Open is a Loose Term in the Mobile Market

Recent news in the world of Android is that Google is blocking their movie renting service from being used on rooted devices. Thats right - if you are using a rooted Android device that means you must be doing so because you are doing illegal things and intend on stealing films. While I don't agree with this in the slightest, it is fully within Google's rights to block such access.

In fact, when you bought your locked down Android device (that odds are came with plenty of ad-sponsored extra applications installed) you told Google (and the hardware company) that all the crap they are selling you is A-OK. You need to remember that the easiest way to let vendors know you think what they are doing is wrong is by not buying their products (and maybe writing a letter or two). Until this year Nokia was pro-Linux operating systems on mobiles and I showed my support by buying two of their N900 devices. Now that they are turning to Windows Mobile they won't be getting a penny more of my hard earned money.

Honestly, all of the Google/Android fans out there that think Google backs FOSS for anyone other than themselves is just naive. The holding of the Honeycomb (Android 3.0) source code so outside developers cannot get devices on the market at the same time (or even before) Google's slow moving partners is just further proof of this. Remember folks Microsoft also claims to love open source as well, but actions speak far louder than words.


I guess in the end "open" is a loose term when it comes to the mobile market. Yes, Android is more open than a good deal of other mobile operating system alternatives - but it is far from the freedom we see in desktop computing. Our mobiles won't be truly "open" until hardware manufactures stop riddling FOS operating systems with closed source hardware and software components.

~Jeff Hoogland

N900 Application Round Up

In the past I've done two different application round ups for the Nokia N900 handset which runs the Maemo operating system. Today I would like to add to my lists of applications I find useful for a device I use for many hours each day.

Widgets -
There are three non-default widgets I enjoy using on my N900 very much. They are:

• Connect Now
• Conversations Inbox
• Recaller

The connect now widget allows you to define an internet connection (either 3g or wireless) that you connect/disconnect from simply by tapping on the widget. I've found this is useful for quickly disconnecting from the net when I am not using it to save some battery life. Conversations inbox shows the contents of the last text message you received and allows you to quickly open said message and respond to it. Recaller gives you a red diamond on your desktop that when tapped begins recording your current call (try not to get into too much trouble with this one).

Applications -
I'd like to add two more applications I use constantly on my N900.

• pyRadio
• Countdown Timer

The first is the evolution of an application I have previously reviewed that was called pyPianobar. pyRadio no longer uses pianobar as a back end for streaming and as such I find it works a small bit better. It still has a hiccup every now and then, but I often stream music for hours at a time from Pandora with pyRadio.


Countdown timer is just a simple count down timer that is fairly customizable. It will count down up to sixty minutes and is accurate to within one second. There are four different (configurable) time options for quick use or you can manually adjust the settings via the up and down buttons.


Camera Lens Launcher -
By default when you open the camera shutter on your N900 it launches the camera application. This is great for most people I am sure, but I use several applications with my device that involve the camera. The camera lens launcher gives you a list of options to choose from when opening the shutter. Personally I have the following applications to pick from when I open the cover on my N900.

• Camera
• Flash Light
• mBarcode

The camera is just the boring camera application. Flash light when launched allows you to trigger just the LED bulb on the back of the device to turn on. You can then turn it off via the status area or simply by closing the cover. mBarcode is a nifty application that reads bar codes (not much surprise there). After scanning a bar code it will even offer to go online to amazon and look up pricing (or do a google search).

Community SSU -
With Nokia kicking FOSS to the curb not long ago, many where left wondering if there would be any support for the N900 left. The SSU shows us that yes, indeed there is! SSU stands for "seamless software update" and the community repository continues to provide updates to N900 users. In addition to patching a good deal of bugs the SSU also adds new features such as portrait support in many of the default applications. Please note the Community SSU is still considered beta software, but if you like to test things you can install it by following the instructions found here.

Any other applications or things you use on your N900 every day you would like to share? If so please drop a comment below letting me know what they are!

~Jeff Hoogland

Angry Birds Angry with Linux?

If you have been reading here for awhile then you may know that I am a bit of a gamer still. Even though as time progresses more games are being created natively for Linux, there are still a good deal of games that are written in DirectX so they require a Microsoft operating system (or Wine) to play.

Not everything is written using Direct X however, in fact a good deal of games are being written with OpenGL support. Something that really irks me however is when a company creates a game in OpenGL (See Blizzard and Valve) to run on Mac OSX, but at the same time refuses to support the Linux operating system.

Unless you have been living with your head under a smart-phone-free rock for the last couple of years no doubt you have heard of the smash hit game "Angry Birds".


Angry Birds takes the operating system discrimination I mentioned above to the next level.

Angry Birds works on iOS, Maemo, Android, and Windows - yet they refuse to make a general Linux installer. Now I could see if they only had an Android client why there might be some hold up, but the game runs on Maemo - which is a full Linux OS. Thats right - the game already compiles and runs on an ARM Linux platform. If the pile of FOS applications that have been ported to the N900 are any indication this means that getting the code to run on an x86 or 64bit version of Linux is just a recompile away. Yet still no Linux client for Angry Birds!

I've contact Rovio (the company that makes Angry Birds) asking if they have any plans for a Linux desktop client, but I received a fairly standard response:

"We do intend to develop versions of Angry Birds to all relevant devices out there. News like this are announced at Rovio’s web pages or in a newsletter. In most cases we will not publish any release dates for the updates before they are ready and available. This is to make sure we can finalize the updates without external time pressure and because we do not want to give dates that we cannot always guarantee we will hit."

Their generic response about "devices" makes me wonder if they even read my email.

Do you think we will ever see non-open source developers stop ignoring my platform of choice or is Linux forever doom to obscurity?

