Nokia N900 announced — candidate for Kindle companion?
Nokia officially announced its fifth Internet Tablet today, the N900. (For full details, see maemo.org and nokia.com.)
With its flat surface, iPhone-like dimensions, camera, video, and phone capabilities, the N900 aims to fit into the same fits-in-your-pocket-and-does-way-more-than-your-phone category as Apple’s iPhone while still retaining its web-while-you’re-walking-around emphasis.
The N900’s 3.5″ full-color display has a 267 pixel-per-inch resolution (compared to the iPhone’s same-size 163ppi screen) measuring 800 x 480 pixels. This makes for dazzlingly sharp text. The device also includes Flash 9.4 and reads PDF files natively. This, along with the newly added 3.5G wireless capability, would appear to position the N900 as an ideal platform for a synching Kindle e-reader.
Amazon advises publishers to implement color, motion, and interactivity into e-books, despites its Kindle devices’ lacking support of these features. Clearly the bookseller needs more than just Apple’s iPhone and iPod to deliver these electronic essentials lest more entertaining products snatch its current format and pipeline dominance.
Of course, the Kindle 1, 2 and DX utilize a Linux-derived operating system, so porting the e-reader, book-delivery and synching software does not appear to be an impediment either.
The N900 is due in October 2009, with an expected price of €500. With larger-screen and cheaper e-readers arriving in the same period, it may not be the first choice as an e-reader. (Nor, for that matter, first choice as a phone, camera or video player.) But its unmatched versatility as a carryaround device makes it an undeniably attractive contender.
FBReader, the nonpareil open-source e-reader — it reads e-books in 12 different formats and runs on Windows and Linux handhelds and desktops, as well as Macs (unofficially) — has a long and close relationship with the Nokia Internet Tablet. Although it is not formally included among Nokia’s applications, FBReader is part of what makes the NIT’s great e-readers.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Heck with Kindle-companion… it sounds like a good netbook or PDA substitute, with 3G access to the web and e-book capability.