Hi folks a major firmware update for Nokia N900 is out. The Update is called PR  1.1 Release1.2009.42.11 to PR1.1 release 2.2009.51. Maemo 5 PR1.1 is being released on January 14, 2010. Starting in Finland at 7am local time and following a staggering process country by country through the different time zones.

This update can be installed over the air by users with the PR1.0.1 already installed. Images for flashing will be available later today as well.

The Maemo 5 SDK and tools are being updated as well in order to match the OS content. The update will be available later today.

Tons of Changelogs after the break!

New features

• Hutchison SIM cards are supported.
• MS Exchange 2003 support.

Maemo Update

• Bootloader (Nolo) can be updated over Maemo Update.
• Cellular software can be updated over Maemo Update.
• Icon cache removed to allow more memory space for Maemo Update.
• Application Manager: Available space check moved to apt-worker for more accurate results.

Reliability

• Improvements in SGX performance and reliability.

Use-time and power consumption

• API for status area applets to detect if they are invisible/absent.
• Fixes to Pulseaudio timer increasing power saving when starting/closing apps.
• Browser: Removed unnecessary serial logging.
• Reduction of wake-ups in Desktop, Connectivity, Conversations, RSS Feed Reader,
• Backup handles correctly directories containing pairs of symlinks.
• Less CPU load caused during video recording.
• Support disabling Virtual Keyboard in input field.
• Performance improvements in Browser.
• Lock: “swipe to unlock” will not stay on.
• CPU idle latencies and thresholds updated.
• Fixing eMMC data lines while sleeping.
• CellMO power consumption reduced.

Usability

• Volume button operation in call flipped based on audio routing (no more on screen orientation).
• Browser: Downloading & rendering of page content runs promptly.
• Helping to avoid capacity limits of rootfs when installing apps (make Docpurge aware of /opt).
• Stability and usability fixes to the Profiles applet. Selection, usage and restoring of ringtones.
• Fast call from home shortcuts.
• Fast SMS rejection of incoming call.
• Avoid false alarms in pocket.
• Silence ringing by flipping face down.
• Fix to Camera photo orientation problem: correct orientation is now written to EXIF.

Performance

• X: performance of GLES apps improved.
• Lower RAM consumption while capturing video.
• Phone-UI & Msg-UI always ready to appear.
• Application Manager UI speed improvements.
• Email faster with large mailboxes.
• Large file copy (SD->MMC) doesn’t degrade system performance.

OVI Maps

• Route calculation and search performance improved.

Connectivity

• BT Secure Simple Pairing fixed for Windows Vista.
• BT transfer progress indicated.
• Improving WLAN connection stability.
• Improved WLAN negotiation when going out of reach of access point.

Phonecalls

• Add voicemail shortcut support.
• Showing call forwarding correctly when busy forwarding is not set.
• Call log improved.

Audio & Video

• Audio volume control works with +/- keys in full-screen playback of flash.
• Handling corrupted ring tone files better.
• HW volume keys always have same orientation.
• Media Player UI now provides feedback when tapping control buttons in video playback.
• MIC input not clipped when loud voice in VoIP call.
• Pulseaudio: Ringtone is heard from the loudspeaker if BT connected.
• Ringtone played both to headset (BT or wired) and to internal HF speakers.
• AV sync fix for recorded videos.

Camera

• ISO EXIF value for images saved when automatic sensitivity in use.
• Vignetting test of 2nd camera fixed, VGA sensor stability.

Battery and Charging

• Improved charging in case of low charging power (PC USB charging).

USB

• Fixing the USB detection and card mounting issue related to quickly attaching/detaching the cable.
• Able to format corrupted eMMC properly.
• Hang fixed in case of WLAN disconnection while copying files.

Synchronization

• Activesync supports now MS Exchange 2003.
• Activesync – fixes the forwarding of attachments showing incorrect sizes (Exchange server 2003).
• Content copier of PC Suite enabled. Whole content backup (including Notes) can now be restored from PCSuite.

3rd party applications

• Policy-settings: Fixes rotation transition in for 3rd party applications.
• Policy-settings: By default, 3rd party apps should have the same limits as our applications.

Calendar

• Public API for color picker. Home widget is now translucent.
• Set/get alarms API.
• Syncing of task alarms supported.

Image Viewer

• Thumbnailing faster.

Application Manager

• Rename Maemo Extras to maemo.org and enable by default.
• Grid view applied for the categories in download view. Added API for filtering packages.

Development Platform

• SDK content and tools updated.
• SDK GUI installer updated.
• New sharing-dialog-dev package added to enable Bluetooth and email sending.
• New wappushd-dev package documenting MMS interfaces available.