~Jeff Hoogland

The End of the N900 in the USA

It's been awhile since I blogged about my N900 (even with Nokia kicking FOSS out it is still a solid handset). I like the Maemo operating system, the fact that it is a real Linux based operating system on my handset (not some Java based OS) is the reason I ponied up the 500$ about a year ago for the device. I live in the United States, which means that T-Mobile is the only mobile carrier that provides anything faster than 2g speeds on the N900.

Well that is the case for now anyways.

In case you have been living with your head under a technological rock AT&T is planning on buying T-Mobile. Should the fates allow this to happen (here is to hoping antitrust acts prevent it from happening) AT&T as announced they are planning on taking down T-Mobile's 3g/4g/HSPA+/WhateverYouCall it network due to "upkeep" costs. Never mind the fact that T-Mobile's network blows LTE out of the water - the fact that this network will be going offline means the N900's mobiles speeds will be rendered relatively useless in the Unite States (AT&T's network only gets about 15kb/sec with the N900's radio). Not to mention even if the N900 did get decent speeds on AT&T's network their mobile internet plans are horridly restricted (and priced even worse)!

Now not just the N900 will loose its mobile internet snappyness if this merger happens - all TMO handsets will. AT&T's solution? Get everyone phone upgrades (They factored this cost into their merger). Its a shame that this leaves all of us that purchased our handsets outright (such as the N900) out in the cold, reminds me of the many reasons I left AT&T some time ago. Honestly though, even if they where going to offer everyone a free handset - nothing on the market currently can really measure up to what Maemo does. I had been hoping to get a few good years out of my N900 as it does everything I could ask from a handset and I just recently purchased a second N900 for my girlfriend to use, guess I should have waited on that decision.

If the merger does go through the best I can hope for is a decent handset from the Samsung Linux Platform some time in the next year to replace Nokia before my mobile internet drys up. Anyone else hoping this merger falls through?

~Jeff Hoogland

Nokia kicks FOSS to the Curb

If you have been by my blog here before then you might know I really like my Nokia N900. It is one of the most flexible, powerful, open source friendly devices on the market. I bought mine and carry it with pride everyday (because I am an FOSS advocate). When Nokia announced they where merging Maemo into the MeeGo project I openly voiced my support. With a corporate backer like Nokia, Meego was sure to quickly become a forerunner in mobile technology.

Today Nokia revoked that backing.

In one swift move Nokia brought Meego from a potential revolutionary piece of technology to being simply the red headed step child of mobile operating systems. To quote Nokia:

"MeeGo will place increased emphasis on longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices."

I believe this is a kindly worded death sentence for the platform - not many developers are interested in writing software for a "longer-term market exploration" operating system. Long term means less profits, less profits means less applications, less applications means less users... It is a vicious path they have started down. One that eventually leads to the discontinuation of a short lived operating system.

What is the cause of this back seating of Meego? Nokia announced today that they struck a deal with Microsoft that will make Windows Mobile 7 the operating system on a majority of their handsets in the future. It seems some of the doubts I had when Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft employee, took over Nokia where correct. Windows Mobile 7 on Nokia devices means they will be just as restrictive as other propitiatory devices such as Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry. Restricted technologies are not the way of the future and Android's explosive growth is proof of this.

I am not just blowing smoke here, lots of people are upset by this. Including many Nokia employees. In fact Geek.com estimates that close to 1,000 Nokia employees staged a walkout today, opting to use their flex-pay days to take the day off work. Consumers also appear to be taking note of this exchange as well and are responding in a similar manner. Nokia's stock dumped nearly twelve percentage points today:


Speak with your wallet folks, the N900 will be my last Nokia product unless the company does (another) serious 180 some time soon.

The biggest joke at the end of all this? We don't even have a set release date for Nokia Win7 devices (and if Nokia's stock continues to dump at this rate we may never see one). Odds are we will not see them till next year, if not later. Remember Meego handsets where first predicted to release Q4 of 2010, which turned into Q1 of 2011, which has now turned into "some time this year".

What is your take on all of this, is Nokia shooting themselves in the foot with this union or could is possibly yield something good?

~Jeff Hoogland

Mugen Power Extended Battery N900 - Hands on Review

A few months back I wrote a post mentioning that I had ordered a Mugen Power battery for my N900. If you have been by my blog here before then you may know that while I love my N900 the battery life isn't all that amazing (like most smart phones). If I am using the N900 to it's fullest extent I am able to drain the stock battery in just over two hours.

The stock battery weighs in at 1320 mAh. The Mugen Power extended battery is nearly twice this size (2400 mAh).


Look and Feel:
The N900 is a bulky hand held by default and the Mugen Power doesn't exactly help this figure.


The extended battery makes the N900 around 30% thicker, as a comparison base this isn't much larger than the Otter Box makes the N900.

The Mugen Power comes with a replacement back panel for the N900 (see the above image). This back panel is of a quality make and clips firmly to N900. Unlike the default panel, this Mugen Power panel does not contain a shutter over the camera lenses. For those that use the camera lenses opening to trigger applications launching on their N900 (I know I do), don't worry because there is an up/down switch on the Mugen Power panel that performs the same function as the old shutter. Another important thing to note is that while this back does make the N900 a bit thicker it doesn't obstruct the camera lenses at all.

Also, since I mentioned the Otter Box - it is worth noting is that you cannot use the Mugen Power with the Otter Box case.

Duration and Usage:
In my couple of weeks of testing I found the Mugen Power to over twice as long as the stock battery during my every day use. I went from having to find an outlet (or a powered USB port) by 2pm - too being able to get through my entire day on a single charge. Before I would connect to 3g only when using it to conserve battery, with the Mugen Power I could now leave my mobile Internet connected the entire day without a second thought.

When you first get the Mugen Power, as with any lithium ion battery, you will want to fully charge and then fully discharge the battery several times to maximize it's capacity. I found that even with my 3g connected all day I had trouble fully draining the battery to an empty state in just a twelve hour period.

