Nokia 770 Handheld

The Nokia 770 (or Maemo) appears to have been misunderstood - and suffered as a result. A number of reviews have given it poor marks for memory limitations, stability, and flexibility... but I love it, and here's why:

Firstly, the 770 isn't a mobile phone, or a PDA. I wouldn't even take mine out of the house. You can if you want - either to connect to the internet via a Bluetooth mobile phone, or carry it down to your local cafe with a WiFi hotspot - but that's not what it was designed for, and with that large screen, you don't want to drop it. So if anyone complains that it doesn't have GSM/3G, then ignore them - it's not supposed to.

The 770 is an internet tablet. What this means to me, is that I can pick it up while at home, and use it for all those little 1-2 minute ad-hoc tasks that you sometimes do on the internet.....: check email; check MSM/Yahoo IM; check the train times; check the TV schedules; check the weather. Things that you don't really want to open up your laptop for, then power it on, watch it boot up, and wait....

This is really the core purpose of the 770, and this is where it really works - for the following reasons:

- Firstly, the screen is *gorgeous*. It's pin-sharp, and so bright that I keep it down at minimum all the time. The touch sensors are fast and accurate enough that there's no perceptable lag at all - writing on the screen is like writing on paper: even tests like writing your signature, or scribbling, come out completely naturally. It can happily show quality photos in vibrant colour and sharp detail, to the extent that I'm holding off buying the digital photo frame that I wanted, because this would fulfill the task perfectly
- The screen is 800x600 and landscape-orientated - which means that most web pages will fit naturally, without any special rendering or re-scaling. It means that you can read the screen much more naturally then, say, on even a big-screen PDA
- The battery life means you can leave it lying around without having to charge it religiously; I typically leave it 3-4 *days* between charges - try doing that with a laptop. The reason for this is that when the device is unused, it shuts down the WiFi and screen to conserve power, and probably other functions too.
- However, it's still instant-on when you do want to use it; you don't power it off, or even consciously put it in stand-by. You just pick it up, tap the screen, and go. The WiFi might take 5-10 seconds to re-connect, but it does this while the web browser is loading such that you don't really notice
- The device itself is gorgeous; a solid, black-finished, slimline shape, that slides into it's very functional and also gorgeous brushed steel case with a satisfying 'click' (screen face-out when you're using it, face-in to 'close' the device and protect the screen)

So - for ad-hoc web browsing, it's perfectly matched, and at the #250 I paid, it's a costly 'lifestyle'-addition, but good value for the quality of item that you're getting.


However, the same features that make it so good as an internet tablet, can be seen as a drawback in another light:

- In order to conserve power, the 770 has a processor on a par with a mobile phone. Hence complex pages don't load instantly, and can sometimes take a couple of seconds to render.
- Likewise, and more annoyingly, any high-bitrate video or audio is likely to overload the processor; enough that the BBC website's 'high quality' rates (300kbps) are too high. Anything under 150kbps is usually OK ('medium quality'), but are lower quality than I'd like to see.
- The 770 also has memory constraints; you're likely to see low-memory errors after opening 4 concurrent browser windows, or other mixes of apps. It's not a big problem, as you don't really have the screen space to open many windows in any case, and you simply adapt to not do so... but it's an easy limit to reach very quickly



There are various other features included, which you can see in the specs. The single speaker is a bit small and tinny to provide high-quality audio playback, but again, if it was, then the CPU would need to be more powerful to play full MP3s, or the battery life would plummet due to the drain from the speakers.. etc. etc. It's fine for what it is, and you can happily tune in to your favourite internet radio, leave the 770 on a surface close to you, and hear it quite clearly. And if you want louder, simply plug speakers or an amp into the headphone socket.

The included Realplayer for audio and video works fine, although with the bitrate/CPU limitation. I haven't played the games yet, of which there are the usual selection.

One app I do use a lot is a 3rd-party one, VNC. VNC allows you to control your computers which are running the server part of the software.

This opens up another lifestyle opportunity for me, in that I can go to bed early, or lie-in, and view, or control, any of my computers in the house (my work laptop, home laptop, or Media Centre), simply by picking up my 770 and connecting to them via VNC. Much more comfortable than carrying a laptop, and much less intrusive - and again, no waiting to start it up, or shut it down.