Community reports fixed

Browser

* “”About Flash Player”" contextual menu item treated as unrequested pop-up
* Focus not set to location bar after Ctrl-L shortcut is used
* Spacebar scrolls more than 1 page
* microb doesn’t trigger onchange
* Page is not rerendered when JavaScript actions increase page length
* Complete Browsing History on the N900 sometimes displays “”None”"
* The menu item “”copy”" in the browser menu does not work
* OK button remains disabled in dialog for Integer settings in about:config
* Browser window checkerboards and repaints when navigated to from multi-task view
* Sometimes the browser window goes black for over a second after clicking the fullscreen/restore button

Calendar

* Start and end times are changing when daylight saving time ends (begins)
* Incorrect entries in the Birthday Smart Calendar
* Changing to next week is very slow
* Smart birthday-widget doesn’t show up any birthdays or shows one on random

Chat & Call & SMS

* Phone app crashed as call ending
* Dialer does not accept SS (3GPP TS 22.030) dial strings
* Unclear how to open a contact (sender/receiver) of a conversation
* High latency between UI and SIP events being sent
* clicking on notification window fails for 2 or more messages when in Dashboard
* Skype does not allow entering DTMF tones
* skype: Call does not support DTMF tones
* Can’t send sms/chat to known contact from the Call list
* libnice violates Debian packaging policy for description of package “”libnice0″”
* Volume buttons should be swapped when using the phone in portrait mode.
* Call Log only displays contact name that called, not phone number
* Show wrong Contact for a SMS after a couple of days
* scrollbar instead of kinetic scrolling
* Chat window for jabber / xmpp is not always updated with new incoming messages

Connectivity

* Bluetooth DBUS UI dialogs – wrong args in the example code
* Button style in Bluetooth file receive applet is wrong
* Inconsistent keyboard behaviour when configuring a static ip address
* Drops WLAN connection to Linksys WRT610N after 10-15 minutes
* after failed pairing to bluetooth car kit bluetooth can’t be turned on
* Wrong settings for Orange (France) gprs
* udhcpc overriding default routes

Contacts

* address book cannot import vcards from benq/siemens phones properly
* Contacts re-appear in list after disableing and re-enableing accounts
* No hint that it is impossible to paste an strings containing non-numeric characters into a phone number field
* Skype Support>Report problem leads to an error page

Core

* N900 sometimes ignores USB data cable

Desktop platform

* Publish sources of alarm framework
* Failed to build libosso-2.19 from Fremantle repo (ggc 4.3.2)
* wdgt_va_full_12h_time, wdgt_va_12h_hours should be replaced by wdgt_va_full_12h_time_am/wdgt_va_full_12h_time_pm and wdgt_va_12h_hours_am/wdgt_va_12h_hours_pm
* Easy to enter ~ ^ ‘ ` “” symbols with 3rd row of special character view
* “”More…”" applications launcher does’t allow scrolling
* Can’t easily align desktop widgets (snap to position) on home screens
* Allow keyboard input to jump to an entry in a list (“”type ahead”")
* No rubber-banding effect in the Main “”More…”" menu (task launcher)
* WiFi password shows up in auto-completion
* When applying a different theme, not all colors change in application manager
* libsdl: Task switcher area can be a dead area
* FN-lock and Ctrl+Backspace breaks input for used application
* Application Manager moves to background after start when quickly clicking
* Typing in newly opened window brings up contact search
* Race condition with hardware shift key
* Home view blurs on triple-tapping the launcher grid icon
* Hanging application menu requires system reboot
* Rotation in 42-11 is not as smooth as in 41-10 for some third party apps
* “”More…”" view is not sorted at all
* Add a (short shown) scroll bar in the status area window to indicate that there are more elements inside as actually shown
* Updating software removes desktop shortcuts

Desktop Widgets

* AP News Widget causes Excessive CPU wakeups
* Contact widgets move to active desktop after merge
* Media Player widget suddenly starts music after Phone call ends

Development Platform

* Link to C code not working (not a link in fact) on Fremantle camera api dev page
* Package downloads should be retried when the http connection time-outs
* Link for osso_wlan documentation broken
* Video indexing failed in SDK (Tracker issue?)
* xkbdata: Inconsistency between installed packages in SDK and FW
* example source code not available in “Writing a new maemo application”
* e2fsprogs derivative packages not available?
* HildonTouchSelector example has wrong parameters in callback function
* URL for sharing plugin template missing