Why the Delay:
The final thing I would like to mention about the Mugen Power is one of reasons why it has taken me five months since placing the order to write this summary. About two weeks after receiving my Mugen Power battery (right after it was finally broken in of course) my N900 took a tumble off of my kitchen table to the hardwood floor. I am not sure if it was just a fluke with the battery I had received, but this less than three foot tumble to the floor was enough to render the battery completely useless.

The battery refused to charge and after contacting Mugen Power they advised me against using the battery any further. Mugen was very understanding, all I had to do was pay to ship the broken battery back over seas and Mugen then sent me a replacement free of charge.

The Cost:
The extended battery does come with a bit of a hefty price tag, just under 100 USD. If you are someone that doesn't like having to remember to charge their N900 halfway through the day (or doesn't want to) then the Mugen Power battery is a quality piece of hardware worth the price.

Finally:
Do you think you are going to pick up an extended battery for your N900? What other accessories do you have for your N900 that make it a more enjoyable hand held to use?

~Jeff Hoogland

HOWTO: wxMaxima on Nokia N900

I mentioned in a post at the beginning of the year that I was attempting to get my favorite CAS functioning on my N900. I am happy today to say that it is indeed possible to run wxMaxima on your N900! The following is a short HOWTO on getting it running.

First - if you have not already done so, install the rootsh package from your application manager and enable the extra-devel repository.

Next, crack open a terminal and run the following in order:

sudo gainroot
apt-get update
apt-get install easy-deb-chroot

Next open your menu and locate the Deb Img Install icon (if you use categorize it is located under System). Upon launching this it will ask you if you want to install the Debian image to your MyDocs or your SD card - pick which ever you prefer just know that it will take up at least 2gig worth of space. Let the package download and extract, the download size is about 300megs and it takes awhile to extract (seriously, go play a video game or watch TV while it does this).

Once that has finished, open up terminal again and run:

debbie sudo apt-get install wxmaxima

Select Y when it asks you to install the packages and then let apt work it's magic. Once it is finished you can access wxMaxima by running

debbie xbindkeys && debbie wxmaxima

Now due to how the N900 keyboard maps it's keys you will need to go to Edit->Configure and check the box Enter Evaluates Cells. After doing this you should be able to enter an equation and have it be evaluated by pressing shift+enter on your N900 keyboard.


If you would like an icon for wxMaxima in your N900 menu (instead of launching it from terminal) run the following in terminal:

sudo gaintroot
apt-get install leafpad
leafpad /usr/share/applications/hildon/wxmaxima.desktop

The last line will open a blank text file, enter the following as it's contents:

[Desktop Entry] Encoding=UTF-8
Name=wxMaxima
GenericName=wxMaxima
Exec=debbie "xbindkeys; wxmaxima"
Icon=maxima-icon
X-Osso-Type=application/x-executable
X-HildonDesk-ShowInToolbar=true
Terminal=true
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true

Press ctrl+s to save the document and then close out leafpad (note you may need to restart your N900 for this icon to appear).


It's just that simple! Enjoy using your N900 as a pocket computer algebra system :)

~Jeff Hoogland
Note: I do not take credit for coming up with this method, I just reorganized the information in an easier to understand matter. The two articles I pulled information can be found here and here.

Mugen Power N900 Extended Battery on the Way

If you are an N900 owner then you know one of the largest drawbacks to the device is the somewhat disappointing battery life. With heavy usage I've found I can drain the stock battery in my N900 in just over two hours. Searching around online I came across Mugen Power Batteries for the N900. Their extended battery sports 2400mah and should last much longer than the stock battery. Expect a comprehensive review once I get the battery and get a chance to run it through it's paces.

~Jeff Hoogland

N900 OtterBox - Hands on Review

Ever looked at your N900 and think "You know what this needs? It needs to be bigger!"

Yea... I didn't think so. I felt the same way, but I also knew that the $500.00 investment I had made in my N900 was worth protecting. Now, casing a sliding phone is not as easy as casing something that has no moving parts, such as an iPhone or the Nexus One. Because of this not all cases that are designed for the N900 are created equally, in fact prior to the OtterBox I had owned a soft rubber case for the N900 that was a very poor quality.

Thankfully the OtterBox was of a much higher caliber. Composed of two sturdy, hard plastic pieces the OtterBox clips firmly over the front and back of your N900.

The OtterBox has a good design to it. There are openings on either side of the casing so the speakers can be heard properly and the openings for the MicroUSB and 1/8in port are each covered by a rubber stopper. The latter of these two features is very useful if you are like myself and often leave your N900 rest in the cup holder of your car where condensation can build up. This water can leave rust damage over time on your hardware. The top part of the case also does not obscure the Nokia or N900 logos at the top of the screen


Over all the case does not lend that much more thickness to the phone and the small amount it does add I feel is well worth the extra protection the casing offers should my N900 take an unexpected tumble to the ground. There are only two minor draw backs to the case. First is if you use the kickstand on your N900 often the view angle is reduced by a fair amount due to the extra thickness.

Second, the hard plastic case around the 1/8in (audio/video out) port is kinda narrow. The default ear-buds that come with the N900 plug in just fine, but a fatter 1/8in connection does not fit (I often use my N900 for audio playback).

