Thanks to PenguinBait and his packages, KDE installation on Nokia N810 installation is now possibile, this article targets the italian users since there are a couple of important differences in the installation procedure.

The original procedure is described here: http://geekpenguin.blogspot.com/2008/01/kde-debs.html

Potete scaricare la mia presentazione (in formato Open Document) sotto licenza Creative Commons:

Presentazione Maemo Mapper al TMF 2007

The new internet tablet was announced two days ago.

This is clearly an evolution of the last model N800, but a few substantial differences between the two open new possiblities for alternative use cases of this device.

One of the most wanted features for the internet tablet was a sliding keyboard, the new model comes with a sliding keyboard retro-illuminated and automatically adjusted by a light intensity sensor in the front.

Important news come from the display front: the older models missed a transflective screen which limitated outdoor use, the new model brings a new transflective screen that could overcome this limit opening new use cases for the device.

Performance: the same CPU with different clock speed (330 vs. 400 MHz) means better performances while the battery autonomy has to be confirmed not being dropped by the increased clock speed. We all hope that the new operating system version will bring substantial improvements on this side.

Memory: internal memory has been increased by 2GB internal storage flas, but this will not compensate the lack of the second card slot that was present in the N800. Another key point is that the new model accepts only mini sd or micro sd but not full size as the N800 does.

Good/bad new on the size and weight side: while the size is smaller, the weight is slightly bigger and the stereo loudspeackers disapperared from the front and were moved to the top side.

The new operating system OS2008 will be installed on the N810 and will be also available as an update for the older N800 models.

A comparison table will help us to understand the differences.

The long awaited firmware release, promised for H1 2007 is finally available for download.
Among other yet-to-discover new features and improvements, one of the missing pieces of the communication puzzle is finally officially avilable: Skype.
What’s new

OS 2007 edition v. 4.2007.26-8 includes:

Skype client support

After downloading the new software for the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet and installing Skype, users are ready to make free Internet Calls to other Skype users and low cost calls to landline or mobile phone wherever there is a wireless connection. From coffee shops to offices, to hotels or even on the beach, users will now be able to make Skype calls anywhere they can find a wi-fi hotspot. The Skype user experience familiar from desktop includes also chat, presence, contact details and account management features. The feature upgrade includes easy and quick installer for Skype client.

Adobe® Flash® 9 browser plug-in

Adobe® Flash® 9 browser plug-in has been one of the most wanted features requested by the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet users. The upgrade to Adobe® Flash® 9 browser plug-in opens the door to many rich media websites and considerably improves web usability. It also improves substantially the media performance when using video streaming services.

Up to 8 GB memory card support

More music and more videos imply more memory resources. Memory card support has increased from 2 GB to up to 8 GB, covering most part of the range of memory cards available in the market nowadays.

With two memory card slots the devices memory capability is extendable up to 16 GB. Over 2 GB SD memory cards must be SDHC compatible.

Other Improvements

A lot of work has been done into increasing the battery life of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. Most of the improvements have been done around the wireless connection, resulting in remarkably longer online usages.

The new Internet Tablet OS brings some improvements at an application level as well. The most visible change is clarification of Now Playing and Library modes for Media Player. The contents of the cards are also scanned faster than before.

Touch screen sensitiveness has been improved through software enhancements. Now the screen areas with most intensive use register events more efficiently.

Nokia Internet Call Invitation (BETA) application

Nokia Internet Call Invitation (BETA) trial period has ended. The invitation mechanism has been removed and service will not be accessible after 31.8.2007.

New pre-installed content

* Tableteer info applet
* Updated Internet radio channels
* Real Rhapsody player easy installer (available for US. residents only)
* Piquant new web sites

Ho usato l’apparecchio collegato alla rete prevalentemente per leggere email e navigare sul web, l’altra attivitá rilevante in termini di tempo é stata la stesura di appunti e note (compresa questa, scritta sull’aereo durante il volo di ritorno).

I punti dolenti sono ovviamente la maggiore difficoltá di battitura su una tastiera di dimensioni ridotte e la mancanza di uno schermo di dimensioni normali durante le poche occasioni in cui ho dovuto mostrare ai colleghi qualche mio lavoro su web.

A conti fatti sono comunque estremamente soddisfatto, la combinazione tastiera bluetooth e Nokia N800 si é dimostrata all’altezza delle aspettative, l’unica seria mancanza é a mio parere la mancanza di una uscita video in grado di essere usata in caso di presentazioni anche se é difficile trovare una situazione in cui non sia disponibile un PC da usare a questo scopo.

Nokia non é nuova alle sorprese in fatto di caratteristiche hardware non dichiarate (dette ¨uova di Pasqua¨ = eastern eggs) nei suoi apparecchi, infatti era successo anche con il microfono del modello N770, inizialmente tenuto nascosto.

Anche il modello N800 riserva qualche sorpresa: da un paio di giorni é infatti disponibile un piccolo programma che permette di ascoltare la radio FM tramite il sintonizzatore presente all´interno del N800.

I segreti di Pulcinella

A onor del vero bisogna dire che la comunitá di hacker (nel senso buono) che orbita attorno a Maemo si era accorta da tempo che l´hardware del Nokia 800 nascondeva delle sorprese, infatti nei device driver compariva un driver v4l (video for Linux) corrispondente al device /dev/radio e le specifiche del chip inserito nel N800 comprendevano un sintonizzatore FM.

Mancava solo un programma per farla funzionare.

Test drive

L´installazione é piuttosto semplice, come per tutti i pacchetti delle distribuzioni Linux. Occorre scaricare il pacchetto fmradio_1.2.0_armel.deb e installarlo.

Attenzione: dato che l´N800 non ha una antenna FM, occorre inserire gli auricolari il cui cavo viene usato come antenna.

La radio può anche essere ascoltata tramite gli altoparlanti, un apposito pulsante permette di selezionare l’uscita audio.