I built this Google Co-op search engine for myself, and decided I might as well make it available to everyone. The index is the "mobile friendly web pages" of the Internet Tablet Talk Forum. Thus, the search engine and your results will load much quicker via your Nokia N800 or N810 tablet.
I am sitting in my room at the Orcas Hotel on Orcas Island. While on vacation this week I had a chance to try out my Nokia N800 with my new Navibe portable GPS unit. Surprisingly, I discovered that this combination delivers better GPS performance than the N810. During this vacation we tested the two units side by side, and found that when a car was moving at 70 mph, the N810 had difficulty getting a GPS lock. The N810 could take ten minutes, while the Navibe unit linked to my N800 locked onto the satellites almost instantaneously (we own both a 800 and 810 so that both of my sons could Skype us this Summer while overseas). It is worth noting that the N810 was able to establish a GPS lock quickly if our car was not moving.
Obviously one wonders why the N800 outperforms the 810. My guess is the Navibe unit which my kids gave me for my birthday ($45) has a stronger GPS receiver than the embedded unit in the N810. Thus, if the N810's keyboard is not a selling point for you ... avoid the higher cost and take this route!
The entire prcess works quite well. I just program in some "favorites" and "way points", and even without a paid direction finder service like Wayfinder, my Nokia helped me navigate. If I ever get lost, I just enter the command find current location, and then zoom out to find a road that I recognize.
I leave you with some screenshots from my trip ... the South Bay B&B at Lake Whatcom in the Cascades to Orcas Island ... including the ferry ride. (this entire post was entered using my Nokia N800)(see some real photos of our trip to the San Juan Islands)
Did you ever have an image that really bugged you? For me it was the Nokia N800 (or N810) start-up image. Two hands stretched across the screen (see image below) ... an adult reaching for a child's hand. Every time I started up my Nokia, this image imprinted on my brain. My problem is that I am not a LINUX geek. I know enough to be dangerous, and thus was smart enough to avoid messing around with my operating system, but man ... I hated that image!
Thus, started my research to change that file and become root on my Nokia's LINUX OS (see all my Nokia Posts). Follow these instructions and you too can enjoy your own images at start-up! All of these commands assume that you are browsing via your tablet, not your PC or Mac. For the purposes of these instructions I often use "<" and ">" to set off and indicate commands. These symbols ARE NOT part of the input! All other symbols are as indicated, including spaces.
In summation ... here is the image I replaced, and my new start-up image (my cabin's lakeshore in Northern Minnesota.
My son was home this past week for Spring break from Wartburg College. As I was evaluating the Nokia N810, and I knew Carl (my son) has two trips coming up which which will take him out of the country, I asked if he would like to play around with the Nokia N810 for the week. Like father, like son ... Carl was excited to play around with a new device. Given my son is part of the iPod generation, and owns an iTouch, I promised Carl he could post on my blog his analysis ... unedited by me (I did bold a few lines!).
Okay, Carl ... the floor is yours!
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Right after Christmas I purchased an IPod Touch, several months later I find myself wondering if I made a smart purchase. My father, as I am sure many of you know, thinks very highly of the Nokia Handheld product line. My father offered to let me try his Nokia n810 over my spring break and compare it with my IPod Touch.
The IPod Touch is an excellent device, and is considered extremely cool by most of my college colleagues. It is essentially the iPhone without the Phone. It has all the same features such as playing music, movies, showing pictures, a calendar, notes, wifi internet ability, and several other web-based programs. It also has 8 GB of storage space packed into its extremely small frame. What the IPod Touch does it does extremely well. Its Internet browser easily bests the Nokia, it is both easier to use and even more fun. In addition the IPod Touch utilizes special websites created for handheld devices while the Nokia does not. The operating software on the IPod is also extremely easy to use and never has any problems. The problem with the IPod Touch is that while it does several things really well, it only does “several” things. Apple has maintained a firm grip over what is allowed onto their IPod Touch. The device does not have blue tooth capabilities, or any other way to connect external devices. Internet phone services such as Skype are unavailable to users because there is no microphone as Apple tries to protect their iPhone.
Apple is in the process of releasing a new Software Development Kit that would allow 3rd parties to create applications for the IPod Touch. While this seems like an excellent idea the problem is that Apple will still maintain its strong control over the IPod Touch by insisting that all third party applications be distributed through itunes, giving apple complete control over what types of applications they want to be available. In addition Apple will be able to skim the profits of any company producing applications. This release is not what avid apple users were hoping for, instead of receiving an upgrade to allow hundreds of new free third party applications they receive limited increase in applications for a fee.