And finally - in case you hadn't picked one up yet, the OtterBox for the N900 also comes with a pair of screen protectors designed to fit the N900's screen. This way should you like to carry around your N900 in your pocket you don't have to worry about spare change or your keys damaging your hand held's screen. You can pick up an OtterBox designed for the N900 at the cost of $25.00 over on Amazon.com (More Amazon savings with these coupons). If you ask me the case is worth every penny, but in the end it is your device! So if you want to risk it taking a fall unprotected that is your choice ;)

~Jeff Hoogland

N900 Faster Application Manager - Review

If you have ever installed an application on an N900 using the default application manager you know that while it is functional it is not the fastest of processes - especially if you are installing multiple applications. Enter the FOSS project, which you can currently find in the extras devel repository, Faster Application Manager. As the name implies FAM is a graphical interface for apt-get in Maemo and it lives up to it's name of being quicker. The GUI is simple and functions well, the main screen presents you with all the options you need to add/remove/upgrade software on your Maemo device:

When trying to find applications to install FAM offers several different methods of searching:


As well as by category:


And of course by name as well:


Installing software is just as easy as in the default application manager. One of the largest advantages FAM has of the default manager is that it allows you to mark multiple packages for installation (as opposed to installing each program one at a time). The installation process is fairly straight forward. Select your package(s) to install:


Wait for it to check for dependencies:


Confirm you want to install all of said dependencies:


And wait for everything to install:



FAM will also handle upgrading packages that have a newer version available, simply mark all of the ones you would like to upgrade (just like when installing packages) and hit apply. One thing worth noting though is that when the update notification appears it will open by default in the normal application manager - to upgrade packages via FAM load FAM and select Upgrade Applications from the main FAM menu.


Finally, FAM also provides a graphics interface for enabling/disabling/adding/editing/removing repositories.


All in all FAM is an excellent application and it is much faster the default application manager. In fact the only real draw back to FAM currently is that it does not support installing applications from the Ovi Store as of yet. Also worth mentioning is that unlike the default application manager FAM supports portrait mode when you tip your device into a vertical position.

~Jeff Hoogland

Tech Support: C Drive on Your Linux Phone may be Corrupted

I know first tier tech support at most all companies simply read from a script when trying to sort out the issue a customer is having. I understand why this is, nine times out of ten one of the few items on their list will resolve the issue. That being said, a couple weeks ago I went out on a limb and purchased Joikuspot for my N900. Joikuspot is an application that is suppose to easily allow you to share your 3G connection via wifi.

Keywords there are suppose to. After I shelled out my hard earned dollars for the application, I downloaded and installed it on my N900. Once it finished I eagerly loaded it up and told it to start sharing my internet connection via wireless. Everything appeared to be working as I connected my Ubuntu laptop to the ADHOC network I had created from my N900. Much to my dismay I discovered no data would transfer over the wifi to my laptop. After confirming that my 3G connection was working I then proceeded to try the connection on four other laptops - all of which also failed to receive any connection through Joikuspot.

Ok - fine. I know software can behave differently on different devices, so I contact their tech support. After going through the normal setting checks and even reinstalling the application I finally got this response:

"You could still try to reset your phone. That has helped some of our customers.

Sometimes it may happen that a program corrupts the C: drive of your phone and then some data can be lost and some applications may not work or work only partially.

On a Symbian Series 60 based phone, two key sequences will allow to restore your phone to a cleaner state:
Normal Reset (*#7780#) : Restores ini files from rom but preserves user data (photos, 3rd party apps etc)
Deep Reset (*#7370#) : This reformats completely the C: drive. All applications and files stored on this drive will be lost and clean default files will be rewritten."

I was slightly at a loss for words. Now even though the N900 can boot a variety operating systems - a functional Symbian is not currently on this ever growing list. It was clear that the person providing the tech support had no idea what an N900 was (or what operating system it ran). Now, I still took the suggestion to heart and reflashed my N900 to factory defaults and still Joikuspot failed to work. Needless to say I am in the process of acquiring a refund for this dud of a product.

I would ask for better tier one tech support personnel, but I know this is never going to happen. My only request is that if they are going to continue to hire morons that they at least be kind enough to provide them with a better script. Anyone else ever received misinformed (or borderline moronic) tech support advice that was clearly from a poorly written script?

~Jeff Hoogland

Must Have N900 Utility Applications

I've talked about my favorite N900 applications before, but today I am going to discuss some applications that add some useful functionality to my favorite hand-held device. These are applications I feel almost every N900 owner will use at some point or another if they are made aware they exist.

#1 RootSH - That is right - with the N900 "rooting" your device is as simple as installing a single package from the official Maemo repositories. You should always have full control of your own computer(s).


#2 Catorise - The default "throw everything in big mess" method of sorting icons in the Maemo application menu is horrid. Catorise takes everything you have installed and sorts it into different menus - just like a desktop Linux distribution does.


#3 Browser Switchboard - If you have played with Firefox or Opera on your N900, then odds are you might have decided you like one of these more than MicroB (the default N900 browser). Browser switchboard add an option to your system settings for changing which browser is the default one selected URLs open in.


#4 Tweakr - If you like to tinker with settings - then meet your new best friend. Tweakr allows you to easily edit more than a few things on your device. Personally I really like the "snap to grid" it enables for desktop icons.


#5 Ringtone Per Contact - A basic phone function that Nokia manged to leave out of Maemo by default - even my flip phone from 2001 could do this. With this package you will be able to have this functionality on your N900.


#6 fMMS - While I am on the subject of functionality Nokia left out of Maemo by default - if you haven't already go grab fMMS. This allows you to send and receive picture messages on your N900, it works very well.

Know of any other useful "utility" applications that add some extra (and useful) functionality to the N900? If so - let me know by dropping a comment below.

~Jeff Hoogland

Netbook MeeGo a NoGo - Review

Now I am all for trying new distros and netbooks are a place where I feel Linux truly outshines all other operating systems, so when a new netbook focused distro comes to maturity I always like to take it for a test drive. MeeGo, the joint operating system between Nokia's Maemo and Intel's Moblin, has been getting alot of hype recently in the Linux community and the world at large. I can understand why, personally I was very excited when MeeGo was first announced. Nokia and Intel are both very large names that bring substantial financial backing to the table, beyond this they are also allowing the Linux Foundation to manage the MeeGo project.

After having used the 1.0 release of MeeGo that is targeted for netbook devices I really must say: I'm really not impressed.

