Nokia N900

It looks like Nokia realized that they screwed up with the N97, and so they are releasing a revamped version that runs the Maemo 5 OS, which is a Linux variant that should have “true PC-like multitasking”.

The Maemo update also brings an overall more touch-friendly interface and a customizable home screen that can mix app icons with shortcuts and widgets. Nokia also claims full support for Flash, albeit for the older 9.4, and has a new touch-friendly media player as well as similar apps.

In hardware, Nokia makes clear the N900′s role as an effective replacement for the N97 and the company’s answer to the iPhone 3GS. The QWERTY slider design has the same 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor as the Apple smartphone and a faster graphics core that, again like Apple, supports OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics features. GPS and Wi-Fi are similarly onboard. However, the N900 brings much more app memory at up to 1GB (256MB actual RAM), full HSPA-based 3G at up to 10Mbps down and 2Mbps up, and a much sharper 800×480, 3.5-inch touchscreen. The 5-megapixel camera and 32GB of storage are also carried over from the N97, but a microSDHC slot lets users add at least another 16GB with today’s cards.

The N900 should be out by October and will cost around 500 Euros ($715/205KD)

Official Page