Nokia World 2009 QA

These are questions for attendees of the Nokia World 2009 event.

Contents

General

  • What is your favorite improvement?
  • What is the biggest change from previous tablets?
  • How has holding and playing with the N900 changed or re-enforced your previously held opinions about it?

Carrier and release date

  • Is the purchasing of the N900 independent from a special carrier and/or a special contract?
    • If not, who are the carriers?
  • Is there a CDMA version planned and, if yes, when?
  • Which are the selected markets?
  • Are there any (later) release plans for the "unselected" markets

General hardware

  • Is the battery hot-swappable
  • Is the touchscreen pressure sensitive?
  • How usable is the N900 in portrait mode?
  • Does the 3.5mm connector support audio-in?
  • Is the N900 going to have dedicated keys for language specific characters (like åäö for us swedes for example?)
  • Where will power come from for extended host-mode
  • Does the camera zoom while shooting video?
  • Is there a lanyard attachment?
  • Is there a compass (for so-called "augmented reality" apps) ?

Answered

  • Is the memory card hot-swappable?
    • Answer: Yes
  • Is a stylus included and, if yes, is there an extra stylus too?
    • Answer: A stylus is included. According to packaging information on shop.nokia.com there isn't an extra stylus included
  • Will charging be possible with a 2mm Nokia charger in addition to USB charging?
    • Answer: Nokia charger adaptor (CA-146C) is included. With this adaptor you can use conventional Nokia charger to charge via USB
  • Can we use FM without plugging in headset, i.e. does it have an internal FM antenna?
    • Just from reading the specs, it has no FM receiver, just an FM transmitter -- xav 1 September 2009
    •  : Peter says it has a receiver, just no software --nathanael 19:45, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Does the TV out support VGA out too? And what are the available modes (PAL/NTSC/?)
    • Uses a Nokia CA-75U cable for video out. --nathanael 20:03, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Does it have a backlit keyboard?
    • According to Threads; Yes.
  • Is there a front-facing camera?
    • Yes, Specs are 640x480 --nathanael 19:45, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Is it possible to turn off the cellular radio?
    • Yes, independently from the usual Offline mode which also turns Wi-Fi off (as shown on a menu screenshot). --javispedro 23:49, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Audio

  • What are the maximum sampling rates on audio output/input?
  • Is it possible to record high-quality (i.e. high bitrate) audio from the built-in microphone?
  • How is the noise floor?
  • How does the N900 compare in volume to the N95/N800/N810 speakers
    • Comment: Will depend on hardware available (I'll have my N810) and loudness on show floor. --06:56, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Could you test the sound with high-quality headphones?
    • Unlikely - unless there are very good headphones available there. I'll take my "normal" headphones --06:56, 1 September 2009 (UTC)


Maemo 5

  • Will we be able to set the processor governor to performance mode like we could with the OMAP2 in the N8x0 devices?
  • Are there connectivity preferences (i.e., choose WiFi over cellular)
  • Is DUN supported?
  • Are Dynamic WEP 802.1x WiFi connections supported?
  • When a BT or USB keyboard is plugged in, can you switch tasks with Alt-Tab? Does it work like a desktop Alt-Tab or like the Diablo Alt-Tab?


Answered

  • Is it possible to disable transitions?
    • Answer: There's already an app in Fremantle extras, put together by Urho Kontorri. --Jaffa 06:56, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Which kind of "Shared Folders" (Bluetooth, UPnP, Samba) appear in the File Manager?
    • Answer: Samba is no longer supported. --javispedro 22:14, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • How do you pull up a menu?
    • Answer: Tap the title bar as in every Maemo version to date (see SDK & videos) --Jaffa 06:56, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • How do you switch tasks, or close the app?
    • Answer: See the videos, screenshots and SDK. Tap top-right to open Exposé-like switcher which has a close button. Top-level screen of each app also has an "X" icon. --Jaffa 06:56, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Can we connect USB or Bluetooth keyboard, gamepad and mouse?
    • Answer: From Threads: Yes, as is supported by BlueZ stack.
  • Is there any system monitor to see in real time?
  • Is the telephony stack on the N900 open source? Did they use the oFono stack, or something proprietary?

Built-in applications

  • Is SIP supported?
  • How is video chat support?
  • Is there support for "normal" Jingle as opposed to the version Google Talk uses?
  • Is it still possible to connect to non-Google/Ovi XMPP servers?
  • What calendar sync features are supported?
  • Will the calendar application be open source?
  • Can the calendar application access remote calendars over caldav?
  • Is WebDAV synchronization supported?
  • Is it possible to have multiple calendars, contacts, task lists and lists of memos?
  • Is it possible to sync via the USB cable with a Free, Open and Documented protocol?

Answered

  • What is the exact protocol used in Google VoIP
    • Answer: XMPP
  • Is there Jabber/XMPP support?
    • Answer: It has been supported in Maemo since the very first days, and it actually appears in the videos. --javispedro 22:12, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Browser

  • Can I log on to secure websites and pay bills?
  • Does the browser support client-side SSL Certificates?
  • Will be there support for Nokia WRT or W3C widgets?
  • How is HTML5 support?
  • Are Firefox plug-ins supported?
  • Does the browser support Java applets?
  • Can you scroll while a page is loading?
  • How is playback on sites like [Hulu.com], [openflv.com]?
  • Does it crash when you add stuff to your basket on [amazon.com]?

Third-party applications questions

  • Can we set a third-party browser as the default browser?
  • Does Skype support video?
  • Is there a key combo to bring up the menu?
  • How do you toggle fullscreen in applications like FBreader?
    • Comment: Video shows Ctrl-Backspace. Will test. --Jaffa 06:56, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
    • Ctrl-Backspace will open app switcher. Apps will have to provide own unfullscreen functionality (no button AFAICT) --Jaffa 22:13, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Answered

  • Can we install a third-party browser?
    • Answer: From Threads: Yes.

Gaming

  • Will the N-Gage gaming platform be available?
  • What games will Nokia publish for Maemo

Answered

  • What games are pre-installed?
    • Answer: Bounce, Chess and Mahjong

Development and hacking

  • When will the Ovi Store open for Maemo?
  • Could community suggestions and concepts ever make it to the device with support from Nokia? (eg. community created concept, code developed by Nokia)

Answered

  • Are we going to be able to run a chroot environment?
    • Answer: It's GNU/Linux and you have root permissions... why not? --javispedro 22:26, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
  • What development tools will be available for developers (C++ framework name)?