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Introducing Neo900

neo900.org

81–90 of 110 posts

Re: Introducing Neo900

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I on the other hand hated that screen. My N900 was a great device but every time I had to scroll I cursed the screen.

Are you sure it was the screen? The early Maemo 5 builds were pretty bad at scrolling without freezing, then popping forward quickly. The later updates and CSSU are smooth as silk.

Oh, it didn't freeze. It just did emit click events when I put down the finger to scroll further. :)

Re: Introducing Neo900

#82
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both me and my brother had one when it came out and I can honestly say it's the shittiest phone I've had. But this is a matter of ideology.

Care to develop why it was shitty?

Well you already got your answers before I had a chance to, but in short it was a terrible phone and a big step for FOSS and portable hacking devices.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#83
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it is using a blurry and resistive (barely responsive to finger touch) monitor, making the experience of using the device way worse than the modern High PPI monitors used in other mobile devices on the market today. The use of the term "TFT Display" is also a sign that they're not using any of the more modern types of panels like IPS. If they did they would have said so.

That is simply not true in my experience. The N900 screen is neither blurry nor barely responsive to finger touch. But the hardware is / was not the most interesting point about the N900 anyway.

I had an N770 with a resistive screen. It was responsive to fingers, but the buttons had to be big, and there was a glare from the digitizer.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#84
post #83
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is simply not true in my experience. The N900 screen is neither blurry nor barely responsive to finger touch. But the hardware is / was not the most interesting point about the N900 anyway.

I had an N770 with a resistive screen. It was responsive to fingers, but the buttons had to be big, and there was a glare from the digitizer.

I don't have any experience with Nokia devices other than the N900 so I can not comment on the N770. But I remember reviews from the time the N900 was released were the touchscreen was not really praised but commented on as much better than other resistive screens. Also there are 4 years between the N770 and the N900. There is definitly no glare on my N900 screen - to the contrary, it is readable even under direct sunlight (without any backlight) because it is transreflective.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#86
post #20

I wonder whether this has an open-source* baseband/firmware, and open-source graphics drivers. If not, it's not better than, say, a Nexus 4, which you can unlock and put custom software on it (e.g. Ubuntu Phone, I'm sure you could port Meego/Maemo/whatever it's called nowadays). The Nexus of course has vastly superior hardware. If I buy such a tinkerphone as this, I want to be able to play with it at all levels. For…

It uses an OEM modem module (non-free) and PowerVR graphics (non-free). At the moment there is just no really viable open-source baseband/graphics hardware available (though people are working on both). However, building working, commercially available phone platforms is an important step towards completely open mobile phones. Compared to an unlocked Nexus 4, Neo900 has a few crucial advantages: * most drivers are in…

"It uses an OEM modem module (non-free)"

Well that's too bad, because as captainmuon hints at, above, that is the only thing that matters. The. Only. Thing.

A free/open baseband processor changes everything and makes possible a world of control and new features that most phone users have no inkling of.

At the very, very least they could choose a baseband processor that already has some cracks in it and then perhaps blow it wide open once there is wide adoption of these neo900 devices ... sort of establish this baseband as a "new calypso" ... but there is no mention of that.

Hey neo900 folks - can you post somewhere obscure (if you're trying not to spook your bb-proc suppliers) like osmocom dev list and give us some hints as to what you hope to do here ?

Re: Introducing Neo900

#87
post #17

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…

> 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.

Ok, I'll buy everything in that statement except for "Evil" Elop. Elop is not the cause. He is a symptom, partly of Microsoft's colonial attitude towards companies like Nokia (which is somewhat evil), and the complete ineptness of the Nokia board who a) approved Elop as CEO and b) got Nokia in such bad financial situation that they were forced to do (a) in order to accept Microsoft's cash infusion (which is pure ineptness and desperation).

Yes, Nokia's rank and file got shafted. But their leadership likely pulled nice bonuses for selling off their comrades and company.

Blame leadership when they sell you out.

Re: Introducing Neo900

#89
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.

Its annoying that QWERTY Androids seem exclusive to the US. I guess Europeans demand custom layouts, and because of that we get nothing :(

Here is GSMArenas list of QWERTY androids released in 2012-2013

http://tinyurl.com/qwertyandroids

edit: interesting that almost all those devices are based on the same MSM8960 SoC

Re: Introducing Neo900

#90
I used to be a rabid fan of the n900 but after nokia died, when the n900 broke I switched away.

Samsung's android-based relay 4g is fantastic hardware, much better than the n900 all around. The keyboard is 5 rows and has a very nice feel. It would be much better to port a fully open source distribution to this than to try to refresh the n900.

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