“I would like to thank Nokia for their time and for the opportunity for
this interview. An with that lets get on with the
show.”
-
Amigaman2
Could you tell us about yourself and what you do at Nokia?
“Olavi Toivainen, Director, Multimedia Convergence Product Management, Nokia”
What were the goals for the Nokia 770?
“Nokia has a range of widescreen multimedia devices, where the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is positioned as the first product of a category of devices optimized for Internet communication and services.
Nokia believes that good Internet connectivity on a truly pocketable device brings added value and convenience to consumers.
With the Nokia 770 you might think twice about buying that second or third PC for your home.
It also broadens Nokia’s offering to the converging communication industry by
introducing a category of handheld devices that is optimized to support broadband-based services.”
Why did you choose to run Linux on the 770?
“Linux suits the Internet Tablet product category because technology used in the Internet Tablet is very commonly used in IT products.
It also allows us to efficiently benefit from other open source components such as GTK and Gnome.”
When will the update for the 770 be made and will it use a different Linux kernel (say 2.6.14 etc)?
Can the end user upgrade the operating system of the 770?
“We are continuously improving the current version of the operating system with
small feature enhancements and corrections which provide improved performance for our users.
We offer these updates for Nokia 770 owners free of charge as an easy download from our support web pages.
http://www.nokiausa.com/support/phones/softwareupdate/1,8461,770,00.html
During the first half of this year we will launch an operating system upgrade, a new software edition,
that will add to your experience e.g. by Internet Voice and Instant Messaging.
We aim to release new a kernel at least for each new OS upgrades, and sometimes a kernel may be updated between main releases also.
”
VOIP is a feature to be added to the next version of the 770's OS ;
Why and how will this be done
“We will extend to other Internet main stream services and applications in addition to the current browser,
email and news feeds, bringing mobile Internet communication to the next level.
VoIP and IM are good examples of main stream Internet communication services we are to support in the next OS upgrade.
We are currently working on these services together with major industrial brands.
From the start the Nokia 770 has shipped with a built- in microphone
thus confirming our intention of these future updates for Nokia 770 end users.
See also: http://www.google.com/press/podium/ces2006.html”
What other features would you like to see added to future models of your Internet tablets?
“As the Internet itself evolves, also the Nokia Internet Tablets will evolve.
With the launch of the Nokia 770 we have opened up a new device category of devices optimized for moving the web away from your desk.
The Internet Tablet device category offers end user a convenient way to enjoy Internet services and
stay connected at home and on the move.
We plan to introduce several Internet communications and media experiences that benefit from the non-stationary nature of Internet Tablets.
We have not publicly announced any other planned features or services than VoIP and IM at this stage.
”
Will you be making a Internet tablet with a S3,Nvidia or ATI chipset along with a hard drive?
“We have not made any announcements to this effect”
What is your warranty period for your products?
“1 year in North America. Detailed information can be found at
http://www.nokiausa.com/support/phones/main/1,2836,770,00.html.
”
What are your customer service hours?
“Nokia Customer Service can be reached by calling 1-888-226-6542,
The operational hours are: Monday to Friday 8:30 pm EST to 7 pm EST. ”.
What other types of software will we see released for the 770?
“Nokia 770 has gained good interest in open source developer community.
www.maemo.org contains a collection of software developed for Nokia 770.
http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ApplicationCatalog
http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ApplicationCatalogWip
http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ApplicationCatalogWishlist”
What other games can be played on the 770 as of now?
“ The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet ships with three games preloaded: Chess, Mahjong and Marbles.
In addition to these, users can easily download and play games created or ported for the Nokia 770.
See for example a collection of the continuously growing catalog of applications on: http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ApplicationCatalog”
Can standard Linux apps like GAIM etc be used on the 770?
“Internet Tablet core Linux distribution configuration is a derivative of the Debian GNU/Linux distribution available from debian.org.
The core Linux distribution is adapted to a handheld wireless device by a set of novel handheld applications, a user interface framework and various developments in energy, performance and memory efficiency.
It is also possible to build own proprietary or open source applications on top of the core Linux distribution.
The kernel, core distribution and maemo are freely usable by everyone.
By adopting the above thinking we have made it easy for developers to port existing desktop applications into Nokia 770.
www.maemo.org contains a list of ported applications and how to documentations etc
also a port for above mentioned application can be found there.
”
Can a reporter/Tech editor use the 770 for recording interviews over VOIP calls,Web-design,etc.?
“These features are not currently supported”
Can a desktop be used with the 770?
“You can connect by using a USB connection and the provided connectivity cable (DKE-2 cable) to a compatible PC/laptop.
Nokia 770 Internet Tablet RS-MMC appears on your PC/laptop as a removable drive.
USB Mass storage profile allows the PC/laptop to see a part of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet file system.
This allows easy file transfer between Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and the PC/laptop.
The Mass storage profile is standard part of the USB specification and
newer versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems and MAC OS X support it.
NOTE: you are limited to access only the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet RS-MMC card from the PC/laptop.
”
Will you add finger scanning to the unit in the future?
“We have not made any announcement involving this.”
Who is the Nokia 770 for in your eyes as a company?
“Nokia 770 Internet Tablet has broad appeal.
Its users appreciate an easy broadband access to the Internet with a portable device.
The browsing experience alone makes it a very compelling substitute for an additional PC in your house, adding to that the portability and the additional features, this is a device that can change the way you access the Internet.
For Nokia, this is about expanding our strategy of making life mobile - broadening this from voice communications to Internet communications. We see a definite market potential, and the tremendous consumer, developer and industry feedback we have received already, confirms this point of view.
”
Will you make a larger more powerful version of the 770?
If you make a larger version of the 770 will it have a accelerated X.org server?
“We have said that the Nokia 770 is the first device in this convergence products platform,
but we have not made any announcements of features of future products in this category”
Can Rdesktop (remote Desktop app for administration of servers
remotely etc)be used with the 770?
“We have not made any announcement involving this”
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