However, that leads me to a down-side for the 770, which is the lack of software. Nokia launched Maemo as an open-source platform, running on Linux; the idea was that the Open Source development community would leap on the device, and start writing all kinds of software for it. Unfortunately, this hasn't really taken off, for a number of reasons: the 770 is really a lifestyle/luxury item, meaning that many of the younger developers won't buy or can't afford one... and at the same time, its current market is too small for any big development companies to get in on the act (especially since it's open source). The opposite is true for both of these points for, say, the PSP.

Also, probably because this is a Linux-based platform, most development is of a more 'geeky' nature (apologies to all developers!)... ie. many small proof-of-concept programs ported across from other versions, requiring complex installation procedures, with development slowing once it's working at a basic level, rather than as a finished, highly-polished product. Thus it seems that the development hasn't gone the way Nokia probably hoped it would... but, because of the aesthetic nature of the device itself, the *only* applications you want to be running on this are flash, highly-polished, exciting programs. And there are very few of these.






So, should you get one? Well.... at some point, definitely Yes! I say "at some point", since ideally you would want to see a 'version 2' device, with a faster CPU, more memory, improved OS code, and a few more embedded apps. Existing owners will get all the upgrades, but not the extra memory that a v2 machine might get.

But I'm only saying that in case you buy one of the existing models now, and then kick yourself if a 'new, improved' model comes out the day after. Don't get me wrong - this is already an excellent device now. It's as desirable as an iPod ever was. It does exactly what it sets out to do, and does it well, hitting exactly the right balance of every element, and excelling on all the most important points.

And when there's software that allows it to work as a round-the-house wireless remote for Windows Media Centre; or allows it to stream movies, music and photos from Media Centre onto it's own screen... when Skype is available, and webcam drivers are available for the USB port... when you can place it in a slimline charging dock, and it automatically switches mode into Digital Picture Frame... then it will be the stylish personal gateway to your seamlessly-connected house that Nokia must have always intended it to be. And it only needs a little extra software to get there.



UPDATE: 9th July 2006

Nokia have now released the long-awaited 2006 version of the OS, which includes a User Interface revamp, and the much-anticipated addition of VoIP (Voice over IP).

The integration of the new features is good; the VoIP contact list has been added to the home page. Unfortunately, I haven't tried VoIP yet - the reason being that it only supports Jabber-compatible services, the most well-known of which is Google Talk.

So - do you have friends on Jabber or Google Talk? If so - lucky you! If, like me, you have friends on MSN, or Yahoo, or Skype - then unfortunately, the new VoIP support isn't for you!

And also - if you thought you might be able to use a Bluetooth headset with your shiny new VoIP device, then guess again - support isn't included!

The UI has been updated, and does look a lot nicer. The major functional improvement has been the addition of Swap file support - or virtual memory. So - you can create a Swap file on your removable media (RS-MMC), and then not have to worry about running out of memory again - which was usually after 3-4 web browser windows.

On the downside: the 2006 OS is not backwards compatible, and will not run any of the 2005 OS software. So - many of the applications available for the 2005 OS, are not usable in the new version! This includes VNC, which was very handy for me personally. Hence, I've actually downgraded my 770 (which *is* possible, unlike, for example, PSPs) back to 2005 OS for the moment, until more software is available. This is something to bear in mind if you buy a new 770, with 2006 OS installed.


UPDATE: 2nd Feb 2008

Well, I've now sold my Nokia 770.

The key reason for this is, while it was still as good as it ever was for its' purpose, it has been superseded in almost every department by my iPod Touch 16Gb.

The iPod similarly is small, stylish, and provides decent web browsing from a handheld device. The WiFi reception seems almost as excellent as the N770.

However, the iPod also has a far more stylish User Interface; far faster web browsing; much better text input; a capacity for on-board video and music; and many stylish, finished third party apps when 'jailbroken'. It did everything my old iPod did, better, AND did everything I used my N770 for.

It didn't have the sylish case; Bluetooth connectivity when out on the move; any external speaker; or the potential for Linux programming/hacking - but these are small drawbacks which had no real impact.


For all but the most specific users considering getting an N770, I would suggest buying an iPod Touch instead.