Email

* Does not always mark e-mails as read (dovecot/cyrus/google IMAP server)
* Modest reports email username / password incorrect when it is correct
* Performance is unusable on IMAP accounts with a large number of messages in one or more folders (e.g. INBOX)
* When an IMAP account is selected, only refresh that account’s folders
* Locales not working correctly
* Deleting email should be more evident…
* Fix modest compilation warning
* Remove HildonDialog deprecated symbol
* Import conic support only if It’s available
* Remove Hildon 0.x conditional code
* Remove Hildon 1.x conditional code in Hildon2 version of modest
* Modest doesn’t take care of preferences for automatic update
* New email notification leads to blank email instead of email itself
* Double-tapping “”Inbox”" sometimes opens ‘empty’ Inbox
* nokia messaging doesn’t synchronize selected imap folders
* Long delays when opening emails – viewer window shows “”Updating”"

Images and Camera

* When ISO sensitivity is set to automatic, ISO EXIF value in resulting image is 0
* Vertical photos from other devices should fill more space when shown in portrait.
* User-facing camera produces a left side dark vertical band
* Audio does not sync with video (and is ultimately unsyncable)
* Improve zooming

Location

* Bluetooth GPS reconnect dialog refuses to go away after clicking “”No”"

Map

* USA localization displays distance in kilometers
* Can’t delete route waypoints in Map application
* Route Settings screen is not finger friendly

Media player

* Information on artist / track not updated in media player with internet radio
* Plays next radio station when current station cuts out / has playback issues
* flashing pixels around the lock button if media player is playing a video.
* Media player track search only matches the beginning of title/artist
* Viewing songs by “”Artists”" automatically scrolls to the end of the list

Multimedia

* N900 needs to be rebooted if media player fails to play video (h264dec)
* Volume in media player jumps when receiving emails, IM´s or sms´s
* Can’t change FM TX radio station name
* Xvid encoded videos unwatchable

Settings and Maintenance

* Streamlining user access to the Extras repository
* Should remember position in packages list after installing package
* Other Category appears twice
* Installing many packages at a time via App Manager exhausts rootfs space
* Artifacts (visual noise) when tapping screen in Screen Calibration
* docpurge is not aware of /opt
* Inconsistent layout on similar Sharing/VOIP applets
* Background image settings not restored

Sharing

* Evernote uses to much space in root partition, should use /opt

Statusbar Widgets

* Volume slider doesn’t notice when you plug in headphones
* Currently active connection should be first in Connections list

Synchronization

* First Synchronization between N900 and Exchange 2003 Server always fails
* MfE spams screen with error messages when it cannot connect to the server
* MfE wont keep Exchange account updated
* Changing password on Exchange 2007 makes MfE go crazy
* Company Directory not present
* MfE is missing some CA cert symlinks on some devices (NuevaSync)
* Initial sync fails with exchange 2007

System Analysis

* getbootstate bricks the device after 17 reboots if there are no normal boots in between them

System software

* Shaking device switches between landscape and portrait modes
* Charger not recognized when plugged in when in Touch & Key lock
* Low power/battery beep does not sound if you’re on a call
* Pin / lock code entry dialog reveals digits on backspace
* Alarm clock does not wake me up when battery has died.

Telephony

* 3 Mobile SIM card rejected
* Call forwarding settings not being saved
* No pause before sending DTMF tones

Translations

* Change ‘TV uit’ (TV out) to ‘TV-uitgang’
* “Ładowanie” used without distinction between “”charging”" and “”loading”"
* addr_va_lastname has a comma that it shouldn’t have
* IP address field in WiFi advanced settings partially hidden (“”Recuperar automáticamente dirección IP”" string too long)
* Some sentences in the User Guide don’t make sense
* Wrong profile names in the User Guide
* Delete dialog text missing a space
* Polish string too long in UPnP browsing menu bar
* Wrong PO Box translation for CZ language

Utilities

* Re-enable reset and/or reset-and-clear in osso-xterm
* “”Already at minimum / maximum font size.”" not translated
* File manager fails to show folder sizes beyond 999,9 MB
* Clock alarm status icon is sometimes shown as dash (-)”

We all know N900 doesn’t yet feature a MMS sending capability. mkMMS is an application developed by Mohammed Sameer

The application is not yet finished. It’s in alpha stage but it’s working good. It lacks GUI and very limited in features.This application allows you to create a MMS and send your photo to another phone number via Nokia N900. With the current version you can attach only ONE, which can be jpg, png, gif or text file (txt). And at this point it’s still under development so we can get a full featured version very soon!. You can use it like this

./mkmms /home/temp/photo.jpg m-send-req.mms subject

You can get a Copy of mkMMS here : mkMMS

Hi the N900 support page is finally online.Whats the support page brings us:
-User Manual in all languages
-How To which is used for basic tweaks you can do in N900
-Softwares from Nokia for your N900
-Accessories Available for your N900
-Specification
-Simple 400 FAQ’s

N900 Support Page

FM Transmitter Demo
Hi geeks we all know N900 sports a fm transmitter.The N900 fmtransmitter is demoed by Steffen, a member of the Maemo 5 UI Team.The Fm transmitter is basically used to transmit the audio from N900 to the nearby Fm receiver.Here in this below video you can see the working of it.

