devices that do one thing very well against those that are only ok in many different tasks at once.

Apple's iPod, RIM's Balckberry (even their most recent smartphones are really poor when it comes to voice communication) and, maybe, Sony's PSP are good examples of that.

Little comment on that, from ZDNET UK, can be found at <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/other/0,39020682,39199137,00.htm" target="_newWindow">http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/other/0,39020682,39199137,00.htm</a>

By the way, that has been the most cited potential adoption barrier PalmOne's latest handheld, LifeDrive - which features a 4gb hard drive and all the potential uses one may come up for it - may face.

So, maybe Nokia is just trying to feel if there's a demand for a mobile device optimized for web browsing, just like RIM got it right with mobile devices optimized for handling email only and Apple with the iPod (I considered both really silly when they first came out). Maybe Nokia is onto something, maybe it is not.

[George Cole]

so powerful

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.analogstereo.com/192_168_1_1_vpn.htm" target="_newWindow">http://www.analogstereo.com/192_168_1_1_vpn.htm</a>

What could be the logic?

It is very difficult to say why nokia have created a mobile phone without a calling capability.
Technically todays mobile phone are so powerful that they challenge any hand held device on computing power as well as software availability. In such scenario when nokia 9220i already have WIFI inbuilt and is fully loaded with PIM software, it is not only surprising but difficult to believe that nokia have released a device for *just* browsing internet!!
I think it is more of nokia flirting with open-source. May be in future we see more of nokia device running on Linux in the place of symbian.

[Mario Nogueira]

Think iPod (or Blackberry)

It's becoming clearer and clearer that the market prefers mobile devices that do one thing very well against those that are only ok in many different tasks at once.

Apple's iPod, RIM's Balckberry (even their most recent smartphones are really poor when it comes to voice communication) and, maybe, Sony's PSP are good examples of that.

Little comment on that, from ZDNET UK, can be found at <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/other/0,39020682,39199137,00.htm" target="_newWindow">http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/other/0,39020682,39199137,00.htm</a>

By the way, that has been the most cited potential adoption barrier PalmOne's latest handheld, LifeDrive - which features a 4gb hard drive and all the potential uses one may come up for it - may face.

So, maybe Nokia is just trying to feel if there's a demand for a mobile device optimized for web browsing, just like RIM got it right with mobile devices optimized for handling email only and Apple with the iPod (I considered both really silly when they first came out). Maybe Nokia is onto something, maybe it is not.

[George Cole]

so powerful

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.analogstereo.com/192_168_1_1_vpn.htm" target="_newWindow">http://www.analogstereo.com/192_168_1_1_vpn.htm</a>