Nokia has only released four Internet Tablets so far, and one of the has already been reviewed by us. They are the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, N800 Internet Tablet, N810 Internet Tablet (this one), and the N810 WiMAX.

We will explore the N810’s features and how it adapts to our criteria and perspectives.

First row: 770 at the left, and N800 at the right. Second row: N810 at the left, N810 WiMAX at the right.

Nokia’s history with Internet Tablets is a confusing one, as it’s a mobile-phone-focused company that is releasing devices that don’t have GSM or UMTS network access. Nokia has also released GPS devices in the past, such as the Nokia 500 Auto Navigation and the 330 Auto Navigation.

Nokia 500 Auto Navigation

Most mobile enthusiasts won’t feel familiar with N810’s competitors, as again, it’s not a phone. Few friends and readers had asked me if the Apple iTouch is better or should they go for the Nokia N810. It seems that people are confused about the uses of the N810. The most obvious use of the N810 is internet browsing, but such an attractive device with a touchscreen could also be used as a media player and GPS device. The N810 supports both media playback and GPS navigation, but it doesn’t seem to be optimized for it.

Unfortunately the N810 seems to be drawing away from convergence, although it is nice to have a device fully-focused on internet. If you look at the Nokia E90, it can do everything the N810 does, it’s just missing that touchscreen, and the operating system is different. So my question is: is the N810 really worth it? Or better, is an Internet Tablet really worth it?

Nokia E90 Communicator

Once again, it is difficult to look for N810 competitors as you really don’t know what to look for, the N810 is more than just an Internet Tablet, although its name says otherwise. I tried comparing it with UMPCs, but there were devices quite different than the N810, they are something between a laptop and a phone, but with a desktop computer’s Operating System. The only devices in the Internet Tablet category were the Apple iTouch, Archos 605 WiFi, and the Sony Milo 2. The Archos 605 and the iTouch are more of PMP (Portable Media Player) with WiFi, although the iTouch has the Safari browser and the Archos has Opera browser. None of the above devices has Bluetooth besides the N810, so the latter beats the three competitors when it comes to Internet connectivity, even though it has a smaller display than the Archos 605.

Archos 605 WiFi [Picture: UMPC Portal]

Sony Milo 2 [Picture: Computação Móvel]

The N810 is available in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East. It is not retailed in Africa due to the lack of internet infrastructure: you rarely find free hotspots, and connecting through a phone’s 3G is too expensive without a data bundle. I’m referring to South Africa in particular, where the telecommunications companies’ executives don’t give a damn about these issues.

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