Hello folks,
The N900 running a linux os so there are many keyboard shortcuts available to us.Lets have a look of all the keyboard shortcuts and various light notification used in N900 for notifying and to start various process.
Notification lights colour:

1.Blue Color light is meant for Application notifications such as an IM or Text Or Email.

2.Orange Color light indicate the battery is getting charged

3.Green Light denotes Battery charge is full

Keyboard Shortcuts Inside the Applications:
1.Ctrl+Backspace takes you to taskmanager .
2.As Usual Ctrl + C for copy text ,Ctrl + V to paste text ,Ctrl + X and Ctrl + A for moving text .
3. Ctrl + O Used to open.
4. Ctrl + N: Used to create a new item .
5.Ctrl + S: Used to Save .
6.Ctrl + Z: Used to undo .
7.Ctrl + Y: Used to Redo .
8.Ctrl + F: Opens the search bar for searching .
9.Ctrl + Right arrow: Function as END key in pc move to the end of the word.
10.Ctrl + Left arrow: Function as HOME key in pc move to the beginning of the word.
11.Ctrl + Shift + P:Used to Capture the screen as image.
12.Ctrl + Shift + X: Opens ‘X Terminal’
Keyboard Shorcuts for Web Browser:
1.Ctrl + N: Opens a fresh window in browser
2.Ctrl + R:Reloads the current page also can be used to reload the feed in RSS Viewer
3.Ctrl + B:Opens the Bookmarks folder
4.Ctrl + D:Save a new bookmark of the opened site
5.Ctrl + S:Save the current page.
6.Circular Zoom:To zoom the webpage

Also 1.Volume Rocker can be also used to zoom.
2.Double tap can also used to zoom.
7.Press Space:To scroll one page down.
8.Press Shift + Space:To One Page up.
Email Shortcuts
1.Ctrl + Enter:To send the current composed email.
2.Ctrl + R:To open new window for sending the reply to the current reading mail.

Check Out Other Tips:
1.HowTo: Create a shortcut to a file on the N900’s desktop
2.HowTo: Browse the N900’s File-system using its Web-Browser
3.How to take the Red-Pill and install more apps on the N900

Thanks to Nokia Experts.

In our last post we saw how powerful Nokia N900 was, now the question is why is the Nokia N900 so thick ?

You would wonder why the N900 is so thick compared to other mobiles such as HD2 and the famous iPhone 3GS.

lets see why.. It is due to following additions to the beast and making it a powerful contender to all the mobiles.

*Stereo Speakers – High Quality stereo speakers.It delivers the sound as the way it was supposed to be delivered.

*Expansion Slot- The Monster can utilize extra memory too if you like so, expansion slot is a must.

*Full QWERTY – Touch screen + QWERTY always a Great combo for a phone like this and the slider takes more room to be perfectly slide out

You might ask why Motorola DROID which also has a QWERTY keyboard and it is slightly thiner..that is because DROID keyboard is FLAT, it is not the case in the N900 which has tactile keyboard with curved buttons.
*IR – Can be used as universal remote, there is already an app for that.

* 5 mpx – bigger sensor , lens cover , kick stand, dual LED  – These spice up the photo output of the beast. Kick Stand makes it a handy video player.

*Removable battery – The power house of the Beast BL-5J 1320mAh take some room in the device.
*Stylus – The stylus is a complementary thing in resistive screen we will need in some time.So some thickness is given to it to fit firmly.
*Integrated 32GB - The memory really speaks out for this phone
*FM transmitter and Receiver , TV-out chip -The hardware things which spice up the N900 a little more outstanding device
*Front camera for Video Calls-A must for all high-end Mobile phone . oh by the way now we can do Skype Video calls 

More hardware feature = bigger the size , its inevitable.

Hi all As we all know the Nokia N900 is a Great multitasking beast with 1gb application memory. Here in this video, archbyte from  TheMaemo.com team  pushes the N900 to its limits check out the cool video from him.

Also a video from Nokia here: