The Maemo Internet Tablet OS 2008 runs very smoothly and never crashed once while I used the device. The 400MHz CPU on the TI OMAP 2420 with 128MB RAM helped the N810 cope with all the functions that you would expect from it, without slowing down your productivity. The only exception to the rule was Flash content, although this could have been from the internet connection, but I seriously doubt it. In every other aspect, the N810 ran flawlessly.

Remember me complaining of the Operating System being non-dynamic as it lacked on applications and developers? Well I still rather use Symbian OS here, but there has been a growth in the number of programs available for the N810, and with the recent acquisition of Trolltech by Nokia, these Internet Tablets might get a positive boost. At the time of writing, we didn’t have the news of the Symbian Foundation, but now that we do, I can update this post and predict that Symbian Foundation releases will probably run on future Internet Tablets, which would be great. One Operating System to rule them all! Sounds like there will be no diversity, but if you have a fantastic, reputable, and even open source Operating System, what else do you need?

The User Interface hasn’t changed. I still found my way through the device, just like on the N800. The “Home”  screen can still have applets, such as the Google/Wikipedia Search bar, RSS reader, Clock,, and Contact list.

Picture: N810’s home screen

The status bar shows the brightness level, Bluetooth status, sound volume, connections available/active, battery power, and Google Talk status. If you add more applications you will have new status icons.

Picture: N810 status bar

Picture: N810’s status bar battery meter

Picture: Sound Settings from N810’s status bar

The icons on the left are for “Web applications”, such as to open a new browser window, or open Bookmarks.

Picture: Web shortcuts

The next set of icons are: Contact List, Email Inbox, New Email, Internet Call, and New Chat. In my opinion the last item shouldn’t be included, as it’s better to access a conversation right from GTalk, but then again, this is subjective to the user. Too many icons leading to one common topic are messy and confusing.

Picture: Contacts shortcuts

The Google/Wikipedia search bar can be altered to either one of the named search directories. These “Home” applets can move around, and even be placed on top of each other.

Picture: Google/Wikipedia search bar

Picture: Floating Home screen applets

The advantage of the Contacts application is that you already have pre-defined groups, and there are many organizing options. You can display list or pictures, or sort by presence, or name. You can also block and merge contacts. The Maemo team really succeeded at this basic, but important application, and I’m hoping to get Contact applications as this organized in future devices.

Picture: Contact application

Google Talk has been on the N800 and it’s here. It’s funny how the application is better on the Tablet than on the computer, well atleast in my opinion, as you can see, many of the deficiencies that I point out are subjective to a consumer’s preferences. With the Tablet’s GTalk you can insert smileys and previously on the N800 you could conduct video calls.
You can also control your statuses from the status bar itself.

Picture: Google Talk on N810

Picture: Google Talk presence on status bar

The Email application is quite polished and you can see that Maemo team has done their homework. It’s a fully featured email client that even lets you edit font, signature, or search messages. I did not look for push email on ActiveSync as I do not use those services.

Picture: Email client

Before I continue with the review, you might notice that some of these descriptions could have fitted in the Connectivity section of this review, but I will leave them here as they are directly connected to the Operating System.

Internet Calling is another highlight of the N810, as everything is obviously centred around portable internet functions. You can choose either Skype or Gizmo VoIP, but I prefer Skype (add me on sporting_c_p). It’s another polished application, but you cannot conduct video calls with it, which leave us thinking a reason why on earth that camera is there…..You can recharge your account, have text conversations, and update your statuses.

Picture:Skype User Interface on N810

Picture: Call phones Menu on Skype on N810

As we are still on the internet functions, let’s go over the RSS feed reader. This is yet another complete application. You can organize feeds in different folders, select whether you want to download images, and the automatic or manual update of feeds. If you select automatic, there is an option where you can choose the update time interval. For the RSS applet, you can choose whether you want the feeds to scroll automatically for you or not, this is quite an useful option, just set it up, and no more scrolling, you can just read and the applet “turns the pages” for you.

Picture: N810’s RSS feed reader application

Moving on….One of the utilities on the N810 is its File Manager. Once again, you don’t have access to most folders, but only to the multimedia ones, as well as to the “internal memory card”, which has 2GB, and to the Bluetooth file explorer, which, if given permission, can explorer files in another device. The File Manager provides clipboard functions, as well as options to backup the memory.
As proven before, the N810 is an organized device, and the File Manager allows you to sort items, and select between a list or thumbnails view.

Picture: File Manager

An application that came bundled with the N810, and that I wasn’t excepting is the X Terminal, which is a command shell for the phone, which even lets you open more than a window, so that you have various X Terminal windows running and executing certain commands.

Picture: X Terminal

The Calculator can be selected between the Normal everyday calculator with single operations, or a scientific calculator.

Picture: Scientific Calculator

Search is another useful addition to the tablet. You can select for the search engine to look between files on the N810, Bluetooth devices, or shared media, emails, contacts, bookmarks, and there are options for specifying the timeframe the file was created, and a minimum size, just like on Windows XP search.

Picture: Search application

Nothing beats Control Panel: the ability to change all those settings and making sure the device stays at your taste. There aren’t many options to modify that we didn’t cover, but here’s what we didn’t tell you:

• You can set an autolock period with a lock code
• Select where to retrieve GPS data from
• Manage email and chat accounts, and have various accounts running
• Change language
• Teach handwriting
• Select a Theme
• And most importantly, select the connection, which we will cover in the connectivity review

Picture: Control panel

Picture: Teach handwriting application

Unlike S60 Nokia devices, the Application Manager doesn’t only let you uninstall applications, but also refresh a list of available applications to download from the internet. There are literally tons of them. Everything from games to dictionaries, themes to emulators.

Picture: Application Manager

The best application we downloaded was Canola2 Media Player. I already said that the N810 has stunning looks. This application got stunning looks too. Incorporating this type of User Interface instead of the current one could attract several more multimedia-focused consumers. This is one of those applications that can verse the iPhone in touchscreen-beauty. It looks smooth and sleek, and that’s all you need. Simplicity…nothing more! To add to the feast, there are several plug-ins, such as for YouTube to save videos, and for lastFM.

Picture: Canola 2 Main Menu

Picture: Canola 2 Music Menu

Picture: Canola 2 Music categories list

Picture: Canola 2 Settings menu

Lastly, if you have any issues with any of the applications, there is concise Help section, just like on S60 phones.

Picture:Help application contents

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