Nokia's GPS-Enabled Pocket Computer
Loaded with Web 2.0 apps, N810 could help usher in location-aware computing.
Oct. 19, 2007 — -- At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday, Nokia unveiled its latest product, an ultraportable, Wi-Fi-enabled tablet computer called the N810. The new gadget, which will be available in the United States in November for $479, is slightly taller, wider, and thicker than an Apple iPhone, but it features a slide-out keyboard as well as a touch screen, a Web camera, and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Nokia is also offering a set of tools that let programmers add their own bells and whistles to the device, which could lead to such features as geotagged blog posts, friend-finding capabilities, and location-based mobile gaming.
While the Web 2.0 Summit, a gathering of Internet-software experts, may seem like an odd place to unveil a new piece of hardware, Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president and general manager of multimedia, played up the tablet's Internet importance. "Look what happened to the Internet," Vanjoki said in a presentation. "First came Internet search and browsing. Now, Web 2.0 is a social place with media sharing. We believe that Nokia will have a very important role in making the next Web."
The software preinstalled in the N810, Vanjoki said, includes video and music players, as well as Web applications such as a browser, the Internet-telephony software Skype, Gizmo video chat, instant messaging, and GPS-integrated mapping tools. The device's processor operates at 400 megahertz; it has 128 megabits of random-access memory, two gigabytes of internal storage, and an expansion slot that can accommodate up to eight gigabytes more.
At first blush, it's tempting to compare the N810 to Apple's iPhone. But the N810 is not a phone: it can tap into the cellular network only indirectly, through a wireless connection to a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. Rather, the device falls into the product category of ultraportable computers, gadgets that aren't as bulky as laptops but have similar capabilities. For years, ultraportable computers have languished in the middle ground between tiny cell phones and larger laptops. But some experts say that their shrinking size has them poised to take off. And size is certainly one of the N810's advantages: while slightly larger than many smart phones, it can still fit comfortably in a pocket.
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