With the discovery of a press photo of the Nokia N900, complete with its name for the first time, it’s safe to assume that this OMAP 3 / Maemo powered device is ready to be launched. Probably next week.
Maemo is a Linux based OS build from the ground up for internet-based activities. It won’t be as mature as WM, the iPhone OS or even Android but it’s getting good support and is a based on a very open architecture. It even runs a Mozilla based browser that should sync with your desktop to bring over history, passwords and tabs! For the web-focused individual, this is probably going to be the phone to beat because of that, and the next-gen CPU under the hood. Cortex A8 architectures are said to be 2-3 times as fast as ARM11 architectures. The iPhone 3GS is proof of that and we should expect to see more Cortex-based phones soon. Snapgragon, Tegra (2010 version) Samsung and Freescale all have high-end CPU offerings in their parts bin now.
But if Maemo doesn’t take your fancy, how about Android on a similar architecture. The Motorola Sholes (yes, I said Motorola) is sizing up well if the rumors are to be believed and the latest highlights an October launch. With a WVGA screen and slider keyboard, it’s going to sit right alongside the Omnia Pro B7610, HTC Pro2, M900 and N97 in your toplist.
I haven’t got full details on the Sholes yet but the latest on the N900 is here in the UMPCPortal database.
#1 by Carl on August 25th, 2009
The Sholes is probably the most balanced of the bunch, having very similar hardware to the N900 but without Maemo’s paucity of software. Unfortunately, CDMA/EVDO only initially. Hopefully the won’t drag the chain on the GSM/UMTS version they way Palm has with the Pre.
#2 by medah4rick on August 26th, 2009
the omnia pro is taking too long to come out and its too bad for samsung because im now considering the xperia x2 over the omnia pro. what do you think of the x2??
#3 by chippy on August 26th, 2009
I’m not a fan of the small size of the Xperia and the X2 doesnt look much bigger. What’s the CPU on the X2?
#4 by medah4rick on August 26th, 2009
im not sure of the specs of the x2 other than it has a 3.5″ screen now and it might be oled. it probably wont have the speed of the omnia pro’s cpu but it the x2 has a 8.1mp camera.
#5 by chippy on August 26th, 2009
3.5″. OK. I thought it was less. SorryNeed to do some more research on that and add it to the product portal!
Thanks for the info.