Late last year I did a review of Intel's Moblin Linux 2.0 and this MeeGo 1.0 release is so similar to Moblin that is really doesn't even feel like a different distro. Don't believe me? Well lets start with the interface, this first screen shot is Moblin 2.0:

This second screen shot is MeeGo 1.0:


See what I mean? Now don't get me wrong, I don't think MeeGo is a poor distro - in fact all the positive things I said about Moblin also still apply here. The only issue is most of the negative things also still apply.

Software:
MeeGo fails to ship with an Office Suite still and the software selection from their package manager is still decently limited. Two things that are improvements in MeeGo are the default webrowser and media player. For all your media needs Banshee is at your service. Banshee is a full featured, matured, media player with plenty of features that should keep most all users happy. In terms of webrowsing, MeeGo ships two different .img files - the first uses the open source Chromium as the stock browser, the second requires you to agree to an EULA as it uses Google's Chrome browser.

Customization:
Another nice addition is the ability to customize the top bar where you switch between your different applications and zones. A piece of customization that is still lacking however is the ability to change which messaging client is integrated with the operating system (empathy is alright, but I am a die hard pidgin user and prefer to use it whenever possible).

Socialization:
MeeGo still integrates well with twitter (just as Moblin did), but unlike the latest Ubuntu release (which has Gwibber), MeeGo still lacks Facebook integration. As I mentioned above empathy is still the default messaging client and it does support facebook chat by default.

Issues:
The only real issue I had with MeeGo was the fact that it's network manager was unable to connect to my WPA encrypted network. It did connect to un-encrypted and WEP encrypted networks without a hitch though.

Usage:
The MeeGo desktop, just like the Moblin desktop, is snappy and responsive (just as much as lightweight desktop environments such as LXDE or E17). The operating system boots slightly faster than Ubuntu 10.04 does on my hardware (7 seconds versus 9 seconds). Over all MeeGo makes for a great "webrowsing" operating system, but for anything beyond this I would recommend something else.

Final Thoughts:
One of the reasons I was so excited about MeeGo was because it was the merging of Moblin with Maemo. I have been using Maemo on my N900 for over six months and I must say, I can't find a trace of Maemo anywhere in the MeeGo 1.0 release. Now, perhaps there is some of the Maemo core hiding behind the scenes in the MeeGo code, but personally I am just hoping Moblin did not simply swallow up Maemo.

Honestly while I am hopping the MeeGo project takes off (especially as a competitor to Android), at the same time I have to wonder what this could do to the public opinion of what Linux is. I say this because the way MeeGo is designed it does not feel like a full blown operating system as distros like Ubuntu or Fedora do (or Windows does). I would hate to see the general opinion of Linux become the idea that the operating system is limited to netbooks and hand held devices and not for "real" work/computers.

~Jeff Hoogland

N900 Opera Mobile - Review

When I posted my Firefox Mobile review for the N900 a couple months back many people prematurely left comments asking why it was better than Opera Mobile. Now that Opera Mobile for the N900 has been out for some time, it is even in the repositories now, I figured it was only fair to give Opera it's dues and give an overview of Opera on the Maemo platform.

If you have used Opera Mobile on any other device before then you will find the interface on the N900 very familiar
Opera Mobile is designed for the touch screen interface many devices have and it functions well on the N900. The home screen of Opera Mobile displays nine widget "speed dial" you can set to your favorite websites. Above these is the URL and Google search bar that you will be used to from most desktop web browsers. Across the bottom of the screen are your backwards, forwards, refresh, tabs, and settings button.
When you are viewing a webpage Opera displays full screen, maximizing your viewable screen space. The only parts that are obscured are the lower right hand corner and the lower left hand corner portions of the screen.
When it comes to overall usage Opera is much snappier than Firefox on the N900. It loads much quicker and uses far less system resources when multi-tasking. Another feature that sets Opera apart from other browsers on the N900 is it's excellent portrait browsing mode. Firefox Mobile does not support portrait mode at all and even though with PR 1.2 MicroB (the N900's default browser) supports portrait mode - it does not as of yet have an on screen keyboard when browsing as such (which makes entering text near impossible on MicroB one handed).

Which brings me to my next point about Opera Mobile - the on screen keyboard. All I have to say is: it's fantastic. Seriously, I wish every application on the N900 could use Opera's on screen keyboard, it only takes up half the screen and using it feels much cleaner than the default Maemo on screen keyboard.

While there are many good things about Opera Mobile, it is not all sun shine and roses. The primary thing that keeps Opera from being the only browser on my N900 is largely the fact that it feels very much like a mobile browser. The lack of flash support and it's inability to fully render more than a few webpages keeps Opera from providing the full blown browsing experience I am used to on my N900.

Anyone else been enjoying Opera 10 on their N900 and have some input on the browser?

~Jeff Hoogland

N900 Video Call with Skype

If you have graced my page before then odds are you know I love my N900. This past Wednesday Nokia released the PR 1.2 update for the N900 and one of the features they added was support for the front facing camera to make video calls. Video conferencing via services like Skype, Google Talk and Allstream Business Communications are a fantastic advancement in technology.

I made my first video call this evening on my N900 and it works quite well! The GUI for Skype video calls is fairly simple and looks as such:

The video feed fails to appear when I use the screen shot function built into the N900, but I marked the locations of where the feeds appear. In order to make a video call simply open the Skype contact and select "Video Call":

You can also start a video call from a normal Skype call by selecting it from the call's menu:

I would like to note that in order for the video call options to appear I had to first receive a video call on my N900. After this I had no trouble initiating a video call from my device.

The quality from the front camera isn't the best, but it is more than enough to do basic video calls with. I recorded a short video that displays a video call between my N900 and a laptop:

Video calls such as this are by far the way of the future! Hopefully we will see more devices follow in the N900's footsteps and start adding this functionality.

~Jeff Hoogland

Pandora Radio on the N900 - pyPianobar

You know it is 2010 when you can be riding your bike home from work while listening to music streaming from the internet.

