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Introducing Neo900

neo900.org

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Re: Introducing Neo900

#71

Post by werkshy »

fragmede wrote: post #70
werkshy wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but it's a 3 row keyboard. I upgraded from the G1 (5 row qwerty) to the G2 (4 row, numbers-on-the-qwerty-row) and it's next to useless. As a phone, I need to use the number line a lot. As a computer /terminal, I need to use letters, numbers & symbols a lot. 3 and 4 row keyboards are bad for both of these use cases. If someone makes a decent, interesting 5-row qwerty phone, I will buy it tomorrow.

> decent, interesting 5-row qwerty phone If you're in the US and are on a CDMA network, there's the DROID 4/Photon Q for Verizon and Sprint, respectively. Outside of that I'm not aware of any recent phones with a keyboard, unfortunately.

Good point. I am on GSM in the US but also prefer an international phone.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#72

Post by losvedir »

programminggeek wrote: post #10

It looks thick. I don't know why, but it makes me not at all interested. Also, what was so special about the N900 and is that relevant in the market today? I'm genuinely curious, I don't know much about the N900.

> Also, what was so special about the N900 and is that relevant in the market today?

The idea of it was great but the phone itself was pretty frustrating.

The idea is that it was a little bitty linux tablet, with something of an open source community behind it, that could also make phone calls. I explained some of my thoughts in this arstechnica thread[0] from 4 years ago.

But the reality once I got the phone was it was just slow and frustrating to use. Aspects of it were great (it multitasked the best of all the phones of its day), but over time it's glitchyness (hanging up on calls instead of answering them, because the buttons jumped around), and the lack of multi touch brought me down.

I still have my N900 in a box somewhere. If anyone in the Boston area wants it, ping me (email address on my profile here) and I'd be happy to give it to you.

[0] http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=49987

Re: Introducing Neo900

#73

Post by cfinke »

regularfry wrote: post #5
robin_reala wrote: post #2

Your €500-700 gets you a replacement motherboard for your existing N900. Thinking about it, it’s not a bad solution: most people this is aimed at will already have a N900 they remember fondly. Pity you’ll still be locked to a resistive touch screen though.

The resistive screen on the N900 is excellent . Better than some capacitives I've used.

The N900 was the most frustrating touchscreen I've ever used in a consumer device. I stopped using it solely for that reason.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#75

Post by CountHackulus »

zokier wrote: post #17
programminggeek wrote: post #10

It looks thick. I don't know why, but it makes me not at all interested. Also, what was so special about the N900 and is that relevant in the market today? I'm genuinely curious, I don't know much about the N900.

> Also, what was so special about the N900 and is that relevant in the market today? N900 had: - HW keyboard - Pixel-accurate touchscreen (with stylus) - Desktop-ish hacker/FOSS friendly Linux OS Essentially N900 was the embodiment of the dreams of what Nokia could have been if it weren't for EVIL Elop and MS ruining everything, and that is why the device has small cult following. There has been occasional HW keyboar…

The killer app for me was the built-in FM transmitter. Yes that's right, transmitter. I could change the user agent, then listen to rdio in my old car with no tape deck.

Plus the overclocking, the bash prompt, it goes on and on. It was a fantastic phone that none of my phones since have lived up to.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#76

Post by [deleted] »

leokun wrote: post #42
programminggeek wrote: post #10

It looks thick. I don't know why, but it makes me not at all interested. Also, what was so special about the N900 and is that relevant in the market today? I'm genuinely curious, I don't know much about the N900.

> It looks thick. It does. It looks like it's the phone equivalent of a bathtub. With the cover closed, it appears it will be a brick. I think that box protrusion around the headset jack input on the side is thicker than some of the more recent smartphones. You would really have to like OpenMoko to carry around a giant smartphone with no apps and no support with probably an old browser. I also imagine the antenna wil…

[deleted]

Re: Introducing Neo900

#77

Post by seba_dos1 »

zokier wrote: post #24
darrhiggs wrote: post #21

Neo? http://www.gizchina.com/2013/09/02/neo-n003-review/ Is this the same company, or just a coincidence?

Most likely just a coincidence. "Neo" is quite common nomenclature. OpenMoko has been using Neo name for quite a while, Neo1973 was released in 2007.

I was the one who came up with the "Neo900" name and I can say that the inspiration was from Neo1973 and Neo Freerunner names. As OpenPhoenux, Neo900's umbrella project, has Openmoko roots, and given that "neo" means "new", it seemed pretty natural to name the "new N900" as "Neo900".

Re: Introducing Neo900

#78

Post by CountHackulus »

leokun wrote: post #42
programminggeek wrote: post #10

It looks thick. I don't know why, but it makes me not at all interested. Also, what was so special about the N900 and is that relevant in the market today? I'm genuinely curious, I don't know much about the N900.

> It looks thick. It does. It looks like it's the phone equivalent of a bathtub. With the cover closed, it appears it will be a brick. I think that box protrusion around the headset jack input on the side is thicker than some of the more recent smartphones. You would really have to like OpenMoko to carry around a giant smartphone with no apps and no support with probably an old browser. I also imagine the antenna wil…

Battery life was excellent on the N900 actually, I could go an entire weekend of good use without charging. My Nexus 4... not so much.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#79

Post by Nomez »

drbawb wrote: post #67
programminggeek wrote: post #10

It looks thick. I don't know why, but it makes me not at all interested. Also, what was so special about the N900 and is that relevant in the market today? I'm genuinely curious, I don't know much about the N900.

What's with the aversion to thickness? It allows for bigger batteries, hardware keyboards, additional connectors & storage, etc. --- I can't speak for everyone: but the pockets in my wardrobe had no problem accommodating feature-phones from pre-2007. What my pants and shirt pockets can't accommodate are 4.5"+ 1080p displays, regardless of how thin they are. I will gladly buy a bulkier phone if they make good use of t…

A device that big might make me want to put it on my belt. But, alas, I'm not Batman so I won't do that.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#80

Post by sirkneeland »

zokier wrote: post #35
jlebrech wrote: post #30

nokia announced the n920 before they release the n900. Who does that?

No, they didn't. I don't think Nokia ever announced a "N920".

Maybe he/she is confusing with Lumia 920 with N-series phones? AFAIK there has never been a N920. There was the N9 but that was it...

...unfortunately.

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