Nokia 770 Linux tablet firmware update beta draws praise, fire

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Jun. 13, 2006

The beta release of Tablet OS 2006 for Nokia's 770 Web tablet last week has already generated a handful of reviews published on hobbyist and hacker weblogs. So far, the reviews seem ambivalent -- either strongly for or strongly against the new release.

Bloggers weighing in on the "strongly for" side include Jeff Waugh and ChipX86. Changes drawing praise include:

VoIP capabilities
IM and Google Talk messaging client
Integrated addressbook with presence information
Better performance, as well as a control-panel option for setting up a swap partition on the rs-mmc card
Better memory recovery when applications are closed
Google search bar available in home screen
Browser URL input field has partial matching
Home screen items now can be rearranged
Thumb keyboard is "input method of choice"
Package manager handles package feeds, and allows custom menu placement

On the "strongly against" side, BlogBeebe reports being unable to reinstall his old 770 firmware, after finding problems with the beta of Tablet OS 2006. Other complaints include:

Instability characterized by repeatable crashes related to the WiFi card
Browser requires reloads to properly render some pages
Browser crashes when invoking the thumb keyboard
Thumb keyboard "awful"
VoIP limited by need for bluetooth headset
Poor video playback
Home page customization has no snap-to grid, and windows cannot overlap
Clicking a story in the RSS reader widget on the desktop opens a larger RSS reader, rather than the browser
Garish, ugly new color schemes

Nokia released the Tablet OS 2006 beta last week, in order to help developers port their applications in advance of an expected final release this quarter.

Numerous blogs devoted to the Nokia 770 tablet and its Maemo software environment have been aggregated at maeomo.org, here.

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