I've been using Pandora Radio for some two years now and I have had a Pandora One subscription for the last year. When I received my N900 one of the first things I attempted to do with it was to load up Pandora via the webrowser as the device has full flash support - much to my dismay I was greeted by a choppy experience and a user interface that was difficult to navigate on such a small touch screen.

Pandora does not currently make an application for the N900 and nor do they plan on making one any time soon (believe me, I emailed them). One of the most wonderful things about FOSS is the community - and once again it steps up to the plate to solve the Pandora radio issue on the N900. The application pyPianobar provides a QT-based touch-friendly interface for accessing your Pandora radio account on your N900
The GUI is easy to use and provides all necessary functionality you need for using Pandora Radio:

• Play
  
• Pause
  
• Skip Song
  
• Thumbs Up
  
• Thumbs Down
• Station Create
• Station Delete

The only feature pyPianobar currently lacks that I would like to see added is the ability to set the audio quality (often times I am streaming over 2/3G and would like to toggle it from "high" to "normal" quality). Over all pyPianobar is a fantastic application and just one more example of the power of the community that is behind Maemo!

~Jeff Hoogland

My Top 5 N900 Applications

Apps, apps, apps! They make or break an operating system (mobile or otherwise). I've had my N900 for over four months now, and I use it at least four or more hours per day. The following are my top five application picks that are not included on the N900 by default.

#1 Firefox - Easily my favorite way to surf the web, on the N900 or otherwise. If you want more of my thoughts on this one check out my Firefox Mobile Review.

#2 fMMS - This application steps up to fill one of the biggest mess-ups Nokia made when they released the N900: lack of MMS support. fMMS currently supports sending pictures and receiving all types of media messages. Since I discovered this wonderful application I no longer have to hear my friends say "your phone does all that, but can't get a picture message?"

#3 TweeGo - Easily one of the most professional looking applications in the repositories that was created just for the N900. The UI is pleasing to the eye, easy to navigate, and provides everything you need to fully use twitter.

#4 FaceBrick - Currently still in development, FaceBrick just recently released its 0.3 version. It supports viewing your news feed, posting/viewing comments on posts, and posting your own status updates. This is for sure one to keep your eye on and I have no doubt that within a couple of months it will be just as polished and feature rich as TweeGo.

#5 Conky - Ever wonder what application is eating up all your system resources? Or maybe want to quickly check exactly how much rootfs space your device has left without having to crack open a terminal? Conky is your one stop application for all system monitoring related tasks.

And finally, because I want to include a good N900 game on this list, I'd like to include my girlfriend's pick for best N900 application: Angry Birds. Seriously, if you own an N900 and haven't downloaded and tried this one yet, stop reading this and go get it now. At least an hour of classic video game fun in that one there :)

What are your favorite N900/Maemo applications that you use everyday on your device? Looking for some other useful applications for the N900?

~Jeff Hoogland

Firefox Mobile - Review

The N900 is my handheld of choice and as I've stated before it is by far the web browsing phone currently on the market. The most wonderful thing about FOSS is choice, just like a desktop computer the N900 provides you with a variety of web browsers to choose from and the Mozilla cooperation choose Maemo as the first platform to release their mobile browser for. I've been using firefox as the primary browser on my N900 since just prior to it's 1.0 release, the following are my summations of what I think of Mozilla's mobile browser.

Firefox Mobile navigates the web wonderfully, what few pages MicroB (the default N900 browser) Firefox handles like a dream. I have yet to find a website it fails to render properly.

Zooming in and out in firefox mobile works well. Double tapping on a section of the screen zooms to that portion for you. If this zoom scopes in too far or not enough for you holding control and pressing your plus/minus keys will allow you to have a more controlled zoom in the browser. In general I find the double tap zoom more than gets the job done and I rarely manually scope in/out.

Another nifty feature is that when you select an entry box on a website firefox auto zooms so the entry box fills the screen (width wise). It also provides you with next/previous buttons to jump between entry fields (for instance from a username box to a password box):

Speaking of password fields - firefox mobile displays the character you have entered for a moment when typing in a password instead of just displaying a star by default. This way you can be sure you have entered the proper character (always nice when you are dealing with function and shift keys on a tiny keyboard). Also present in firefox mobile is the non-intrusive offer to "remember", "not now", or "never" store a username/password combination when it is entered:

Then there is one of the things firefox was famous for first bringing to the masses on desktop browsers: tabs. The setup of firefox mobile is designed to keep the navigation features out of the user's way except for when they want to use them. By default when you are viewing a page it is full screen on the device:

To access the various navigation features swipe right, to see your open tabs:

Swipe left, to access back and forward buttons, plus your options:

or do either of the before mentioned motions to access your URL bar, application switcher, and exit button. I like the placement of the back and forward buttons, they are quickly accessible but as I stated out of the way when you do not need them.

Another firefox staple is of course addons. Firefox mobile is packed full of addons you can choose from, customization is the spice of life:

Right below plugins in firefox mobile is your download manager, nicely laid out the download manager lists all files you have downloaded in chronological order:

It also gives you a small notification in your browsing window when a download completes.

We all know you cannot have the good without the bad, there are a few things I would like to see added to firefox mobile. Firstly, there is no option of choosing where downloaded files are saved to - something that greatly irks me. Secondly, there is no way (at least that I have found) to select text on a page you are viewing (for instance for copy and pasting). Finally, the greatest trouble with firefox mobile I must say (and this may be a deal break for some) is the startup time. My N900 is over clocked to 800mhz and with no other applications running it takes firefox on average elven seconds to fully load.

All in all I think firefox mobile is the best browser currently available for the Maemo platform and thanks to the browser-switchboard it is the default browser on my device.

Did I miss any key points about firefox mobile? Is there another reason you use it or perhaps do not use it that I don't list here? Let me know by dropping a comment below.

~Jeff Hoogland

Is Android to Phones as OSX is to PCs?

