Feature: Why we want the Nokia N900…and why we don’t

We take a look at why we like the cut of the Nokia N900’s jib, and where we think that it’s come up a little short…

Following our tease of the N900 back in September, the N900 has suffered a few unexpected delays it’s now not due for release until November.

The delay has given us time to wonder whether the N900 is really the device we want, so we’ve put together a list of reasons that keep us interested, and a few explaining why our attention is beginning to wander.

Web browser
The N900 has a potted version of a Mozilla browser that can do what most other mobile browsers currently can’t – cope with flash.

Browsing the web on the N900 has been designed to resemble the desktop experience. With tabs and an intuitive web search, the N900’s browser may be genuine contender to rival Opera and Safari.

Multi-tasking
In our opinion, the Pre is the only phone on the market at present which adequately addresses multi-tasking, and even that isn’t perfect.

However, if we are to believe the Finns, the N900 was built with multi tasking in mind. There have been plenty of hands-on videos demonstrating the beast in action and the multi-tasking abilities certainly appear impressively quick.

Speed and power
As gadget freaks, we often devote more time than the average bear to hardware. So when we learnt of the N900’s ARM Cortex-A8 processor and OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration we couldn’t help but get excited about the smooth running video and multi-tasking options that will be waiting in store.

Messaging and Email
Sure the iPhone has been strolling around with integrated messaging and IM for a while now, but the inclusion of the feature on a sliding-Qwerty equipped handset just seems to make a lot of sense to us. Naturally the well-appointed email options are a plus too.

Maemo
At BBT we don’t care for the “Is it a phone? Is it a computer? Is it a tablet?” debate, but in its new Maemo operating system Nokia has created a new breed of device, a super strain of smartphone.

Time will tell whether the N900 is the best device to flaunt Maemo’s undoubted potential but with a UI as stunning as that – we can’t wait to give it a chance to shine.

OK, so that’s the good, and now it’s time to look at the dark side of waiting for the N900

Size
It may seems unfair to criticise the dimensions of the N900 given what’s under the hood, and we know that many people are willing to sacrifice the slimline form factor in favour of a larger, more powerful device.  At 111 x 60 x 18mm, and weighing in at a massive 181g, the N900 is going to have to be unreasonably good, to sway our opinion on the sheer size of the handset.

The screen
Resist all you want (forgive the pun) capacitive screens are the future. Irrespective of how impressive the N900’s resistive screen is, or how necessary the stylus is,  in our opinion, resistive screens are fast approaching obsolescence.

In view of this, it is a shame Nokia didn’t use the otherwise paradigm breaking N900 to adopt capacitive technology, as it has done in the X6.

Ovi/Apps
Judging by the development Ovi has seen in the past 12 months, Nokia has recognised where the future lies. Our concern is that the N900 is perhaps going to launch (assuming it does actually launch in November) a fraction too early.

The Ovi store is impressive, but it doesn’t yet have the depth and variety of apps to really test the N900 nor to appeal to the mass market. This is perhaps more a fault of timing than the N900 itself, nevertheless it causes us to pause.

The delay
Hurry up Nokia! On balance, we want this phone and the delay is beginning to concern us. We know it’s finished, we know several hundred handsets have made their way into the hands of reviewers, so what’s the hold-up? Goodwill and positive reviews will only carry the phone so far, and if it gets much later potential customers may be lured away by the wealth of other high-spec handsets that will soon be on the market. Within BBT towers, the Sony Ericsson X10, nee Rachael (and also referred to as the X3, by some) is causing a fair amount of interest – and with the official announcement expected on the November 3rd, we can’t be the only ones looking at the Nokia N900’s opposition.

What say you? Interested? Getting bored of the delays? Bored enough to look elsewhere? Let us know in the box below – or vote with your wallet by getting in on the pre-order action over at Amazon.co.uk

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