The N900 and its Killer Feature


Killer_Bunny

There are a lot of great smart phones out in the market right now. They all have some strong points that distinguish them, even if it is just that they happen to run on the network that some users want (or have) to be on. In this climate it is very hard to come out with a feature that can truly distinguish a device as a standout. In spite of that, Nokia has created a huge amount of anticipation with the N900, although they refuse to call it a “Smart Phone”, preferring instead the term “mobile computer”. It is important for prospective buyers to understand why. Otherwise, some users may purchase it expecting it to be something it is not. And the opposite is true as well. Some users may fail to appreciate what it is that the N900 offers that other devices don’t. Lets take a look at what the N900 is and is not.

The N900 does not have the most feature complete phone experience in the world.

Advanced phone users may be disappointed to find out that there are currently several features missing from the N900 phone application. For example, you cannot set a different ring tone for different contacts, you cannot group or categorize your contacts, there is no voice dial, etc. Now, some of these features may appear in the near future as a firmware upgrade, but for the moment they are missing. This, I believe is why Nokia doesn’t want to call the N900 a smart phone. The phone application is just another application on the device, not necessarily the most important.

The N900 is not the best music player in the world.

From several reports by early owners of the phone, the sound quality of the N900, both through the external built in speakers and through the headphones, is better than average. However, the built in music player has some features that some users may sorely miss. For example, there appears to be no built in equalizer, and there is no way to control music play from the provided headset, one would have to get a bluetooth headset for this functionality. Also, playlists are not as robust as in other players and have a bit of a learning curve since they work a bit differently. Nevertheless, it is good to note that there are other media players available for the N900 that do offer some of these features and that may be a better fit for some users.

The N900 is not the best GPS device in the world.

The N900 comes with a Nokia product called Ovi Maps 1.0. The 1.0 version number apparently refers to it being the first Maemo release of Ovi Maps. From many user reports, it is disappointing and much less robust than the Ovi Maps 3.0 available on some Symbian devices. For example, it does not provide turn by turn voice directions, only visual. The one advantage it probably has over something like Google’s Navigator is that that it can be used without a data connection, which is a good thing when there is no 3G signal. However, there seems to be a third party alternative called Sygic which is apparently gearing up to release a more feature complete GPS navigation package for Maemo. Also, there are several efforts to leverage Google’s GPS functionality on the N900. For example, Maemaps.

The N900’s email functionality is not the best in the world.

There are apparently several problems when using the built in Mail application, Modest, with an IMAP mail server connection. If you use Gmail, just use the browser interface. Also, the Mail for Exchange functionality currently only works with MS Exchange server 2007, not 2003, or Google’s version of Active Sync. There are sure to be some improvements in these areas, but if this is important for you right now, beware.

The N900’s OS, Maemo 5, is not the most mature and bug free OS in the world.

If you have seen some of the N900 videos floating around on the Internet you probably know already that the N900 has a very beautiful interface, can multi-task better than any other comparable device, and has many other unique and desirable features. Maemo 5 is a considerable upgrade from previous Maemo versions. However, many of its features have not yet been fully developed and much less stabilized and matured. That should happen through the life span of the device by means of firmware upgrades. This is not uncommon in the electronics market where time to market is so important that many times manufacturers feel pressured to release a product before it is completely finished. Manufacturers have to weigh this option carefully because if the missing or incomplete features result in lots of returns, profits will suffer. From some early reports, the N900 initial release may be suffering from some quality control problems. So take that into consideration. If you happen to receive a defective device you may have to spend a few days without it while you wait for a replacement.

The N900 does not currently have a huge number of applications.

I don’t think this is going to be a big surprise since the phone has only been out for a few days, but I figure I might as well include it. See below for how this is going to quickly be remedied.

Are you still here? I won’t feel hurt if at this point you decide that the N900 is not for you. In fact, I believe a lot of people who are currently buying this phone would probably be better off with a different device. Just yesterday I recommended an Android phone to a friend of mine. However, it may be good for you to hang around a bit and let me show you what are the N900’s strong points. I won’t go into every detail and feature because those have been covered ad nauseum already, including the fact that it has by far the best web browser(s) and the best multi-tasking experience of any comparable device out there right now. I will only focus on some of the features that are unique to the N900 and make it a real standout, and which, if any, could be considered the N900’s “ killer feature”.

The N900 is the most compact and coolest POSIX-compliant computer in the market.

Huh, you say? POSIX (“Portable Operating System Interface [for Unix]“) is a geek term used to define certain standard requirements on an operating system, which include “the application programming interface (API), along with shell and utilities interface”[1]. What this means is that the N900 can be used as a normal UNIX computer and run normal UNIX programs. This is something fascinating for UNIX and Linux computer professionals and aficionados, because it opens a lot of possibilities for them, especially in development.

The N900 leverages Linux desktop application development platforms.

Instead of the restrictive limits imposed on developers wanting to program for the iPhone or Android, you can use a number of different languages, and more are likely to become available. Also, the GUI aspect of development is done using the standard Linux GUI toolkits, GTK and Qt. What this means is that the hordes of Linux desktop developers are going to find this device very appealing, if not irresistible.

The N900’s Killer feature!

And now, what in my opinion is the most important feature offered by the N900, the one most likely to have the power to lift the N900 above its competition in the long run is: Python! What in the world is Python, you ask? Well, my little non-geek reader, Python is a programming language. So, what makes Python special? Well, I don’t have the time to explain it and give it its fair due. If you are interested, a really good explanation was given by Eric Raymond in his “Why Python?” essay. Let me just list some of the reasons I think Python is the most important feature of the N900.

  • Python lowers the barrier of entry for N900 developers.
    This is because Python is very easy to learn. My first programming language was Basic, followed by Visual Basic. I assure you, Python is easier to learn and makes a lot more sense. This is especially important when looking at code produced by somebody else.
  • Python makes hard problems easier to solve.
    This allows developers to attempt to solve more complex problems than with other more complicated languages. This will likely result in richer programs available on the N900 than on other similar devices.
  • Python is great for application development on the go.
    You can open up an editor, hack away at your code, and execute the code immediately, without having to wait for a compiler to churn through your code first.
  • The N900’s implementation of Python is not dumbed down.
    I realize that there is an effort in Android to make Python and other scripting languages available to some degree, but from what I have seen they are relegated to macro like functionality. In other words, you wont be able to create full blown stand alone Python applications in Android. The N900, on the other hand, will allow this. Even the GUI side of the applications can be created with well known Python toolkits like PyGTK and PyQt. This is very important because there are tons of developers that already know how to write N900 applications, even if they don’t realize it yet.

Conclusion

As you may have noticed, what I think makes the N900 a real standout are features that are important for developers! And developers are exactly the kind of user the N900 is mostly trying to reach. Nokia has been on record stating that the N900 is not what they consider a consumer ready device. They consider it the last step before the true consumer ready Maemo device arrives. That is why it is so important for them to appeal to developers. The N900 will provide the fertile ground where developers will be able to create the applications that will in the future make Maemo the best option for the regular user.

Does this mean that if you are not a developer you should not buy the N900? Not necessarily. As long as you understand the current limitations of the device, like the ones I mentioned above, are savvy enough to deal with some of the growing pains that are likely to be experienced as the OS and its applications mature and stabilize, and as long as you understand and value the advantages that the N900 offers, then you should be really happy with the N900. If not, well then enjoy using a different device for a while and come back in a little while, when Maemo 5 is a bit more mature, or when its successor, Maemo 6 arrives. Very likely you are going to want to be back soon, sooner than you might think.

Python for Newbies – Tutorial

References:
“POSIX” – Wikipedia

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