If you have ever dropped by my page here before odds are you know I am a Linux user and an N900 owner. The former of the two means I often get questions about my operating system from people when I am using my laptops out in public. Nine times out of ten that first question is "Is that OSX?" or "How are you running OSX on that non-Apple computer?" Depending on my mood I will either explain my operating system to them or simply comment with "No, it is not OSX." and go on with my day.

At any rate, in the last couple of months while I have been using my N900 I have been fielding similar questions. The only difference is that instead of hearing "is that OSX?" (the N900 can run OSX by the way...) I hear "Hey is that one of those new android phones?" As I am working towards becoming a teacher I figure educating the masses is one of my duties in life - as such typically I inform the person asking me that no, it is no Android but a different from of mobile Linux (which typically opens the "what is Linux?" can of worms).

All in all I really cannot fault people for being misinformed but I can do my best to remedy the issue when I come across it. Any other N900 owners out there that experience this or is it just myself?

~Jeff Hoogland

Android vs Maemo - Hands on Review

There is no doubt that Linux will be the dominant player in the mobile market by the end of 2010. This is namely thanks to Google's Android OS, which has been appearing on more handsets than I can count the past few months. Android however is not the only mobile Linux operating system (however it is easily the most popular) that exists. I have done more than a few posts about my Nokia N900, which is another mobile device that runs a variation of Linux known as Maemo.

I recently came into possession of an Android powered device of my own and as I such I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. For the last week I have retired my N900 to the back seat and had my SIM card inserted in my Android powered Kaiser just to see how Google's mobile operating system handles itself in comparison to Maemo. I am going to compare and contrast the two on the following key points:

1. Hardware Selection - What of hardware do you have for running the operating system on?
2. Computing - Does the OS function as you would expect a computer in 2010 to?
3. Phone - Both operating systems dial out, but which functions as a phone more efficiently?
4. Applications - Apps, apps, apps! How is the application selection on the OS?
5. Internet Usage - Our mobile devices are our connection to the WWW, which OS shines when surfing the web?
   

Hardware Selection -

There is no argument about this one, one of the most powerful things about Android is it's ability to run on multitude of hand-helds (even hand-helds it wasn't initially intended for!). Big and small. Capacitive screen and resistive screen. Slide out keyboard, stationary keyboard, flipping keyboard, - heck even no keyboard at all! There is an Android device out there to suit just about everyone's needs.

Hardware Selection 10/10 - Android Total 10/10

Maemo on the other hand currently only resides on the N900. While the N900 is powerful, unique, and well made hardware there is not much choice in the matter if you would like a Maemo based hand-held. The N900 is it.

Hardware Selection 6/10 - Maemo Total 6/10

Computing -

Our hand-helds are getting more and more powerful. With each new release they become closer and close to being full blown computers - as such they require full blown operating systems. Since Android runs on a wide array of devices I do not think it would be fair to compare performance between the two operating systems (as your mileage will vary with your hardware), instead I am going to focus on the aspects of the GUI and how the operating system handles itself.

In general Android looks and feels like a (smart) phone. Which isn't bad depending on what you are looking for. Personally I find multitasking on Android counter intuitive when compared to multitasking on a full size computer. I say this because when you press your "home" button to get back to your Android desktop the application you had open has to be reopened from it's launcher icon or by a long press of the home key - not from a task bar/list of open applications like most operating systems have.

Android provides four desktop spaces on which you can place widgets/application launchers to your hearts content. Which is a good thing if you have a lot of applications on your Android device - because once you start to get a whole lot installed they all get lumped together in your application selector making it hard to navigate for the one you want. My only complaint about Android's work spaces is that you cannot loop from the desktop on the rightmost to the desktop on the leftmost, really a small thing but worth mentioning.

Speaking of widgets - I highly suggest you find one for toggling your device's wifi on and off. If you do not have one of these you have to dig through three layers of settings menus to toggle it. Want to connect to a new access point? Three layers of menus again. I think something used as often as a wifi connection should be more readily available for usage. Toggling your data connection on Android is just as annoying and you cannot even disable your data fully with a single switch. When you uncheck the "data connection" in the settings manager you are informed of the fact that some applications might still use background data - meaning to fully disable your 2g/3g to save battery you need to crawl through each of your individual applications that might use background data and be sure they are off - inconvenient to say the least (I am sure there is an application out there to fully toggle it off it with one button - but it is not included by default as it should be).

The last few things about Android that really keep it from having that full computer feeling is that you have to "root" your device in order to have full control/access to the system. Secondly of all the Android devices you can choose from - none of them have even a full gigabyte of internal storage. They all rely on MicroSD cards for storing media/files upon. Lastly, I have yet to find a terminal application I like. Namely because - and this may just be the key mappings on my device - but I cannot recall past terminal command with the up/down arrows or move back over to make an edit to a line with the left/right arrows.

Computing 7/10 - Android Total 8.5/10

Using Maemo on the other hand feels like you are holding a full computer in your hand. It is easy to keep track of multiple applications you have open on Maemo because you can tap a single button to view/switch between all open applications at any given time. Similar to Android, Maemo also has four work spaces on which you can place widgets, application launchers, and contacts for quick access. Like a full Linux distro however Maemo's desktops allow you to flow one into the next, continuously in a loop. Maemo also allows you to easily edit the number of workspaces available to you in case four is too many for your needs.

Maemo also handles connecting to wif and data just like a desktop operating system would. Select from your system tray "Internet Connection" and it scans for nearby wifi networks and whether or not a data connection is available. It readily gives the user full control over whether or not a connection is active - something I appreciate.

While Maemo is not perfect it is easily the closest experience you will have to a full blown operating system on a hand-held device.

Computing 9/10 - Maemo Total 7.5/10

Phone -

No matter how much these devices do and what software we cram into them - they are at their core still suppose to be "phones".