The Nokia n810 on the other hand is everything that the IPod Touch is not. It is completely open to third party applications. You can connect a variety of different devices via blue tooth to exponentially expand your devices capabilities. Skype offers free Internet calling and dirt-cheap rates for all other calls. GPS is also embedded and can be used with a wide array of map from all over the world. I could go on but I believe my Father has done a relatively good job of outlining the many excellent features of the Nokia n810 (see his Nokia tutorials and posts)
In Conclusion the IPod Touch could potentially be as good as the Nokia n810. The difference between the two devices comes down to how they have been managed. As long as Apple continues limit the ability of the IPod touch it will never be able to live up to its full potential. The final result is that the Nokia n810 offers consumers a far superior product based on the actual value as opposed to simply being “Cool”.
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Yesterday it was Spot the wonder-dog who took her master on a GPS walk via the Nokia N810. Today, Grandma gets here turn. In my continued testing of the Nokia N810 (see all posts) we learn how to use the embedded GPS capability of the Nokia N810 to reach Grandma's house. While the test is in good natured fun, one could really use any address:
As I mentioned a few days ago, Nokia sent me a loaner N810 to evaluate. As I really like my N800, I was excited about using the higher end model. There are two big differences between the N800 and the N810. The latter model has a slide out keyboard, and embedded GPS. Yesterday evening Spot (my bassamation) and I decided to test out the embedded GPS during our late afternoon walk. Here is short screencast that reviews our walk and the Nokia's GPS featues:
With respect to the basic capabilities, link to my earlier post where I have a screencast which reviews most of the Nokia basic features. Finally, I also created a "silent slideshow" which assumes one is lost, and shows how to find oneself:
A couple of comments... My N800 cost me $200. Amazon lists the N810 for $390. I've invested $45 for a full sized bluetooth keyboard and plan to add a bluetooth GPS receiver soon (also $45). Thus, my N800 investment is $100 less than the price of an N810. I personally like using a full size keyboard, but I have found the N810's slide out version also works nicely.
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I was excited this afternoon when my wife phoned me at work to let me know that my Nokia N810 had arrived. Actually, Nokia's N810 had arrived. You see, Nokia has graciously agreed to provide me a loaner 810 for evaluation purposes. As I love my N800 ... I thought why not??!
Well, there was one minor problem with the N810 that Nokia sent to me ... the included power adapter is for the United Kingdom. Unfortunately all of my power converters assume that someone in the USA wants to plug American appliances into European or Asian outlets ... not the other way around.
Now on one hand, an external power charger which is independent of a PC is nice; however there are times a trickle USB charger might also be nice! This is one of those times. Thankfully, my Nokia N800 charger works with the 810. Thus, I'm still in business.
What was Nokia thinking when they sent me the English version? Regrettably, this is often a problem in we locals face in the frozen Northland. Minnesota is fly-over land ... perhaps somewhere near Siberia? Ever heard of Frostbite Falls?!
Anyhow, over the next few weeks I'll give you my impressions of the Nokia N810 and my own N800. (view all my Nokia posts)
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I decided it was time to do an entire post using my bluetooth keyboard and my Nokia N800 internet tablet. Last night we had some friends over for dinner and everyone was amazed with both the clarity and size of my Nokia's screen. Obviously that is the key point ... my ease of viewing web based content as well as upgrading when new software is created for the Nokia's Linux based operating system.
One change in my web browsing habits is that I've split up my RSS feeds. My work focused feeds remain on my PC; but my leisure based feeds are now on my Nokia. It's nice to sit on my bed after a long cross-country ski with my feet up and read for fun. It's just plain comfortable! Thus attached to this posting are eleven screenshots taken on my Nokia N800. They demonstrate how easy it is to use and read RSS feeds via the Nokia. In my case I was leaving the frozen Northland for a trip via the NY Times Travel Section.
I've yet to find an application out there which allows me to edit jpg files. More than likely, I'm not looking hard enough! Oh yes, one final point ... the RSS Feed Reader that came with my Nokia had no problems importing an OPML file. Thus, I was able to import feeds in mass via a file transferred over from my PC.
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This past Christmas I bought myself a new toy, the Nokia N800 (a handheld internet tablet pc). When you consider the fact that both of my boys purchased an iPod Touch, here at the Hoegs ... we're in the middle of a handheld war!
I've created a short screencast which demonstrates many of the features found upon the Nokia N800. However, here are a few of the reasons I chose the Nokia over the iPod Touch:
The practical result of these three facts is that the capability of my Nokia N800's is constantly expanding as developers create new software for a platform which is not locked down (i.e. like Apple). The fact that is was cheaper than the iTouch did not hurt either (about $220 U.S.). The screensize for both handhelds is similar, with the Nokia's display being just a tough larger. However, even though I can listen to MP3's on my Nokia, if your goal is listen to lots of music, the iTouch may be a better choice.
My thanks to Santtu Lakkala and his MH Screenshot Application. Without this open source tool which I easily installed to my Nokia, I could not have created my demo.
Update on Feb. 29th. Did you find this screencast useful?. If the answer is "yes", link to my latest Nokia N810 screencast ... Spot Takes a Walk (a dog, her master and GPS)!
Here are a few other Nokia N800 sites:
and once again ...
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