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Image Gallery: A look at the Nokia N900 Maemo 5 device after two months of use

The Nokia N900 is now available from various US retailers and after two full months of using a loaner device I just purchased my own. This latest Linux-based device has a new version of the Maemo OS and integrates a cellular radio. You will find some aspects of S60 in the N900, along with a rather unique user interface and extremely powerful Mozilla-based web browser. Apps are still early in development, but with the browser you can do most everything you need to do with dedicated apps.
By Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer
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The Nokia N900 is now available from various US retailers and after two full months of using a loaner device I just purchased my own. This latest Linux-based device has a new version of the Maemo OS and integrates a cellular radio. You will find some aspects of S60 in the N900, along with a rather unique user interface and extremely powerful Mozilla-based web browser. Apps are still early in development, but with the browser you can do most everything you need to do with dedicated apps.

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The N900 is designed to be used primarily in landscape mode with only a couple of apps designed for portrait mode, including the phone and podcatcher.

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The keys are sized well and have good travel when pressed.

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As you can see on the right side the space bar is offset and adjacent to four directional arrow keys.

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The display slides up to reveal the keyboard. There are three rows on the keyboard and I would have like to have seen it slid up just a bit more for easy access to the top row.

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On the back of the left side you will find the words, Designed in Finland.

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The processor and integrated flash drive capacity are shown on the back of the right side.

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There is a 5 megapixel camera with shutter cover on the back of the N900.

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A kickstand pops out from under the camera so you can prop up the N900 and place it on the table to watch movies and use the device without your hands.

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You slide the shutter over to reveal the lens and dual LED flash lights.

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The left stereo speaker, microUSB port, and lanyard opening are located on the left side (assuming landscape mode is the default mode).

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Along the top you will find the IR port, camera capture button, power button, and volume toggle switch.

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The stylus slides out to the right side, with the mic placed between it and the 3.5mm headset jack. There is a lock switch and the right stereo speaker too.

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The stylus is well secured in place, but is also easy to slide out with your fingernail.

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While it is plastic the stylus does have good length.

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Here you can see the two keyboards compared to each other.

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The N97 mini and N900 have similar form factors with slide up displays.

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The Touch Pro2 has one of the best QWERTY keyboards I have ever used and you can see how much bigger it is than the N900.

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When you hold the N900 to your face the display goes off so you won't accidentally press anything on the screen.

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You will find an iPhone similar slide to unlock option on the N900.

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The N900 takes decent photos as you can see in this shot.

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The web browser on the N900 sets the bar for the best web browser on any mobile phone and sites such as ESPN are perfectly viewable.

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The task manager shows live thumbnails of running applications and different web pages that are open in the browser.

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You don't have to worry about viewing mobile websites with this Mozilla-based browser.

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Tapping the top center of the browser page gives you these options.

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Tapping the back arrow presents you with a visual history of the sites you have visited.

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This utility is used to install and remove applications on your N900.

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The Ovi Store is not yet live so you need to setup the Publishers/repositories where you want to check for free apps.

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The weekly calendar view shows you your appointments in color coded patterns.

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Within your Contacts application you can check what client(s) your friends are signed into on the N900.

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The Media Player application is simple to use and yet is quite functional for music, movies, and internet radio.

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I used a simple program to get my personal DVD collection onto the N900 and found the same format works on multipled devices.

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Witter is a fairly new Twitter application and in just about 10 days has come a long ways. I look forward to continued development of the application since there are not many clients to choose from at this time.

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Unlike Nokia S60 devices, the N900 has support for threaded SMS. This includes quick emoticons that you can use in your chats.

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There are several VoIP and IM services you can sign into on the N900. You will find more services in the repositories on the N900 too.

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Skype calls are extremely easy to make on the N900 and sound excellent even via WiFi.

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POP, IMAP, and Exchange are supported on the N900 and you can have multiple accounts.

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The orange emails have not yet been read and after reading them they turn white.

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The FM radio hardware is in the N900, but you have to download and install a free utility to use it.

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The application launcher is broken into two main screens where the icons are placed automatically by the OS. Tapping an icon launches the application.

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This desktop page was setup with web browser shortcuts.

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This desktop view was setup as a quick dial screen with contacts on the display.

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Here I have application shortcuts and a Calendard shortcut loaded on the N900.

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My fourth desktop is used for widgets and as you saw each desktop had a different background wallpaper image.

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You can choose from one to four desktop panels.

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These are the available options for adding content to your desktops.

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Nokia includes some widgets by default and then other apps include widgets for self installation.

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There are several settings and connection options that are managed with this pop-up display.

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The clock utility can be used for alarms and for viewing world clock data.?

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You can login on the N900 and easily communicate and interact with your friends.

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There are several settings available in a central location to manage your device.

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There are several options available to make sure you are connected.

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There are couple of general settings as well.

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Even with several applications loaded up on the N900 I have a ton of room left for loading up apps.

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Here is the internal storage card status.

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When you are listening to audio content you can tap the top center and activate the FM transmitter.

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You can turn on your GPS receiver and leave it on for location-based apps.

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Several different notifications can be toggled on or off for the indicator light on the front.

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This screenshot shows available display settings.

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These are the text input options you can use to enhance your experience.

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You can easily share photos with these services on the device.

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It is easy to tags photos on the N900 and then you can easily filter your images.

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Tapping once on a photo/screenshot opens up some basic editing options.

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You can crop an image right on the N900, but make sure you save it as something different than the original photo title.

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You can perform some basic editing right on the N900. The available options should meet most people's needs.

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Another option in the program.

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You can share via Bluetooth, email, or predesignated services.

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Different fields can be entered for sharing out your photos.

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You can communicate in various ways by tapping on the contact number, email, website, etc.

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We were at a local pumpkin patch and I caught my daughters in action.

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Here is another fun shot of a daughter in the air.

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My daughters having fun at the farm.

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We had a blast at the pumpkin patch.

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You can compare this photo to the next one shot in the same position to see what layout your prefer.

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This photo was taken in widescreen 3.5 megapixel mode.

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