The Android platform makes a great phone. It automatically syncs with all of your Google services to suck down your contacts, calender, and email from your gmail account first thing. While this is nice - one annoying thing you will have to deal with right off the bat is organizing your gmail contacts. If you are anything like myself most of them where un-named and just emails (no phone numbers) before you got your Android device. While it takes some time to enter all your information, it is not quite as painful as other phones because you can enter all the information on your computer and then in moments it will sync to your Android device.

The default text messaging application in Android is functional, but leaves some to be desired. Thankfully there is a free application in the marketplace called "Handcent" that provides a wonderful SMS experience on Android. It has both a sleek GUI and a "quick reply" feature that make it a wonderful application. Android makes for a great phone, but there is definitely room for improvement.

Phone 8/10 - Android Total 8.3/10

The first thing you will notice about Maemo is that other than the dialler application none of the other "phone" feature applications have a portrait mode. Personally, I prefer this - but it may be a deal breaker for some. In contrast to Android, Maemo's default SMS program works well and looks great. Incoming SMSs are displayed as a short preview over what ever application you currently have open (without interrupting your work), a handy feature when you are in the middle of something. Notably lacking by default on Maemo however is MMS functionality. There is a community written application called "fMMS" that allows for the sending and receiving of pictures that works perfectly fine, it does not support media clips currently though.

One feature that truly sets Maemo apart from Android, and every other mobile phone out there currently, is that if you have a Skype account - it will fully integrate with your contacts. Meaning if you have an active internet connection when you want to call someone, you can choose to call them from your Skype account - meaning it does not use your mobile minutes. Also fully integrated in the well designed SMS client is the ability to interface with Skype IM, AIM, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, ect. While Android has separate clients for these chat protocols I like that Maemo has them all in one central location linked in with SMS.

Phone 8/10 - Maemo Total 7.7/10

Applications -

The applications make the device - with out good software an operating system is fairly useless.

Android has a large application market, currently over 30k apps, that is easily accessible from the "market place" link on your device. There are a good number of free applications on the market place, however many of them are ad-supported. If that doesn't bother you, great! But personally I dislike ads taking up my screen space. Most all of the ad-supported applications however have an identical ad-free version for purchase. If you really like a certain application then just pay the few dollars to enjoy it with out the ads.

There are a lot good applications for Android - however I would really like to see some more quality truly free applications for it.

Applications 8/10 - Android Total 8.2/10

Maemo takes an interesting approach to applications. Accessible via the webrowser is the "ovi store", an online source for free and paid applications make by developers. The Ovi Store offers easy one click install through the browser and has some good applications both for purchase and free (and none that I have found are ad-supported as of yet). The only problem with the Ovi store is that it currently only has maybe one hundred applications in it, slim picking compared to the Android market place.

The interesting part about Maemo - is that just like Ubuntu or other Linux distros it also has an "application manager" (powered by apt-get). Which as part of it's managing abilities also contains repositories you can download free software from. Most of the applications found here are ports of open source favourites such as Abiword and Super-Tux, however some of them are new applications designed just for Maemo. The default repositories are sponsored/paid for by Nokia (the backing company for Maemo) and they are maintained by the community.

Once Maemo has a year or two to fully mature to allow application market to expand it will be truly superb - but for now it can leave some to be desired at times.

Applications 7/10 - Maemo Total 7.5/10

Internet Usage -

Our hand-helds are most often times our main connection to the world wide web. As such having a good internet experience on a mobile operating system is a must if it is going to make it.

Android provides an average web surfing experience. The default browser is functional, but nothing spectacular. It renders all pages by default in their "mobile" version if it is offered and for most people it is more than enough. If you need something a little more powerful Opera's Mobile browser is available in the market place - it renders pages quickly and I have yet to find a website it does not display properly. I find the GUI on Opera to be slightly cluttered however, so if the page loads in the default Android browser I tend to use it instead.

Where Android really shines on the web however is it's Google Maps integration. Easily one of the best mapping systems on a hand-held device. If your hardware has a GPS it will be quickly detected and used to pin-point your current location. From there you can map your way with ease to your destination.

Internet Usage 8/10 - Android Total 8.2/10

I'm going to go out on a limb here and just say it: Maemo provides the best mobile browsing experience that currently exists. It's default webrowser is quick and renders pages properly (including support for flash 9.4). Don't care for the default browser for some reason? Maybe want something more robust or feature rich? Not a problem. Mozilla choose Maemo as the first platform to release their Firefox Mobile on. While it takes a bit longer to load than the default browser, once Firefox is running it works beautifully. It has full tab support, addons, and a download manager just like Firefox on the desktop.

Mapping on Maemo is not quite as flawless as using Google maps on Android, but it is functional. The default "maps" application made by Ovi works well with the GPS in the N900 and the routing feature provides a good number of options depending on what type of trip you are taking. If you do not care for the default mapping application, Google maps does run fairly well in Maemo's browser. It is not quite as fast as the maps application running on Android however.

I feel Maemo is currently unrivalled as a mobile internet operating system and if it had a slightly better mapping program I would give it a 10 out of 10.

Internet Usage 9/10 - Maemo Total 7.8/10

Final Scores - Android 8.2 & Maemo 7.8

Follow Up -

No operating system is perfect, Maemo and Android included. Which of the two operating systems is right for you? How should I know? Each has it advantages and disadvantages. From the final scores here you may be inclined to believe that I believe Android is the better of the two - this however is not the case. If you review all of the scores the one thing that really brought down Maemo was that it only is available on a single device currently. Meaning if you are like myself and like the N900 hardware Maemo comes on, well then that first score is pointless for you. It is hard to say where either of these operating systems will be a year from now with the rate technology advances (and who knows what is going to happen to Maemo with MeeGo lurking around the bend).

Did I miss any key points about the two operating systems? What is the reason you are swayed from Maemo to Android or vice versa?

~Jeff Hoogland